"Gig 601XL Builder" wrDOTgiaconaATsuddenlink.net wrote in message ...
: I couldn't agree more about Stern or the business decisions but they are
: open as compared to the other system we were talking about because there are
: several makers of the hardware and that lowers the price of the hardware.
:
: As far as the 800 ground stations are concerned that is more for the radio
: end of the business than the weather end. People just insist on driving
: there cars on streets that happen to be between tall buildings.
:
: I haven't done any research on Sirius and don't know what you mean by "24
: hour" satellites but XM's two birds, "Rock" and "Roll" have given me 1000's
: of hours of listening enjoyment and are worth every dime of the subscription
: fees I've paid. When my plane is finished it will have my 3rd XM receiver in
: it and it will be part of a Garmin 496. I had always planned to install an
: XM receiver in the plane for the audio. It was just a nice surprise when
: they added the WX service.
:
:

Sirius has three birds circling the globe on 24 hour orbits, two of them 'visible' in the sky over the US at any time.
This gives them a more northern position and therefore better coverage and less repeaters required.

I wonder how many 'repeaters' you would need to cover the whole USA without using any satellites?