I can see why SxM was complaining, but its really an issue created by the FCC. If you look at the part 27 rules for AWS band 4, a base station can run as much as EIRP ≤ 3280 watts/MHz (35 dBW/MHz) (RURAL) or ≤ 1640 watts/MHz (32 dBW/MHz) (CITY). Even at the distances from T-Mobile's panel on the tower to the little SxM amplified patch antenna on the roof of your car, that's not a lot of room, and i can certainly see how that potential power level received by the LNA on the roof could get saturated. I also am quite sure they did not invest in a whole lot of filtering and have a lot of gain on those patch antennas to get the small signal from the birds and from a lesser extent, the repeaters. I also don't know what the actual TXPO or EIRP T-Mobile is using on the AWS-4 Downlinks, but it can be substantial.
They haven’t had channels at 48kbps for years, except Symphony Hall which is down to 41kbps. Most are at 32kbps. Some are in mono on legacy XM receivers and encoded using parametric stereo at mostly 24kbps and maybe some at 16kbps (like whatever enLighten is called now) which sounds better than some of their 32 kbps stereo channels. 50s Gold, Siriusly Sinatra, Escape, Elvis Radio, and 40s Junction (for the rare stereo track), and Holiday Traditions are some of the channels broadcast this way.
Update: Symphony Hall is at 32kbps 😬 . The channel that uses the most bandwidth on the entire system is the Beatles Channel which is contractually at 48kbps (!) No other channel is that high. Howard’s two channels are contractually at 32 like many of the music channels. Exceptions include the parametric stereo channels which are at 24 including Smokey’s Soul Town, The Groove, Willie's Roadhouse, Bluegrass Junction, The Message, Kirk Franklin's Praise, Escape, Siriusly Sinatra, 40s Junction, 50s Gold, Elvis Radio, On Broadway, Kidz Bop, Faction Talk, Joel Osteen, En Vivo.
I'd be curious to know what the bitrate is for channels on the Sirius system. I am pretty sure it is higher to compensate for the less efficient codec. Having less channels, they should have more bits to utilize. I know the Howard 100 channel sounds very good on the Sirius system. Conan's channel also sounded very good the last time I listened to it. They must be wasting a lot of bits on these channels. It would be nice if they trimmed them down a bit and gave the bits to the other talk channels.
It’s harder to give an exact bitrate for the Sirius side of things; the Sirius system uses Statistical Multiplexing (StatMux) PAC Lucent codec. Each channel is a VBR range with bandwidth shifting on the fly. Essentially the midpoint of the range is the same as the XM side bitrates.
Exactly. And complicating that process is the fact they kept installing Sirius chips in vehicles until somewhat recently which further delays the plans to sunset that transmission system. Yes, automakers do the installs but SXM didn’t do anything to adjust that process. I know some people on here think the company is well run but I disagree - quite buffoonish actually. They’re just successful because they’re a monopoly. XM should have absorbed Sirius - things would be way different, much better.
A few years ago I read somewhere that the Sirius transmission format would be discontinued in 2027, and the Sirius-only receivers in older cars would no longer work. If that still true? Or will the legacy distribution remain active for the foreseeable future?
Sounds like wishful thinking if that's what SXM was saying. Those old legacy radios are built like tanks and there are still plenty on the road and at home. Unless the company is prepared to offer replacement receivers free (ha) or at a considerable discount, ending legacy distribution would disenfranchise at least hundreds of thousands of subscribers who depend on in-car reception and don't have streaming capabilities. Subscriber count would take a big hit.
They would be able to know how many subscribers have the old radios. Eventually there will be a point when it’s worth it to give the few people left with old radios a new receiver. There are almost certainly people still paying for satellite radio for cars that have been junked, just like some people are still paying for AOL.
You remember correctly - they haven’t mentioned the 2027 date recently though, saying instead “end of decade” or not mentioning it at all. It’s about a year or a bit longer since it’s been mentioned.
Most radios that can get channels 300+ can receive both frequency ranges - so if they shut down the legacy Sirius side, they can still run the legacy XM side while and use that freed up spectrum to add channels etc that some receivers can get. I’d imagine that 360L is kinda a gap stop solution in a way until they can send more / higher quality channels over satellites. The cellular data cost for 360L they’re paying isn’t cheap.
SXM used the S-Band 2.3-2.4GHz DARS (Digital Audio Radio Service. T-mobile uses 2.5GHz for most of its 5GUC network in the mid-band. That’s probably the issue your having but couldn’t say.
I notice it on all the sports play-by-play, along with the low bit rate on the dedicated p-b-p channels.
How many of those games are streamed vs off the bird.
All of them are off the satellite. I listen to them on my car radio. Every channel on it comes from the satellite. At home, I watch them on TV.
