Sat radio help-newbie

Well, I have finally decided to put satellite radio on my bike. I know...what have I been missing. I also have a zumo and I am looking at all possibilities either with a zumo or without...meaning seperate receiver. Can you please post what you have done on your bikes and if you have any pics that would be great also. Since I am new to the SAT service, I am doing my research as to the best way to go. I would like the option of having it on my bike, car, and home. Thanks for all the help.

The best option for the bike is the GXM-30 receiver integrated with the Zumo. The Zumo works well as the center of your bike's info center. You get major-market traffic and basic weather along with the XM subscription and these show up on the Zumo screen.

You're on your own for sat radio hardware in other locations. Whatever is out there just isn't going to work as seamlessly on the bike.

sat radio help- newbie

I had an XM radio installed on my bike from new(07 R1200RT). I dont have a zumo or a regular radio. I also wanted to be able to cummunicate with my brother on his HD. Therefore I had a BMW CB installed along with the XM. The CB has an aux. mode and intercom. The shop did all this as I'm NOT mechanical. Sinse I dont have a regular radio they installed an amp. under the seat, from amp to CB aux. I also dont have external speakers so everything comes through the helmet, XM,CB and intercom. Works great although I'm not sure the radio coming into the helmet speakers is legal here in PA. I consider the XM as a communication divice....so i might still be legal ?

I am running the GXM-30 along with my Zumo 550 on my 2007 RT. I am using two RAM reservior mounts from Cycle Gadgets The set up works great for me. I have the Zumo on the left side where it is very easy to control. The GXM 30 is on the right. I posted some photos of my set up on the Zumo Forums. They are still there on page http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php?topic=6353.0

Kenn45 said:

They are still there on page http://www.zumoforums.com/index.php?topic=6353.0

Click to expand...

user password is needed to access.

You can go to www.zumoforums.com and register for free. If you are going to get a Zumo, you will want to be part of that forum. There is a tremendous amoun of information available.

Since XM and Sirius have merged into one company, it doesn't make a difference which one you get.

Since you have the Zumo, it makes sense to get the big old hockey puck sized antennae and use the XM feature built into the unit. Should set you back about $150. Here's an image of the antennae:





Photos are not from my bike.

Amazon has them for $193 but I've seen them used for much cheaper.



On my LT, I have the Sirius Starmate which has a much smaller antennae. I have it installed on the left clutch lever:

This one is from my LT:



The antennae simply sits on the back of Hoon Hardware mount that I got from cyclegadgets.com



Good Luck!

Sent you a PM.

I have an extra GXM-30 antenna that I am willing to sell. It works great with the Zumo. No need to get another, separate receiver.

For the good of the forum, I asked Motogirl if I can post the following PMs:


In a PM, Motogirl writes:

Thanks for posting. Got a couple of questions... So you have a Sirius receiver. I know the zumo is set up for xm. Do you know if you can get a serius subscription and it will work with the zumo. I thought the zumo was only xm. Today I bought an xm receiver. Are you telling me I can put Sirius on an xm reciever and hook it through the zumo and it will work? Thanks for the help and information.

Lori

In a PM back to her, I responded:

SiriusXM are still working out the details of the merger. If it was my money, I would simply buy the hockey puck antennae for the Zumo and subscriibe to XM.

As it stands right now, the XM with Sirius seems to be a better deal than Sirius with XM. Since I'm a baseball nut, I'd want the baseball on XM and add on a package that includes Howard Stern. The music channels are similar. In my mind, baseball is the best thing about XM.

I bought Sirius to get Howard. Otherwise, I'd have XM.

The pricing for these stations can be found here:

http://www.sirius.com/packages/best

and

http://www.xmradio.com/whatisxm/plans-pricing.xmc

I hope this helps!

With you permission, I'd like to repost this in the thread so that others can comment on it too! I won't post it until I hear back from you.

I don't have a Zumo, so I use a standard XM receiver, currently a SkyFi2, as the old Roady (shown in the accompanying link) died...the power plug connection would go dead on the Roady due to vibration.

I've since modified the installation a little bit, by adding velcro under the Lexan, and using zip ties to wrap the long bundled antenna wire with velcro underneath, running the antenna up on top of the clutch reservoir, held in place with velcro.

The XM units I've used don't have proper volume controls, so I added an Amplirider.com amplifier...plug the XM output into the Amplirider, the Amplirider output goes to your helmet speakers or earphones. The Amplirider volume control knob is mounted on the radio blank on the left side of the fairing. My personal setup runs through an Autocom so my wife and I can communicate and listen to music, but solo you don't need an Autocom.

Here's a clickable pic of the Amplirider volume knob installed:



XM radios all come with cigarette lighter plugs. I simply opened the plug case and soldered wires to the two connections, then plugged the wires into my switched power block. If I can do it, anyone can.

Here's the link to the mount thread on another forum:

http://bmwsporttouring.com/ubbthrea...=showflat&Main=17583&Number=176610#Post176610

beemergrl said:

Well, I have finally decided to put satellite radio on my bike. I know...what have I been missing. I also have a zumo and I am looking at all possibilities either with a zumo or without...meaning seperate receiver. Can you please post what you have done on your bikes and if you have any pics that would be great also. Since I am new to the SAT service, I am doing my research as to the best way to go. I would like the option of having it on my bike, car, and home. Thanks for all the help.

Click to expand...

Programming is, of course, a very personal thing. The XM/Sirius merger is not yet complete, as has been mentioned. I have both systems - XM in my wife's car and on Direct TV, and Sirius in my car and at home. These are just my thoughts:

Sirius has way better 60's music if that is your thing
Sirius has channel 12 "The Bridge" which has fantastic soft rock of the 70's (Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, etc)
XM has way better country stations, if you like that.
The rest if kind of up to your preferences......XM has live PGA Tour Golf (I know, this sounds very weird!) and Sirius has live NFL games.

Both my wife and I tend to like Sirius programming better......but I know that is a personal thing. Try to listen to both if possible, maybe on the internet. Then you can decide.

Best thing is, you can get reception anywhere you can see the sky, and there are NO COMMERCIALS!!! WuuuuuHoooooooo!

I also have a Zumo 550 with the Garmin GXM-30. The GXM-30 is actually the antenna and receiver in one unit. The Zumo provides the user interface, and it is one of the best sat radio interfaces I have seen. It is a great combination.

You can use it in your car and on your bike, but it would require that you move both the Zumo and the GXM between vehicles, using the two cradles that Garmin provides.

However, you would not be able to use this easily in your house.

I mounted my XM unit for the Zumo on my clutch reservoir top with velcor, no fancy brackets or mounts needed. Works great, $0.00 dollars spent.

A question

OK - it looks like if I were to take my XM on the road for my long summer moto trip, I'll need to

remove the XM receiver from the car (easy) and wire it into the bike's 12v system
buy an antenna from eBay,
buy a holding bracket from Cyclegadgets,
then buy a separate amp to boost and control the volume so I can run XM thru my earbuds.

Right?

The original XM manual stresses that the antenna needs to be positioned on a large sheet metal surface to help with the signal. Not possible on a GS, but for the moment I'll assume that the little bracket on the Cyclegadgets holder will do the trick.

Am I missing anything?

Would'nt it be a LOT easier to buy a PIONEER XM PORTABLE SATELLITE RADIO for $70 off of eBay and switch my subscription over to this unit? Eliminates the amp, the antenna and can be mounted with a universal RAM mount. Built in antenna and an MP3 player. No separate amp needed.

Seems too logical - I must be missing something....

I'm certainly no authority on this subject, but I believe the problem with the portable unit is that it is not meant to operate in a vehicle. From what I understand, its antenna is not meant to operate as efficiently as one in a car. The car model, or GXM-30 in this case, needs to be able to catch microwave and satellite transmissions. And it has to be able to do this quickly as you move down the road. I don't remember where I read it, but I read that the portable units do not have the capability to operate in changing transmission environments as quickly, so you get a lot of cutting out of the signal.

If you already have a Zumo, get on Ebay and pick up a GXM-30 and that will solve your problems. With Sirius and XM now merged, you get the best of both on any radio you now use.

I am buying a new GSA next month but have already bought a TT MVG mount, the Zumo, and GXM-30 and have it mounted on my CB750A. The reception is fantastic. Only problem would be if you want to use bluetooth, because Zumo will only bluetooth in mono. I ran an extension cable down under the tank and it sits between the tank and the front of the seat. When I get on the bike, I plug either my earplugs or helmet speakers into the extension. Now I can hear the directions of Zumo and listen to XM or the built-in MP3 player in stereo.