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Satellite Radio

djdgh

New member
For my new K1300GT--am looking for a radio. What is difference between XM and Sirius? Who sells receivers that will stand up for awhile on a bike?
I'm assuming that I'll use RAM mount.
 
If I understand correctly, XM bought Sirius some time back, so there is only one option with Satellite radio. Most of the Zumo models have XM built-in, so if you do not have a GPS, or are thinking about replacing the one you have, you should should weigh the option of buying a Zumo to get both a great GPS and XM as well as an MP3 player all in one unit.

I should mention that I bought a Garmin nuvi 550 (also a waterproof unit rated "motorcycle friendly" by Garmin) mainly because I did not want XM and I already have an MP3 player I use when riding.
 
there is a bit of a difference Between Sirius and XM, for instance XM has (or had) a Jazz channel i liked that played some electric fusion type jazz -and NOT *smooth* jazz- Sirius does NOT have that particular jazz channel. recently bought a new vehicle that comes with 3 free months of Sirius satellite radio. i am trying to be impressed but so far not so much.
the one channel i like a lot, Little Steven (Van Zandt's) UnderGround Garage, seems to play the same songs over and over- much like any other radio station. in a little over two weeks i have heard the same songs repeatedly. weak, IMO.
lots of variety across the board on satellite, tho i am not into sports or talk radio, so that alone wipes out almost half the channels.

good international and BBC news, tho

classical, OK, some traditional type jazz and a Sinatra Channel, plus Outlaw (alt) Country and Willie Nelson Channel for more like classic Country. it really depends on what you want or can tolerate.

the big plus is it's virtually everywhere. but then again so is an iPod or Sim Card, both of which may plug into the average or up-scale GPS. if you can stream off your phone then leave your home PC on and stream your own iTunes files (and your friends') with Simplify Media, or rock Pandora or other APPs. probably your fave public radio station has an iPhone APP too!

to me Sirius and XM seem to have limited appeal... for a price.
 
Sirius

I have been a Sirius subscriber for quite some time and enjoy the BB King Bluesville Channel very much along with Classic Vinyl (Classic Rock) and The 60's Rock Channel (which sometimes features legendary New York 60's DJ Cousin Brucie at the mike). I think you can probably buy a package from them now that has a mix of both XM and Sirius Channels. I think satellite radio is great, I never listen to commercial radio anymore. Don
 
Sirrus Radio

One suggestion here fellas, if you subscribe to sat radio don't provide them with an accurate telephone number, especially a cell phone number for your account. I had sirrus radio in my Audi, and when it expired I decided not to renew. Sirrus began harrassing me on the telephone calling me three to four times a day despite the fact I asked them to stop. Eventually I filled a complaint with the FCC, but they still kept calling. Eventually I decided to just lie to them and tell them the car was stolen, that stopped the calls. This took 3 months to accomplish so unless you want three to four calls a day from this number 18663017344 belonging to sirrus don't give them an accurate telephone number.
 
Wait until you try to cancel a subscription... :mad

Here in CT, satellite radio drops out a lot. I also find the fidelity very lacking compared to MP3 or CD.
 
Wait until you try to cancel a subscription

I recently called to cancel my subscription for three radios, and they told me that since I had been a customer for so long, I was eligible for one year at half price. :doh It seems they gouge the hell out of you then give you a deal when you try to leave.

BTW, the jazz channel on XM is called Water Colors.
 
I recently called to cancel my subscription for three radios, and they told me that since I had been a customer for so long, I was eligible for one year at half price. :doh It seems they gouge the hell out of you then give you a deal when you try to leave.

BTW, the jazz channel on XM is called Water Colors.
The regular deal is 2nd vehicle cost 1/2:wave
I've used mine all over the USA & Canada don't have a problem with reception ecepting a hill or a mtn in the way on rare occassions.
 
I have Sirius in my car and think it is well worth the price. I can get get an all Blues channel even in the boondocks of Maine and Vermont.
 
Sirius purchased XM...thankfully they are still run as two (almost) separate services, at least in Canada (part of the industry agreement). We have three subscriptions and yes they are cheaper after the first one, and once riding season hits in earnest again here, my current XM portable subscription gets moved over the zumo 665 that is transferred between my RT and the 800.

Have used the SUV subscription and both the motorcycle units in Canada and US without any issues and I have never run into the 'reprogramming' issue that some seem to experience when moving north, or south, of the border?

Less the odd dropped signal and as someone has noted, audio quality can be poor (particularly channel separation).

But having said all this, not sure if all the subscriptions will continue later this year...and subscribing to the other XM services for weather coverage, etc, is costly, at least here in Canada, but if travelling constantly in the US, where coverage is darn good, then its probably worth it.

My 0.02 cents (Cdn), cheers, Bruce
 
Watch these people, in my book they are crooks. As stated earlier trying to cancel is a nightmare, they will tell you that the service can be turned off and on to save your contract time during times you may not ride (they wouldn't for me). Being from your area of the world I got alot of dropouts when riding in the foothills and mountain areas. Both my wife and I ride and the cost is very high even when the "give" it to you for half price. We switched to mp3 players with the slot card feature and are very happy as there are no dropouts and the quality is better (we use Starcom systems, and have custom molded earphones) I would research other systems before going to sat radio, besides the cost is less for other systems. my $.02.
Larry
 
We switched to mp3 players with the slot card feature and are very happy as there are no dropouts and the quality is better

That is the way I went. I just bought a 2011 SUV that included XM Radio and came with the 3 month trial. I can understand the attraction if you spend hours in on the road on a regular basis going cross county like a long commute to work. Since my office is 5 minutes from my house and the sound system also plays MP3 files from a USB drive or on CD, I just did not hear anything on XM that I could not put together myself on MP3 CD's. We use those in the house on a Bose player that also plays MP3 CD's. You can get over 11 hours of MP3 music on a CD times 6 CD's in the changer is 66 hours. If I want to go to the trouble, I can put all CD's we own in MP3 format on a 16GB USB drive.

On motorcycle trips, I use a small (1.5" x 1") MP3 player in my shirt pocket. Rechargable Li-ion lasts 15 hours, and I can recharge from the bike when I get to camp. It also has an FM radio. FM is little value when riding cross country, but is great when you get to camp and want to listen to the news. I use noise isolating earbuds that work as well as my earplugs when the music is off and also carry regular earbuds for use around camp.

XM Radio is offering me half price for the first year ($77) since I didn't pickup the service after the 3 month trial. Even at the reduced price, the value does not seem to me to be in line with the price.
 
I guess we're an oddity. We've had our XM subscription for quite a while, and love it. I bought a second vehicle kit, and move my radio between the car and the bike. I've rarely had an issue with the signal dropping out, though admittedly the reception's been better with my SkyFi2 than with Dave's RoadyXT. I won't be buying an installation kit for my 2nd bike, though. I'll use my trusty ancient iPod. I have music on my GPS, but the volume doesn't seem adequate for some reason. I just can't hear it at highway speed.
 
Whew, what a lot of trouble with satellite radio. I tried HD radio, since I want to keep up with my kids, but it didn't work - whether or not it is the radio or the radio station, I do not know.

IMHO there is a parallel between local radio stations and sticking with US and State Highways, verses riding the Interstate Highway System. The US and State roads give an entirely different view of our country. Riding the Interstate system is the fastest way to see nothing, all behind a tractor trailer and sandwiched between soccer mom's in their SUVs.

Local places have local flavored radio, complete with accents, news and events. Texas, one of the bluest states in the nation, even has a Texas Public Radio in the southern and western part of our State, which may not even be an NPR affiliate, not sure. Who would have known?

Many may not appreciate local flavor like South Texas Public Radio, to each their own. Just my own two cents.
 
If your GPS is built for it, XM has real-time NEXRAD weather maps. I found it an awesome feature. Let me route around storms many times. Not sure if Sirius offers real-time weather.

Watch these people, in my book they are crooks. As stated earlier trying to cancel is a nightmare, they will tell you that the service can be turned off and on to save your contract time during times you may not ride (they wouldn't for me). ...

My experience was totally different. I had XM and I've turned mine on and off several times. No problems at all. Never had a billing problem.

My only reception issues were in deep canyons out in the Western U.S. and along small mountains in some more moderate valleys traveling through British Columbia from Hyder over to Jasper Park.
 
Like I said it was my 2 cents worth but if I told you what happened you would say I was just making up a story. Just as a side note story and to show you what I mean. Canceled once...two months later got a notice account was past due. Called them up and they said sorry it was their mistake. Next month I got a notice they were sending my account to collections! Call them back and all of a sudden they have no knoledge of me calling to cancel my account. They said if I admitted my mistake over the phone They would "let" me renew my two radios at half price (this is what is called extorsion-sp) but if I didn't they would damage my credit with the collection company (sorry but my credit score is very good and I didn't want to damage it with these crooks). I renewed and cancelled at end of contract year(which was also quite a hassle). If you deal with these people make sure you get everything sent to you in a e-mail so you can refer to it or print it out. DO NOT do anything verbal without getting in print also. As you can tell I do not like these people at all, the short story is a very short version of what I went through to get my mess straightened out.
Larry
 
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I got Sirius in my M3 for one reason: Howard Stern.

Been listening to him for years and so when he made the switch, so did I.

I am disappointed with reception here in the SF bay area. It cuts out under overpasses and there are some dead spots. It happens to a friend of mine too.

And the talk radio stations (Stern included) are full of commercials. Music stations don't have commercials, but the DJ's are annoying and I'd prefer they just play music and not chit-chat. Especially the 80's channel.. the old MTV Vee Jays are on there and they are ANNOYING as hell.

I think if Stern left Sirius, I'd cancel my subscription. I'd rather listen to my ipod for music..
 
I got Sirius in my M3 for one reason: Howard Stern.

Just goes to show you - different strokes for different folks. Howard Stern is the reason we went with XM instead of Sirius. He was on a local station here for a very short time - couldn't STAND him.

To each his own!
 
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