Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with sirius

Gift horse, mouth, etc.

InsanePenguin — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:49:27 -0800

Why am I getting free Sirius? I bought a Kia Soul+ in July (great car, just made the IIHS's 2010 top safety list!) and was graced with the 3 month free Sirius subscription. Awesome, but not awesome enough for me to pay for it, so when it ran out in October I wasn't terribly upset. I got myriad letters from SiriusXM asking me to come back, giving me offers, etc. but I ignored them and they stopped coming.

Then, like 3 days ago when I was turning on the stereo I hit a bump and my finger pushed the satellite radio. Low and behold, it loaded my stations right up and started playing!

Now, I went to check the Sirius website to see what status my subscription was at, but I realized I never made an account (confirmed by entering my Sirius ID, they didn't have an account on file for it,) and when you go to make an account it asks for your credit card number. I didn't want to accidentally end up actually paying for it, so I stopped there.

So my question is, has anyone seen something like this happen? Did they send me a letter that I missed offering me a free trial or something?

receptions depends on time of day, time of year, and direction facing?

ChrisLSU — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:57:31 -0800

I need help/advice fixing my Sirius reception (before I decide to fix it myself with a ball-peen hammer). Horrible reception during certain times of the year, during certain times of the day, and driving certain directions. So another summer has come along and for the 2nd in a row, my Sirius reception goes into the crapper. Well, not all the time. In the morning on my way into work, it's fine. In the early evening (say, after 5) it's fine. No problems at night. But during the hottest times of the day, it's practically non-existent. Well, not entirely.
Let's take a typical day at the office. On my way into work, the reception is fine. At lunch, it's hot. I jump in my car and drive north. Nary a peep from the radio - I could drive an hour and the screen would display "Acquiring signal" the entire way. If I drive west, I can get about 75/25 no reception/good signal. If I drive east, it's about 50/50. And if I drive south, reception on the whole is near 100%. If I'm driving east with a good signal and take a left to go north, the signal dies midway thru the turn and doesn't come back until I turn to go another direction.
This problem disappears once the heat starts letting up, say mid to late September. Once the mercury hits the mid to upper 90's, it's back to a spotty (at best) signal.
I've had Sirius for about 3 years now and mostly enjoy it, particularly on long drives so I don't have to fumble thru the radio dial to find a station I like. I should also note that while I have the puck-sized roof antenna, it's stopped working about a year after I got it (error: "Connecting to Antenna" or somesuch) so I took the outdoor antenna the kit came with, wound up the slack wire with twist ties, and tucked the whole thing behind the radio, which is suction-mounted to my windshield (bottom left-hand corner). There's no way I'm springing for a new antenna unless it was guaranteed to fix my problems, which I suspect is more due to the heat or position of the sun than a faulty antenna.
Any help is appreciated. This problem has frustrated me to the point where I'm just about ready to cancel my subscription and smash the radio into little plastic bits!

Looking for recommendations on satellite radio receivers.

Argyle — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 06:21:42 -0800

Looking for recommendations on satellite radio receivers. With the merger of XM & Sirius complete, the XM receiver in Mrs. Argyle's new car, and the demise of my two favorite radio stations in Los Angeles, all signs point to satellite radio in my future.

I'm looking for recommendations on a simple portable receiver suitable for listening from my car. I would plug it into an adapter cable like an MP3 player would.

Previous AskMe threads discuss the difference between XM & Sirius and the older models, but don't have current answers.

Any especially good models to get? Should I buy from XM direct or look to eBay for a used one?

Thanks for any help or advice.

XM instead of ASCAP fees?

BrodieShadeTree — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 07:49:38 -0800

Can a radio service such as XM or Sirius replace the need to pay ASCAP/BMI fees for a business waiting room? Simply put, does the use of a pay service like XM or sirius relieve a business of their ASCAP/BMI obligation? I am told that Muzak, specifically does alleviate the fees as they are 'rolled in' to the service model.

Sirius radio reception and channel question

docpops — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:50:40 -0800

New Sirius radio subscriber with questions for MeFi... I just added a Starmate 5 Sirius receiver to my car. In a week or so I will take it in for hardwiring to my deck so I don't have to deal with the FM transmitter. Questions:

1: Is there an aftermarket antenna that would improve the strength of my signal reception over and above the flat silver-dollar sized doohickie I have currently? I get 2 bars of strength most areas and it takes at least thirty seconds for the unit to grab a signal when I start the car.

2: Favorite channels? I love Left Of Center, but any MeFites who have other favorites, I'd appreciate it. I'm a bit overwhelmed.

Any other tips appreciated prior to installation.

Which satellite radio provider is offering the best deal?

damn dirty ape — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:58:32 -0800

Which satellite radio provider is offering the best deal? Im looking to move to XM or Sirius but am not sure who offers better pricing. Along with the subscription I need an in-dash unit that has a AUX input for my mp3 player. I'd also like a removable-face for this too.

Can someone recommend a brand or model? Nothing fancy needed. The cheaper the better. I'm also open to ebay/used/refurb items. I'm not interested in any portable/FM transmitter based solutions. Thanks.

Sirius has lost it's face

shaarog — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 06:21:39 -0800

My Sirius reciever has stopped displaying. It is about 2 years old so just out of warrenty (of course). When I start the car the receiver displays for a little while. Then it goes blank. It still receives the signal and I can hear it but the display is blank. I suspect it is a weak solder joint that works until the receiver heats up and then fails.
Has anyone had this problem? What are the odds of opening the thing and re-soldering? Any other suggestions?

Help me id some random comedy heard on Sirius

jules1651 — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 16:19:10 -0800

I am trying to find the name of the comedian and what album the bit I heard on the radio was from. We were listening to the Foxhole on Sirius, and it was either a real or scripted prank call. The comedian was calling a young woman's father and asking permission to go away with her for the weekend. He kept calling the dad "playa" and mentioning that he was 47. It kind of spins out of control and he threatens to go fight the man? Any ideas would be appreciated.

How should I setup satellite radio in my car?

Rewind — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 18:04:04 -0800

Any satellite radio users able to offer some insight on the best method of installation? My lovely girlfriend surprised me with Sirius satellite radio for Christmas and I am thrilled no end. However, I’m wondering if I could pick the brains of my fellow AskMeFites as to the best way to set it up.

The unit she ended up getting me was a Stratus, which seems like a good fit, however given my current setup, I’m wondering if I should go another route. I currently have the Alpine CDA-9851 in my car along with the KCA-420i interface adaptor for my iPod. I love my setup, and I’m thrilled to be adding satellite radio to the mix but I’m wondering whether I should keep the Stratus and use it as essentially a 2nd unit to control the satellite radio, or whether I should return it and get the necessary components to have the service controlled directly through the Alpine.

The pros to the Stratus as I see them are more presets, the ability to see more than one line of text so you can see artist/song/channel info, and can (relatively) easily see what’s on the other channels with less scrolling through the display. The downside however is the fact that it’s a 2nd head unit, and that it would plug into my cigarette lighter (or whatever they’re called these days) thereby ensuring that I wouldn’t be able to use my GPS at the same time. Also, there seems to be a queston regarding the sound quality unless I have a direct connection.

The pros to the control through the Alpine are that it’s all one unit, which means less wiring all over and power is coming from a source other than the cigarette lighter. The downside however would seem to be that it only displays one line of text so that I’d have to hit a button each time I wanted to scroll through artist name/song/category, etc. Also, I’m worried that the scroll will be interminably slow. Currently, I control my iPod through the head unit and it is suh-low as molasses. It’s great to be able to do that, but I find I have to set everything up in playlists to actually find music efficiently. I’m worried that the scroll through the Sirius channels would be just as slow. Of course, I could upgrade my current Alpine head unit to one that displayed two/three lines of text (and I haven’t yet ruled that out) but that might be quite cost prohibitive.

Anyway, any MeFites have a similar setup to those described above and are there any major (or minor) pros/cons you’d be willing to share? Thanks in advance.

Help me choose an XM Radio receiver

jdroth — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:46:47 -0800

I've tried to resist, but I can't any longer — I want to subscribe to satellite radio. XM has at least two stations that I'll listen to almost constantly (channels 4 and 44, though 28 and 81 sound appealing, too). After hearing the web-based "free trial", I'm ready to sign up but I don't know anything about receivers. I'll mostly be listening at home. I don't have a stereo setup, but I do have lots of Macs (including Airport Express). I'd like to be able to listen in my car, too. Which receiver options are best? I know that XM and Sirius are merging — is this any reason to wait to purchase equipment? (I found XM Fan from a previous AskMe question and will check that out. But I know and trust Mefites better than strangers at a fan board.)

Satellite for Nerds?

DU — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:47:11 -0800

Can there seriously not be a single science (or even technology) channel on either one of the two satellite radio systems? XM's lineup
Sirius's lineup

I'm getting tired of the increasingly ridiculous stories on NPR (today's idiocy was exposing the "hypocrisy" of a populist becoming *gasp* popular) and I'd like to switch to something else. There's nothing local, but, hey, satellite radio has so many choices, I'll probably find something, right?

Unless I'm reading it wrong, no, I won't. I've googled the hell out of this because I still can't really believe that this would be the case. If nerds, geeks and early adopters aren't listening to Radio From Outer Space, then who is? I've gotten a few hits for things like Discovery Channel Radio¹ but I don't see the channels on the lineups and the reports are always 3 or 4 years old. Maybe the channels didn't last? Or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong place?

The two systems have a combined 32 sports channels and 7 Christian channels, but not a single science or technology one? Wha?

¹Which would probably be just as shallow and disappointing as the TV channel, but at least it would be something.

How do I perfect my new speakers?

werty — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 21:38:29 -0800

Got great new speakers for my stereo. Now comes the hard part: I need to find a particular kind of stand, and my satellite radio sounds funny. Suggestions? I went looking recently for an unobtrusive satellite/subwoofer system for the stereo in my smallish living room. I wound up with a set of Paradigm Atom speakers instead.

Having sacrified the original plan (read: my wife wanted little ceiling-mounted Bose satellites), I now need to find somewhere to put the speakers. They're bookshelf-sized, but I don't have a bookshelf in the area they're being placed, and they're too bulky to ceiling-mount per our original plan. Three-foot-tall floor stands are too imposing for our room. I'd like to find floor mounts that will support the speakers low to the ground and angle them into the listening space. I know they exist, but I can't find them. Pointers? Alternates?

In addition, now that I have speakers with a robust dynamic range, my XM Radio sounds dull. CDs and even MP3s sound good, but the XM lacks depth, like a movie in a theater with the surround sound turned off. What can I do to improve the satellite audio? Would a newer receiver--mine is from 2003--have better performance? Installing an equalizer just for this is a bit heavy-handed of a solution.

For the record, I'm excited to have the Atoms. They sound terrific across a wide variety of music; the dynamic range is far more robust than any sat/sub combo I tested. The Atoms are also more affordable than anything with similar performance. I considered many $600-900 speakers (Kef, Totem, Dynaudio and others) and the Paradigms are equal or better and just $249/pair list. Highly recommended.

Cheapest satellite radio receiver?

stupidsexyFlanders — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 08:36:49 -0800

What is the cheapest model of satellite radio receiver I can purchase for my car with these requirements: - XM or Sirius, don't care
- must have some kind of display
- must have a way to connect through AUX jack on my current head unit
- must have as unobtrusive an antenna as possible
- must be easily installed by user

Best Sirius Setup for Home and Car?

jules1651 — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:08:13 -0800

I'd like to buy a Sirius radio for my home and the car but I'm having trouble weighing all the options -- any help would be appreciated. I'd like to install this in the car (2003 Honda Civic w/ no audio input) and be able to use it at home as well. Options like recording are nice but not a must. I am interested in the Stiletto but am worried about the antenna quality as well as the car installation. If the fm transmitter won't work well (likely as the one I have for my ipod is spotty at best here in Chicago) is there a way to use it wired directly to my existing car stereo? Should I look at other options? For home use, I'd like to listen to it through my existing stereo setup.

Can an XM Radio use a Sirius Antenna?

Cardinal Fang! — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 17:49:20 -0800

Can an XM radio use a Sirius antenna? A friend has an RV with a Sirius installation built in (antenna on roof, connected to unit in dash). However, he has not chosen to subscribe to it, so it lies wasted.

We're going to take a road trip in his RV, and I have a portable XM radio with a car dock. Instead of finding a place to mount my own XM antenna, can I simply take the lead from his Sirius antenna and plug it into my XM car dock?

Are the antenna's the same? Or are they specific to the service, either in physical plug or some form of device-specific attributes?

What happens when two satellites 'do it'?

mjthomas — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 13:56:32 -0800

XM and Sirius announced their plans to merge. What happens now? I am a recent XM subscriber with a bunch of questions. Some may be impossible to answer at this point, but any speculation from an enlightened few would help me understand what the heck this means.

--How likely is this to be considered a monopoly and be rejected by the government?

--What will they call the new company?

--Will they keep all of their stations, or eliminate the overlapping ones?

--Will my satellite radio unit work with both satellites?

--Can Opie and Anthony and Howard Stern coexist?

portable radio with input

Gungho — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 13:08:00 -0800

Other than the Tivoli iPal and songbook, are there any other small AM/FM battery operated radios with a built in audio input (for like an iPod or Satellite radio). Yes I know you can use FM, but I want to be wired. I have a 'boombox' that has an audio input, but I am looking for something much smaller. the iPal is nice, but has limitations, and the SongBook is expensive. Ideally I would like a portable AM/FM/TV radio that runs on AA batteries, and has a minijack audio in.

Fat kid was Sirius

Dr. Lurker — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 23:42:02 -0800

Is Sirius going to take over XM? The fat kid that smelled liked cabbage who works in the car audio section at Best Buy said it was likely.... I like listening to radio and have been eyeing satellite for awhile, but have been putting it off because I think they will eventually merge. After a trip to Michigan where everyone has XM, presumably because of its ties to GM/Delphi, I almost decided I'd go that route. I figured with all of that corporate backing plus the fact that it was included with Directv, XM would surely win, right? Also I like Opie and Anthony. I was previously almost convinced a year ago by a friend who works for Don Imus who said according to the I-man, Sirius was going to win the battle as soon as Stern went satellite. Hasn't happened yet.

Anyway, I thought I'd check out what both networks had to offer for the holidays while xmas shopping today thinking XM would be the clear favorite. Previously mentioned seemingly trustworthy fat kid said all of the sports channels were moving from XM to Sirius and that meant the end of XM. Any mefites know anything about this? By my search, it's been at least a year since we've had this debate.

How can I decrease FM reception for my car?

poppo — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 10:42:20 -0800

How can I decrease FM reception for my car? I have taken off the antenna, but would like to proceed further. So, I have a new Sirius receiver and it broadcasts over whatever FM frequency I choose to my car radio. However, my area seems to have a lot of stations, with strong signals, so I get a lot of interference.

Obviously, I can just hardwire the receiver to the radio and this will solve my whole problem, but I was wondering if there was another step I could take in reducing the FM reception. Removing the antenna helped, so I was wondering if obstructing the remaining base it screws into would help. What material would dampen FM signals? Can I effectively reduce FM signals from the outside world but not one coming from inside my car, or is my whole car one big antenna?

Will my Sirius radio let me down in new york city?

TwilightKid — Fri, 16 Jun 2006 09:31:04 -0800

Just bought the Sirius Satelite Sportster unit and portable bombox. I live and work in NYC. Now , I have asked around and have repeatedly been told that living in NYC will not be a problem in a 'reception' sense. My father seems to think that there are too many buildings and obstructions for me to ever get a decent dignal from my aprtment or office. ... Howver, I have heard that there are things called 'repeaters' that the Satellite companies place all over metropolitan cities so, that we wouldnt need a direct south east path to the sky in order to use these radio's...

this makes more sense to me ,as XM and sirius would be losing millions of potential customers...

so just looking to hear from users....am i in the clear? will i have to keep this boom box near a window at all ties, or am i safe to move it round my apartment? i am aware, that subways and tunnels will present disruptions....

just want some piece of mind on my purchase.....thanks

Will an XM antenna work in a Sirius radio?

keep it tight — Thu, 06 Apr 2006 15:14:00 -0800

Will an XM antenna work on a Sirius radio? I can into possession of a home kit for XM, but I have Sirius....will the XM antenna work in my radio?

Children's Book

Carsey — Sun, 19 Mar 2006 23:12:27 -0800

I am trying to find an old book from my childhood (the 1960s): it involved a (possibly magical) bedspread and Sirius (the Dog Star). I remember lots of blues and greens in the illustrations, but not much else. Does this ring a bell? Can you help me find the title?

Can I use a Direct TV dish as the antenna for my Sirius receiver?

poppo — Mon, 09 Jan 2006 12:24:09 -0800

Can I use a Direct TV dish as the antenna for my Sirius receiver? So, I have Sirius and I get spotty reception at home. Their FAQ says I should have my antenna facing a Northwest direction. Now, of course I can run the cable across the house to the Northwest side, drill a hole to the outside, etc etc, problem solved.

However, it just so happens that I have an unused DirecTV dish already mounted on the Northwest side of the house, and it's already cabled through the house. It would save me a lot of work if I could just use this as my Sirius antenna.

Can I just splice together the cable running from the dish to the cable that needs to go into my Sirius receiver? I'm pretty sure they're just both copper inside.

FYI, I am not a DirecTV subscriber so the dish is at the moment unused.

For answerers who have seen neither a DirecTV dish nor a Sirius antenna but may be able to answer, here are what they look like:

The DirecTV dish:
http://prosatellitesupply.com/images/DirecTV_PHASE_3_DISH.jpg

The Sirius antenna:
http://www.directed.com/audio/sirius/images/acc_windowsill.jpg

How to connect Sirius Sportster to PC to record Howard?

camfys — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 04:53:12 -0800

I have the Sportster Replay and the boombox only (no home kit, etc) and I want to be able to record Howards first show on my computer using windows media encoder. Need help with hook up and settings please... I found this post and bought the stuff at Radio Shack today but either I'm doing something wrong or the setup he explains requires additional hardware that I don't have. Here is the post:

"Go to Radio Shack and purchase a Headphone Cable Y-Adapter 1/8 and a Stereo Audio Cable 1/8 (male-male ends). Total - $10
Connect the Y-adapter to your Sirius receiver audio out, if you’re using speakers plug your speakers into one of the Y feed lines, plug the Stereo Audio Cable into the other Y feed line and the other end of the Stereo Audio Cable into your computers sound card (mic). Download Windows Media Encoder..."

Ok, is this what the problem is..."Connect the Y-adapter to your Sirius receiver audio out" ??? My boombox only has aux in or headphones, not audio out...unless headphones=audio out??

Obviously, I'm clueless here so I hope I made sense...I would appreciate any advice on the cheapest way to be able to record the shows (I can't really afford new hardware, if that can be avoided) Thanks in advance!

OH! Forgot to mention I have a TV/FM tuner card that allows me to record FM radio as a wave file. Couldn't I just tune that fm tuner to pick up the audio and record that way? Or would a wav file be too large or otherwise not a good option?

THANK YOU!!

Which satellite radio is better, XM or Sirius?

ChrisTN — Mon, 19 Jul 2004 06:07:14 -0800

When it comes to satellite radio: XM or Sirius? [more inside] I’m leaning toward Sirius just because of the programming (seems to have exclusive rights to NPR and PRI programming, as well as others I find interesting), but I am still swayed by XM’s larger market share (i.e., I don’t want to find myself in 5 years with the Betamax of the satellite radio world). I'm not in an area where I'd benefit from XM's traffic/weather reports. I also want to consider the sound quality of the services, how frequently people run into ‘dead spots,’ etc. In addition, what are your feelings regarding the transportable plug ‘n play units vs. the wired in-car deals?