Issue W/XmRadio ?

Has anybody had an issue with the xm radio? My radio seems to go out every now and then not sure it some kinda of interference with some power lines?

 

It will if you go under a bridge or if you're under trees and the satellite is in the opposite direction.

 

I've had a little of that driving in an underground garage, mountain areas and that's about it.

 

When I pull into my garage (2 story house) XM reception goes away. Just one reason why I let my trial subscription expire. If I ever want to hear radio reception fade in and out, I can always switch to the AM band.

 

Ya you would think in the mountains itd be like listening to a cd. My signal was always cutting out

 

That's satellite for you.

 

No. This is the one issue I have had with my truck. I forgot about it until the free weekend they had in August. The Taco momentarily goes out pretty frequently under a clear sky. Our Subaru was rock solid.

 

I agree...the antenna could be designed better. It shouldn't cut out for 5 seconds after driving under an overpass at 75 mph. It is like having a CD player from 1993.

 

Where are you OP? If you're somewhere like Newfoundland the XM will cut out a lot.

 

It's line of sight to the satellite.

Sirius, when I had it in my Ranger, never cut out on me as much as XM does. My wife's new car also has XM (she had Sirius before as well) and she experiences a bit more drop out now. XM and Sirius satellites are positioned a bit differently in the sky.

 

Pandora FTW. XM costs more, more repeats, less variety, worse sound quality, etc

 

Yes, for me. I have had 8 vehicles with either XM or Sirius. Our current CRV also has it. Both cut out at the very same spots as did each and every other vehicle with satellite (5 of which were Subaru). I even changed the antenna out in my last wrx to no avail. It's something I've learned to live with, I have had satellite radio since it's first rendition. It was horrid back then.... I can add that Sirius based systems always seemed a little more reliable.

 

Mine would go out now and then- it was not a big deal. But just a warning if you put a rack on the roof- Plan on it going out all the time! I have just accepted it as the rail crosses directly above the fin.

 

Look at where the satellites are (http://www.n2yo.com/whats-up/?c=33).

If you lose line of sight, the signal will cut out. That could be going under a bridge, going near a brick building, etc etc.

We decided just to use Spotify with our phones, coverage was much better where we live.

 

I don't care for xm, I prefer Pandora on my phone that's Bluetooth to my radio. I can skip or whatever songs I don't care for and it's free.

 

Sirius uses a series of satellites that move around. XM are stationary.
Sirius has (had?) ground repeaters in dense areas like Chicago and even here in Milwaukee. The one in MKE is on top of the US Bank building.
It helped provide better coverage. I am really surprised our govt let these 2 combine, effectively wiping out any competition in the sky.

Our trucks (no matter which radio) are only XM branded. Not Sirius and not the new SXM radios. We got old-school technology in these trucks, which amazes me. I got a post on here about how we are limited to the channels we can even tune in. If I didnt get this for $5/mo I wouldn't keep it.

$5/mo for XM Select I can live with. I just got to keep calling every 6months and bitch with them. Coverage fades in an out randomly at times.
Its the way it is. Thats what a USB or CD takes care of. Or when they replay the same 8 songs way too often!

 

That is my other complaint...the low bitrate is bad enough but then they seem to only have 50 songs which just play in a loop. WTF?

 

If you drive where there are a lot of trees or driving in a tunnel XM will lose connection