[NA]Tell me about XM radio

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Dave Taylor
Can I buy only one piece of hardware which I carry to each location and will transmit to either the house stereo, car stereo, and airplane stereo?

Or do I have to buy (3) separate hardware and separate service??

Where do I look to see the different channels available?


Thank you.
 
Can I buy only one piece of hardware which I carry to each location and will transmit to either the house stereo, car stereo, and airplane stereo?

Or do I have to buy (3) separate hardware and separate service??

Where do I look to see the different channels available?


Thank you.

You can buy one XM receiver to do all three. Make sure it has an external output (I think it's pretty standard - 3.5mm headphone jack). If your car and home stereo have external input jacks, that will meet your needs. If not, get an XM receiver that has built-in FM transmitter to meet the needs of Home & Auto. Airplane will (obviously) require the external music input on the headphones or intercom.

You can try XM online for a small fee ($2.99/mo I think), but I'm not sure that gets you all of the channels.
 
On a side note, why does the 496 only get a limited number of radio channels?
 
OBTW, is there any reason why you have settled on XM instead of Sirius?
 
I have used both XM and Sirius. IMHO a MP3 player and FM transmitter of cable interface is far better and cheaper.

The only time I enjoy satellite radio is when I cross the state of Florida. Then I can turn to one channel. But even then I they still play stuff I don't like. Programing on both is very similar so unless you are a big Howard Stern fan then I don't think it makes much difference which you choose. But I travel so much where radio is not an option (death tubes) that the mp3 option works for me. I down load my musics and podcasts.
 
where can I see what type of music they have?

Dave,

You might look here:

http://www.xmradio.com/whatisxm/index.xmc

I have both XM and Sirius. XM is on the 396 and I got a free year of Sirius when I bought my latest vehicle last fall. I personally like XM better. The music's comparable (and actually Sirius may be a touch better) but the DJs are quite different. I find the Sirius DJs really, really annoying and juvenile especially those with cutesy names like "dusty roads" (or whatever the heck she calls herself). So, if you want to listen to cutesy DJs get Sirius...if you want to listen to music get XM.

Also, I don't know how the portable receivers work indoors but my 396 with the XM puck loses reception under overpasses much less indoors. It doesn't work at all inside ANY building. Heck, it even loses reception when heading due north in the either the plane or car.

But as someone else said, the merger may change all of the above so you might just want to wait it out for a bit. Here's XM's version of what's going on with the merger but it may be all propaganda...

http://www.xmradio.com/merger/index.xmc

With all that said, I'm a person who would never pay for radio. I only pay for XM for of the weather subscription on the 396 and adding music was next to free.
 
My wife's Jeep Commander came with Sirius. The one thing they have (that XM does not have) that I really like is NFL games in the fall. When we're driving back across the state of Washington on a Sunday after a WSU football game I can listen to the Seahawks without having to constantly change stations on the AM radio. Very convenient. Now, Cousin Brucy (sp?) on ch 6 (60s music)? You can have him. Yuck.
 
On a side note, why does the 496 only get a limited number of radio channels?

I receive all of the radio channels on my 496. You may want to try having your radio refreshed. You can simply go to xmradio.com or call XM to have this done.
 
Well it was on a borrowed 496, and that may explain it....
 
I have XM (non-GPS) simply b/c when I was looking at the sat radios several years ago, XM was about $5-7/mo cheaper than Sirius. Now that they are the same price, I think it's pretty much a wash. If you're a sports guy, that will be the deal breaker: Which service carries your favorite flavor of sports?

Honestly, I have it pretty much set on 1 channel nowadays (XM) - Lucy. When I was spending 14-16 hrs/day in heavy ag equipment, I was constantly bouncing channels from Comedy, Music, Sports Talk, News. Now that I don't sit in one spot for that long, I will be cancelling it soon. Just isn't worth the $$ to me anymore.

FYI: Pioneer (and I'm sure others by now) had an XM Receiver/FM Transmitter/MP3 Player all wrapped up in one little box about the size of a cell phone. IIRC, you could even record music FROM XM and save it on your MP3 player.
 
On a side note, why does the 496 only get a limited number of radio channels?

Because XM wants more than $50/mo of your money if you want weather AND radio.

I opted not to get the radio subscription, and I get about 5 or 6 XM channels on the 496 - They seem to change from time to time.
 
Well it was on a borrowed 496, and that may explain it....
The owner of that 496 may have customized a "Favorites" page to access certain channels more qiuckly, as I did in the attached photo. But you still have access to the whole XM lineup. You push the "zoom in" or "zoom out" button to cycle from "Favorites" through various categories of channels (e.g., news, sports, classical, etc., etc., or "all").
 

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The owner of that 496 may have customized a "Favorites" page to access certain channels more qiuckly, as I did in the attached photo. But you still have access to the whole XM lineup. You push the "zoom in" or "zoom out" button to cycle from "Favorites" through various categories of channels (e.g., news, sports, classical, etc., etc., or "all").

Thank you for that tip. I wondered how to avoid continuous scrolling.
 
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