XM or Sirius Radio?

XM also has much better hardware. They are at least 18 months ahead
(or more) in their chipsets. Unless one wants to listen to NFL games,
I would choose XM. I think some younger people may prefer some of the
music on Sirius, though -- I can't listen to it, personally.

Doesn't Sirius also have NPR?

That plus the NFL could be a deciding factor for me.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

We're looking at adding satellite radio service to Atlas. (It's his
reward for winning the trophy for "Best Cherokee 235" at the National
Cherokee fly-in last weekend!)

Congratulations!!!

Thanks!

We've got Atlas just about perfect now (for an often-flown, "hard-VFR"
bird), but there's always *something* that "needs" to be added!

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Yes, Sirius had NPR but if you get WXWorks, then the 'radio' part is an
add-on, not full price.

Also, I inquired of Huntsville, Pireps, and your Lowrance, not heard
back yet.

--

Thx, {|;-)

Victor J. (Jim) Osborne, Jr.

Here is from Gail...

**************************
First my disclaimer: I'm not without my agenda. I have and love XM.

Yes, that's the Delphi SkyFi in the ad you referenced. Jim and I have a
Delphi Roady in the car (which could be adapted to the airplane) and I have
an XM PCR at my desk -- I listen anywhere from 1 to 6 hours a day I guess. I
also use the PCR (PC Radio) to record programs for later listening (personal
use only). That can also be done with the Roady -- in fact you could use the
line out to any recording device (there is a line level adjustment).

That said, here is a good link to an article by someone who has had both.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/satellite/page2.html

I would add that I think the music sounds great on XM, but I'm not an
audiophile nor to I have expensive speakers, etc. Both services are
continually improving their compression algorithms. XM uses AAC Plus. I
don't know what Sirius uses.

I like the deep playlists on XM. I also enjoy the fact that the BBC feed is
the World Service and not just the news. Note that unless something has
changed, the NPR feed on Sirius (XM doesn't not offer NPR) does not include
some of the flagship shows -- All Things Considered for example. I don't
miss NPR at all. Also Sirius has more sports, but remember they pre-empt
other programs on various "streams" (the same thing XM calls channels).

One big thing is the price -- $9.99 a month for XM vs $12.99 a month for
Sirius. Many tout the Sirius lifetime subcription that will be withdrawn in
August, but remember that this is for the lifetime of the receiver, not your
lifetime -- makes a difference. Both have family plans and multi-year plans.
Read the fine print and it all becomes clear.

We traveled to NC and back from CA on XM and that was before they eliminated
the commercials on all the music channels. It was such a blessing. We only
had a few brief dropouts on I-40 through the Appalachian Mountains and on
I-80 through the Sierra -- brief means less than 15 seconds.

XM Traffic and Weather for the metro areas they cover is very nice, too.

If you want to read the current gripes or praises of current listeners go
to:

http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/index.php

http://www.xmfan.com

http://www.siriusbackstage.com/

And of course both services have a lot of info at their respective sites:

http://www.xmradio.com

http://www.siriusradio.com/

One more very important note about XM, and I can't speak for Sirius since
I'm not a Sirius sub, but XM has not screwed up the billing at all -- they
have been great. When I called Listener Care to add the second receiver on
the Family Plan they were fast, courteous and accurate :-) No outtages or
other problems either.

It's been great and I never want to have to rely on terrestrial radio again.

Gail

Jim Weir (A&P/IA, CFI, & other good alphabet soup)
VP Eng RST Pres. Cyberchapter EAA Tech. Counselor
http://www.rst-engr.com

Newps wrote:
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops
the little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a
cassette tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

That's the one I have, the Sky-Fi. The Roady is a little smaller but
you don't want that one, it has several issues.

Just curious. What issues with the Roady are you referring to? We've had
one since December and have no issues, not even sitting right next to our
Garmin 295 if that is the issue you are alluding to (early on there were
reports of problems with the Roady when next to a GPS unit, but it was found
to be an installation issue, not a problem with the Roady). The Roady is
sturdy, reliable, and sounds great with decent speakers (IOW -- sounds
better in the Miata with the Bose Audio than in the Bronco with speakers
that need replacing).

For the price, the Roady can't be beat. The whole SkyFi system is neat and
just may be the best for Jay's application, but the Roady is a neat little
unit and shouldn't be dismissed by anyone without more explicit information.


TIA,

Gail

Jay Honeck wrote:
We're looking at adding satellite radio service to Atlas. (It's his
reward for winning the trophy for "Best Cherokee 235" at the National
Cherokee fly-in last weekend!)

Congrats -- I forgot to say that before -- best 235 is no small honor.

P.S. to my e-mail reply that Jim later posted here. You might enjoy this
thread http://www.xm411.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=3619 on XM411 -- nice pics
of an airplane install. He mentions the antenna on the glareshield, but the
Roady antenna (Delphi micro antenna) does require a groundplane so I wish
the poster had a pic of that. It has a rather strong mag mount so I'm
looking to temporarily remove the magnet so that we don't interfere with the
compass or some other antenna solution. I guess I'll let my resident
mechanic and antenna expert worry about that, lol. We already know that our
Roady plays nice with our GPS -- we had it right next to the Garmin 295 on
the trip to NC. :-)

Gail

I've had a Delphi Roady in the airplane for about 6 months, plugs directly
into the Garmin 340 audio panel aux input. I have no issues with it. It
works great and I use it at home with a wireless headset. XM has everything
I want to listen to.
--
Mark Manes
WC5I
T310Q N28409



"Newps" wrote in message
news

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops the
little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a cassette
tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

That's the one I have, the Sky-Fi. The Roady is a little smaller but you
don't want that one, it has several issues.



It would be slick to have something like that in the plane! Anyone got
anything like it?

Wouldn't be without it.

That plus the NFL could be a deciding factor for me.

If you wanted to listen to NFL games Sirius will be ideal for you.

I view it as a tradeoff. To me, XM has far superior music and other
content. And they have a good deal of sports coverage as well. But
Sirius has the NFL.

I don't care that much about the NFL so I'm unwilling to give up the
better music content (and more channels of music) for it; but those
who are NFL fans and will be away from their TVs and local broadcasts
on Sunday may go for Sirius.

I think this is the only advantage Sirius has. XM has better hardware
and more music. Sirius has the NFL.

All IMO...

In article Ak7Cc.90505$HG.66947@attbi_s53, Jay Honeck
wrote:

We've got Atlas just about perfect now (for an often-flown, "hard-VFR"
bird), but there's always *something* that "needs" to be added!

One has to ask...
How much did Atlas weigh when you bought him?

How much does Atlas weigh with all your "improvements"?

;-))

I have tried both. Both of them are great.

I know that Sirrus is now being installed as an option in a lot of vehicles.
The new Chrysler 300C can have the Sirrus option. No XM option though. Its a
very nice setup if you get the GPS system as well as it uses that big screen
for the meny and such. Very nice package.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
...
We're looking at adding satellite radio service to Atlas. (It's his
reward for winning the trophy for "Best Cherokee 235" at the National
Cherokee fly-in last weekend!)

According to PS Engineering, there is an audio-in channel that can be
used in our existing CD/intercom. We would be looking to connect one
of the new portable radios to this channel.

Can anyone comment on them? Sirius or XM? What's the difference?

I really like the one you see advertised on TV, where the guy pops the
little XM receiver (which appears to be about the size of a cassette
tape) out of his car and brings it into his home boom-box.

It would be slick to have something like that in the plane! Anyone got
anything like it?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"