XM Radio

[chasd60]

Anybody else use this?
I just bought the Delphi Roady and a Delphi wireless FM modulator. I can use it anywhere with a 12 power outlet. The wireless modulator allows me to use it in the house, in the car, in the truck and in the camper with nothing extra other than the 12V/1A power outlet I got at WalMart for $10.
 
XM is going totally commercial free sometime in Feb and is adding traffic and a few more channels.
 
When I do my 8000 mile tenting trips or my trip from Maine to FL in April the stations won't disappear.
 
http://www.xmradio.com

[Gone-Camping]

I've been looking at both the XM and the Serius Satellite radio. Both seem to be good units and provide a great looking service package. Let me know how it works, I'm still not 100% convinced. My 'former' boss had one of these on his Toter-Home, and he swears by it!

[labontefan]

I love my XM radio...seldom listen to anything else in the car. I have an Alpine receiver with an Alpine XM tuner in my Durango. I've had those for about two years. Last year, I bought the Delphi SKYFi tuner with the boombox so I could listen to XM in the camper.

Since I work for a company that sells XM equipment, I was able to get good prices (one of our perks) on my equipment. XM was available before Sirius, but in looking at the programming, I think I would have gone with XM anyway. I like the "Decades" music channels (the 40's, the 50's, the 60's, the 70's , the 80's and the 90's). I listen to the 60's channel most of the time. Sirius combines the 50's and the 60's into one channel. It would be better for me to combine the 60's and the 70's since that's more of the music I like.

Also, only XM has the NASCAR channel and that was a big plus with me!! Since you're a NASCAR fan too, Cliff, that might be a selling point with you. If you're in a new location and want to keep up with the NASCAR races, you don't have to worry about trying to find a radio station that carries MRN or PRN. XM has all the qualifying and race coverage. If it's carried on MRN or PRN, it'll be broadcast on XM. Plus they have a lot of their own programming, and even replay a lot of the "Classic Races".

The music channels on XM are going totally commercial free in February (many of them already are). Some of the other channels will still have commercials.

My cousin is the same age as me. She loved my SKYFi boombox and the 60's channel when we went camping together last July. I gave her the XM Roady for Christmas and she was thrilled to death!

When I traded my Jeep Cherokee for the Durango last April, it was a couple of weeks before I could get the Alpine receiver and tuner reinstalled in the Durango. I had severe XM withdrawal during that time! Gotta have my XM radio! It's especially great for traveling. I drove from here to Charlottesville (just over 5 hours) and listened to the same two channels the whole way. Could have listened to the same one, but I switched back and forth between the 60's channel and the Comedy Channel for variety.

Check out the link that chasd60 provided. You can listen to samples of the various channels through your computer.

If you want to check out Sirius as well, their website is http://www.siriusradio.com.

Did I mention that I love my XM radio?? :J

[abbear]

I have the XM SkyFi in my car plus the boombox.  Mainly got the boombox to use camping.  Like it a lot so far.

[Gone-Camping]

Also, only XM has the NASCAR channel and that was a big plus with me!! Since you're a NASCAR fan too, Cliff, that might be a selling point with you.

I wasn't aware of this, and was actually leaning toward Serius since they are major NASCAR sponsors! You'd think if they are dumping all that money into the sport, then they would be carrying the races too?!?! Hmmmm....

[labontefan]

I wasn't aware of this, and was actually leaning toward Serius since they are major NASCAR sponsors! You'd think if they are dumping all that money into the sport, then they would be carrying the races too?!?! Hmmmm....

I think it was a case of XM beating 'em to the draw. XM was several months ahead of Sirius in going live. If memory serves me correctly, Sirius had some technology issues, first with their satellites and then with some of the chips needed for the Sirius hardware. Making a deal with NASCAR to carry the NASCAR channel was, IMO, a major coup on XM's part. They really played to NASCAR fans' loyalty also. They had huge XM exhibits at all the races I attended in the months before they went live, and continued those exhibits at races after XM became available nationwide.

I think Sirius got so heavily into sponsorship of NASCAR events, plus the #7 car, because they were trying to trade in on some of that fan loyalty as well. They do have Speed Channel radio which has some NASCAR programming, but only XM has the "official NASCAR channel."

http://www.xmradio.com/programming/channel_page.jsp?ch=144

Did I mention I love my XM Radio?  :M

If you don't want to change out your factory radio, an add-on tuner like the Delphi XM Roady (that chasd60 mentioned) is an easy way to go:

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=79800&I=040SA10035&o=m&a=1&cc=01&avf=Y

(Gotta plug my employer there! LOL!!)

The Delphi SKYFi tuner that abbear and I mentioned is also pretty cool. You can move it from home (with a home kit) to car (with a car kit) to a portable boombox. I have this tuner:

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=79800&I=040SA10000&o=m&a=1&cc=01&avf=Y

And this boombox:

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=040SA10001&g=80000&s=0

The boombox lives in my camper during camping season.

They've just recently released a new boombox that also has an AM/FM tuner and a CD player, so you can have everything all in one:

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?s=0&c=3&g=80000&I=040SA10034&o=m&a=1&cc=01&avf=Y

Both XM and Sirius offer great programming--my preference is for XM, but some people like Sirius better. Sirius is a little more expensive ($12.99/month compared to $9.99/month for XM). One of their big selling points used to be that all their music channels were completely commercial free; XM's were about 60% commercial free. However, XM has shot that down. As chasd60 mentioned, as of 2/1/04, all of XM's music channels will be 100% commercial free as well. Sirius is also supposed to be slightly better quality sound. But, I don't know how much difference you would actually hear in a car. Plus XM quality is so much better than FM or AM already--you kinda cringe when you go back to FM for any reason! LOL!!

Gee, I sound like a sales person, don't I? Maybe 'cause I am?  :p

[chasd60]

You really don't need the boom box if you have a 12VDC supply, wireless FM modulator and the Roady. WIth the Wireless FM modulator you can listen to it on any radio you already have. The modulator is built into the 12V power plug and you set the channel directly on the plug, 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7 and 107.1, 107.3, 107.5 and 107.7.
The Roady can be moved anywhere with only the 12V supply and the Wireless FM Modulator, I picked up single plug supply from WalMart auto section for around $10
 
The Roady only requires 6V to run so I am toying with the idea of a battery setup to run it as well.
 
More info below
 
http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.jsp?BV_EngineID=cceladckhkjkdlfcfngcfkmdffhdffk.0&b=g&b=g&c=1&WT.mc_n=72&oid=80858&WT.mc_t=C&BV_SessionID=%40%40%40%402095161955.1074772835%40%40%40%40&bfinfo=ab-pf80858-ab&com.broadvision.session.new=Yes&BV_UseBVCookie=yes&goTo=detail&vendor=befree&c=1&b=g

[labontefan]

True, you don't need the boombox to play the Roady. However, you get a much better quality sound with a direct connection than with the FM modulator. Also, unlike the Roady, which has all the connections built into the tuner, the SKYFi is just the tuner. It doesn't have the power connections, antenna connections, etc. You have to have the home kit, the car kit, or the boom box to use it.

The boombox will run on AC power or on D cell batteries so you can take it just about anywhere. Since I usually camp with no hookups, I don't even try to use the AC adapter---just keep lots of D cells on hand. The antenna has a pretty long cable on it if you need to move it around. Or, if you want to carry the boombox, you can coil the cable up inside it and attach the antenna to the back of the boombox.

When did you purchase your Roady? XM is offering a free home kit with all Roady purchases made between November 21 and January 1. Just go to XM's site and click on the picture of the Roady. There's a link on the next page to the form you need to order the free home kit. I think the order form has to be dated by 1/31.

As I mentioned, I gave my cousin the Roady for Christmas. I'm getting ready to order the free home kit for her. (She had the UPC code and I had the receipt and the order form, so I had to get the UPC code from her.)

We were one of the first electronics retailers to have XM equipment available when it rolled out about three years ago. Some of the guys at XM Radio even bought their equipment from us! I had to call a customer to confirm an order a couple of years ago. He was ordering a Pioneer FM modulated XM tuner. His shipto address was XM Radio in Washington, DC! When I talked to him, he told me he was the 80's channel program director. He said no one else had the equipment in stock yet, so a lot of the XM employees were buying their equipment from Crutchfield. Some of our employees went up to DC last year to visit XM's headquarters. Apparently XM gave them the red carpet treatment. I wanted to go but it conflicted with the Martinsville race so I had to skip it.

[LoadedCamera]

I to have the XM radio installed in my Truck.  I am looking at the Boombox for my listening pleasure for when we are camping during Racing Season!
 
The NASCAR channel was the largest selling point for me when choosing either XM or Sirius..
 
I listen to my Jazz and Blues stations all the time.. The best Holiday music over Christmas and can always be assured of getting the music that I want no matter where I am.. along with current News, Weather and Sports..
 
I will never be without my XM again!

[chasd60]

True, you don't need the boombox to play the Roady. However, you get a much better quality sound with a direct connection than with the FM modulator. Also, unlike the Roady, which has all the connections built into the tuner, the SKYFi is just the tuner. It doesn't have the power connections, antenna connections, etc. You have to have the home kit, the car kit, or the boom box to use it.
 
The boombox will run on AC power or on D cell batteries so you can take it just about anywhere. Since I usually camp with no hookups, I don't even try to use the AC adapter---just keep lots of D cells on hand. The antenna has a pretty long cable on it if you need to move it around. Or, if you want to carry the boombox, you can coil the cable up inside it and attach the antenna to the back of the boombox.
 
When did you purchase your Roady? XM is offering a free home kit with all Roady purchases made between November 21 and January 1. Just go to XM's site and click on the picture of the Roady. There's a link on the next page to the form you need to order the free home kit. I think the order form has to be dated by 1/31.
 
As I mentioned, I gave my cousin the Roady for Christmas. I'm getting ready to order the free home kit for her. (She had the UPC code and I had the receipt and the order form, so I had to get the UPC code from her.)
 
We were one of the first electronics retailers to have XM equipment available when it rolled out about three years ago. Some of the guys at XM Radio even bought their equipment from us! I had to call a customer to confirm an order a couple of years ago. He was ordering a Pioneer FM modulated XM tuner. His shipto address was XM Radio in Washington, DC! When I talked to him, he told me he was the 80's channel program director. He said no one else had the equipment in stock yet, so a lot of the XM employees were buying their equipment from Crutchfield. Some of our employees went up to DC last year to visit XM's headquarters. Apparently XM gave them the red carpet treatment. I wanted to go but it conflicted with the Martinsville race so I had to skip it.

I bought mine after 1/1/04 so I don't get the home kit.
The Roady has a signal output adjustment and it says normally you don't need to adjust this, I found the default setting to be fine if using the cassette adapter but full signal works better with the wireless FM modulator.
I seem to get a pretty good signal up to 20-30 feet from the transmitter, I have it on the first floor of my house and listened to it upstairs aswell as going into my hybrid on the lawn and it also picked it up well. As far as the "much better quality sound with a direct connection than with the FM modulator" There is a point where the quality change is more than my aging ears can detect:eek: !!
The SKYfi does have the connections just not via standard plugs on the side correct? They have the connections in the back and make that connection when plugged into one of the various kits?
 
BTW, all of my stuff came from Crutchfield
Looking at some upgraded speakers now for my hybrid, factory ones leave a little to be desired

[labontefan]

BTW, all of my stuff came from Crutchfield

All right!! You're helping pay my salary!! Thanks!  :J

The SKYFi tuner has a proprietary connection that works with the various kits. Then the kits have the connections for power, antenna, etc.

I love the boombox--it's great for camping since it will run on D cells. One word of caution, LoadedCamera--if you plan to run it off batteries, make sure you have LOTS. It sucks 'em dry pretty quick! Of course, we tend to have the thing on just about constantly when we're in the camper.

I brought the boombox in the house (along with the TV, the microwave, and the battery) when I winterized the camper. I didn't know how well it would react to the cold. Plus I wanted to have it handy in case I wanted to listen to XM in the house.

I'm thinking about getting the Delphi home kit and connecting it to my receiver. That way I can have XM in surround sound! LOL!!

[chasd60]

All right!! You're helping pay my salary!! Thanks! :J

Funny how it all comes around, by anyone purchasing Delphi products it helps my salary. I work for Fairchild Semiconductor and Delphi is one of our larger customers.
 
We have semiconductors in almost every electronic apparatus out there. Buy, buy, buy!!!!

[dee106]

we have three units, so we have the family plan, we have it in van, the suv, and at home.  i listen to the old radio shows and the books while working on the pc or cooking, when i need a break from the News and the music, Ken has his country, and NASCAR, playing in the suv, while on the road. Can't wait for the traffic channels to start, that will help at rush hours here!