XM Satellite Radio -- Did you keep it?

I subscribed for a while, but didn't renew this month. My ipod does just fine.

 

From what I remember, XM has geostationary satellites that sit on the equator, and Sirius has geosynchronous which are always crossing over each other over the USA.

Hence the drop out issues with XM because of not having a clear line of sight over the equator. At some point, the Sirius satellites could be directly overhead providing a better signal.

I'm way farther north (Canada) than most people on this board, so XM is worse up here. With my external Sirius antenna, it could sit on the dashboard inside the car and get a great signal. With XM, I get way more drop outs with the antenna on the roof of my Tacoma. You would think the roof antenna would be better, but it's all about the satellite signal.

Toyota does offer a Sirius kit which should have a much better signal.

 

Didn't renew, went on a 10 hour trip (twice, back and forth) and after hearing the same songs five or six times realized it was no better than commercial radio. If you want a nice experience on long drives use Pandora through your blue tooth. (that is if you have a smart phone and unlimited data)

 

Renewed it at the going rate at the end of my trial for my Tacoma, but let it die out in my Honda Civic. Only listen to about a half dozen stations. Gave Pandora a try at $36/yr and I like it better. Signal depends on the availability of Verizon, but have done a few trips with no cut-off. I'll likely let XM run out on the truck and just use Pandora or my stack of CDs in the changer. We'll see.

 

No. 33 days worth of music on my iPod always gives me something new to listen to for free

 

Yep, only pay $77 per year for xm.

 

I think it is stupid.

I have two thumb drives with 32 gigs of music. Works great. Never get bored of it.

 

They called me three weeks into my trial period and offered to extend it for another $2 a month. It's nice they have kid friendly channels that play adult music. But once I have to pay full pop, Im outtie. Ilisten to internet radio for free on my droid, and I get a lot of the same channels, so I'll go back to that.

And up here in Canada, Sirius and XM have merged, and apparently were getting all programming...soon9

 

mine's still on, not sure if it's limited channels, but it still works...nearly 2yrs later

 

There have been a few threads on XM (probably more than I bothered to go through). Some people kept it after threatening to cancel and XM offer some random deal to keep them paying. I had the trial, got an invoice for $106 to keep it for another year (obvously cheaper than their $12.95/mo) and I did, although they still f*ed my payment and charged me $2 more after I called them. Basically if they don't keep offering deals they are SOL, so take advantage and barter with them. Local radio around here sucks, but I still get sat coverage pretty much everywhere in California.

 

my local channels suck so for $25.00 for 6 months I'm happy keeping it. Gotta have my Octane, Hair Nation, and 70's on 7. lol.........

 

I let it run out. Didn't listen to it much during the trial anyway. I'm hooked on Pandora Internet radio. $36 a year for totally commercial free, I can skip songs I don't want to hear, it learns what I like, it hardly ever cuts out and I have it ANYWHERE I have my phone!

 

For the record.. this is an inaccurate statement.. Geosynchronous and geostationary are the same thing..

[FONT=&quot]geo·syn·chro·nous[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]adj[/FONT][FONT=&quot] \ˌjē-ō-ˈsiŋ-krə-nəs, -ˈsin-\[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Definition of GEOSYNCHRONOUS[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] being or having an orbit around the earth with a period equal to one sidereal day; specifically : geostationary [/FONT]
(Geosynchronous - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary n.d.)

[FONT=&quot]Definition of GEOSTATIONARY[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]:[/FONT][FONT=&quot] being or having an equatorial orbit at an altitude of about 22,300 miles (35,900 kilometers) requiring an angular velocity the same as that of the earth so that the position of a satellite in such an orbit is fixed with respect to the earth [/FONT]
(Geostationary - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary n.d.)

You indicate that sirius Satellites "orbit" by your description. That is true, however their orbit Is considered "HEO" (High Earth Orbit) Vs. Geosynchronous.

"Sirius Satellite Radio uses HEO orbits to keep two satellites positioned above North America while another satellite quickly sweeps through the southern part of its 24-hour orbit. The longitude above which the satellites dwell at apogee in the small loop remains relatively constant as the earth rotates. The three separate orbits are spaced equally around the Earth, but share a common ground track."


(Highly Elliptical Orbit - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia n.d.)



Geostationary - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
N.d. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geostationary, accessed June 13, 2012.
Geosynchronous - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
N.d. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/geosynchronous, accessed June 13, 2012.
Highly Elliptical Orbit - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
N.d. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highly_elliptical_orbit, accessed June 13, 2012.

 

My 3 month trial is 5 months old and still running...i know a fellow that bought a 2010 F-150 with a Sirius " Trial " that is still running today! The News, Talk, Comedy & Sports channels are worth it, but i only listen to like 4 music stations and they play the same thing over and over just like regular radio

 

Did anyone get the call to extend service from the guy that asks if you've heard of the cable guy? He says well I'm the radio guy. He was a pain in the ass and I had to ask him if he was going to shut up so I could tell him I wasn't interested.

 

I still have it. It plays a lot of the same songs repeatedly, but it also has sports, talk shows, etc. I also like just getting into the car and having instant music. I dont want to have to hook up my iPhone every time I make a trip. I pay about $5-6/mo for it based on whatever deal they're offering at the time, so it's absolutely worth it to me. I can manage to afford it.

 

Have had XM since 3 days after launch. Can't live without it. Commercials suck ass. Changing and finding stations you like every time you go out of town sucks ass. Cant do the Ipod thing. Don't want to have to keep up with downloading new stuff to keep current all the time and futzing with play lists. I'm not horribly picky with what a listen to. I have about 5 stations I listen to regularly. if i get tired of one i switch to another for a while. Well worth the coin for me. The new to me runner doesnt have it right now and its driving my crazy.

 

A buddy of mine took his Hyundai in for service about a month after his satellite stopped working (and his free subscription had run out). He said when he got it back, he had accidentally hit the satellite button, it was working, and two years later, it still does.

 

We had it for 8 months after we bought our Dually because the prior owner pre-paid for a year. After it died, the silence in the truck was awkward. j/k

Our radio stations suck ass because I hate country music. Most car rides last maximum 10 minutes here so pandora didn't even kick in (2G) before it was time to get out of the car. CD's can get old really fast.

I miss it, but I still didn't pay because I'm a cheapass. (cheapass meant as ONE word, not TWO.) LOL If it were free I'd dig it. Which is probably why I use Pandora now.

 

I'm definitely keeping mine since you only pay once a year. I need to find a better deal next year if possible.