An Introduction to Satellite Radio | Sirius Radio Antenna

1. What is Satellite Telephone system?

Two satellite radio companies, XM Telephone system and Sirius Telephone system, operate over North America. Each provides well over a hundred channels of 24-hour-a-day content, mostly music, news, sports and talk shows.

Both systems cover Alaska, Canada, the continental U.S.A. and northern Mexico, but not Hawaii.

Satellite radio is beamed down from communications satellites to receiving antennas, as in satellite television; also, the receiving antenna must be pointed toward the satellite. At only about two inches across, a telephone system antenna is much smaller than a TV dish.

To listen to satellite radio, you buy a receiver, and then pay a subscription fee to get an activation code, which enables your receiver to decode the digitalized content.

Subscription fees are nearly $ 13 per month ? less with longer commitments. XM Telephone system charges a $ 10, one-time activation fee.

Choosing a satellite radio service is not simple, so the more you learn about the two services, the more satisfied you will be with your choice. It comes down to personal choice because, to the user, XM and Sirius are quite similar in equipment, pricing and ? most importantly ? content.

2. Satellite Telephone system Receivers

Satellite radio receivers are marketed for mobile and/or home use. People often carry them between home and auto, as most receivers are the size of a hand-held calculator. A receiver must be nestled into a docking device in order to work. Called a car kit or a home kit, the dock supplies power to the unit and provides connections for antenna and productivity devices. These tiny satellite receivers have no built-in speakers.

Most models are designed to slip into car kits, home kits, or boom boxes. A huge market is emerging for pocket radios with earphones, and which double as MP3 players.

Both brands contract with sound system manufacturers to build home tuners with satellite receiving circuitry. You have only to hook up the satellite antenna and pay your subscription fee.

Automobile manufacturers can now supply pre-installed, in-car satellite radios. XM Telephone system partners mainly with General Motors, Honda and Suzuki. Sirius Telephone system has Ford, Chrysler, and VW as partners.

3. Choosing a Satellite Telephone system Receiver

Initially of all, XM and Sirius equipment are not compatible. Each employs its own, proprietary electronics and software, so neither receiver can work with the competing system.

Brand-for-brand, similar harvest are priced competitively. Prices tend to drop as newer models arrive. Dealers regularly hold sales, and generally keep prices between the two brands competitive. Deeper discounts are often found at the manufacturers? websites.

XM have existed longer, and have published studies showing that their sound reproduction is superior.

Sirius hosts the most helpful website with more manufactured goods information including online user and installation manuals.

New buyers, though, are seldom able to make decisions from such sales information alone.

Talk, rather, with sales people and listen to systems in different stores. Question their installers for advice, too.

Even if both companies offer free trial periods, watch out! You?ll need to buy a receiver and docking kit (a $ 100 outlay) before you can ?try it for free?. Are you keen to do that? twice?

4. Satellite Telephone system Programming

XM Telephone system boasts over 170 channels. Sirius Telephone system carries over 130 channels. Simply comparing numbers serves small purpose, but.

Do you absolutely need the 15 sports channels on XM, or could you live with the 12 from Sirius? Choose carefully here: competing sports channels differ greatly in what they cover!

XM sends about 70 commercial-free music channels, while Sirius sends about 30. Sirius claims 23 rock stations, yet includes reggae and hip-hop in that category; XM lists 14 rock stations and 6 separately listed hip-hop channels.

While most receivers have 30 channel presets, can you recall where you have stored your 30 favorite channels? Would you even have 30 favorites? How many of those are you likely to tune into on your drive home?

5. The Installation Challenge

The simplest installation by far is with the home kit: the instructions show how to locate your antenna for strong, clear greeting using the built-in signal strength meter.

The receiver can be situated at a distance, thanks to the long antenna wire (and discretionary extensions). For best sound, plug the receiver directly into your stereo with an audio cable.

More versatile is the XM Telephone system?s Wireless FM Modulator (or Sirius Telephone system?s FM Frequency) function, which re-broadcasts the satellite channel out to any FM telephone system in your home. The instruction manual clarifies this clearly, and it is not especially hard to set up.

Car installations are more challenging! The simplest part is positioning the attractive antenna onto your car roof.

Then, if all goes well, the FM re-broadcasting antenna can push enough signal from your receiver (surrounded by the car) to your regular car antenna (everyplace on the outside, wherever the auto designers thought appropriate).

For best listening quality use an audio cable directly between the satellite receiver and your car telephone system AUDIO IN. If that socket is hidden behind the dashboard, you may want skilled help.

Sirius Telephone system offers many more discretionary devices for improving receiver-to-car-antenna transmission within the tough environment of an automobile.

Careful purchasers may prefer to let the dealer do the installation.

6. Conclusion

Satellite radio greeting is not without its challenges. Yet, with nearly 14 million receivers in operation, satellite radio is here to stay. As with satellite television, not everybody wants one. But those who do have them like them.

News Update: Xm Telephone system & Sirius Telephone system to Merge?

The recent announcement about the two North American satellite radio companies? merger plans has certainly terrified plenty of excitement into the picture. But don?t expect to see any changes for at least a year or two.

By the time the Household Judiciary Committee is finished their administration, and then all the other regulatory committees in the alphabet (S.E.C., F.C.C., J.O.C., et. al.) have their say, not anything will change.

Neither do the two companies have a clue yet about how they will integrate their two technologies. They say that they plot to keep up current services way out into the future. One thing for sure, they do not want to scare away any customers, new or ancient!

If you have been plotting on joining the go to satellite radio, go ahead; you might as well delight in it. Because, truthfully, nobody really knows exactly how or when this will all shake out. It?s highly unlikely that you will see any downgrading of programming, whichever company you choose. Huge incentives may even be forthcoming, just to keep potential customers confident? and buying!

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