How to Find An FM Frequency to Transmit your Sirius Satellite Radio on

[MarcB]

Hi. Don't normally visit this board, since I don't have a Sirius Satellite radio, but while looking up something online I found a site that can help you find a frequency to transmit your Sirius Radio on. http://radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/vacant

 

[DJKraze]

Darn these computer mock-ups, not knowing realites of actually being in the field. I tried 06457 (Middletown CT) in there and found some very poor frequencies:In the vacant list...89.7 - this one is a spanish religious translator, very low wattage, but the height makes for massive coverage and comes in clear just about everywhere I go. (strong enough to bleed under the Sirius FM modulator)94.9 - Ok, there's no actual station on this frequency but it's Central CT's Radio No man's land because it's overloaded with the mixing product of every station located on meriden mountain and is like this in most of the central part of the state (too noisy)97.1 - Not too bad a choice, if you like the occasional bleed over from WZBG and bleed under from WQHT, which comes in nice and clear in many parts of town.98.1 - 97.9 is just too close to make this one worthy.98.5 - this one has a chance, WILI isn't too strong here, and the Boston station only comes in under good conditions.103.5 - This one is so-so as 103.7 in Westerly might appear to be out of range in the maps, but does a very good trip here and a bit of splash too.107.5 - Ha! I find this funny, as WBLS does quite a trip here and so does WFCC, too much between the two of them fighting it out to make this one useable, but someone in this area seems to have some success in using this frequency for a Sirius radio as I've heard Howard Stern on this channel on more than one occasion, I find it a far more interesting channel for DX in bad weather conditions.Next Best Channels:96.9 Rarely does the boston talk station come in on this channel, and the splash from adjacent WQHT is very minimal, so this one looks better than most of the ones above.99.5 - My actual favorite choice, even though this is a pretty crowded frequency for the moment, it's all from stations that are either over 100 miles away or running 5 watts (for now, if the new station in New London goes on, this might not be as good a choice). I chose this channel mainly because the terrain in this area pretty much blocks the 4 stations currently licensed to this frequency, the only drawback is an occasional pirate in Bristol that will cause bleedunder in close proximity to Bristol, but I'm not out there much.101.7 bad choice, I get a staion from Long Island clearly all the time on this channel with a strong signal.107.3 also a bad choice as most people in this area can still get WAAF fairly well, though not as well as before.Third best channels:90.9 - Possibly, though 91.1 is kinda strong92.1 - Nope, WLNG is fair to clear here92.9 - Nope 93.1 is too strong here94.1 - Maybe, WYBC is strong, but is it strong enough to cause problems?95.3 - Maybe, WRKI is kinda strong, and I don't get the Long Island station as strong as I used to.99.7 - Nope, Rhode Island is on channel and quite strong101.9 - this one is the main choice on the REC NET site, and could be good if WAQY doesn't splash, but I suspect it does102.3 - same as above102.5 - Hmm, isn't this also a Long Island station that comes in fairly well out here?103.3 - Possibly a good choice, a bit close to WDRC, but maybe not, will have to try this one105.3 - same as above, but in this case, second adjacent is WIHS and is MUCH CLOSER, plus WQGN splash is possible, and Party 105.3 would be lost with this choice106.3 - WEIB is very clear here, even moreso on good radio DX days.To think I used to believe we didn't have enough stations around here.

 

[fred flintstone]

Radio-Locator's coverage maps and signal strength indicators are estimates - for "entertainment purposes." They are not based on actual readings.And sometimes they forget stuff. I entered some zip codes from around the Philadelphia area and in all of them Radio-Locator listed 87.9 as a "best" frequency. No FM interference but they forgot about Philadelphia's 6ABC audio on 87.7.If you are going to do any driving with satellite radio, and your car radio does not have an audio jack or does not have a casette deck - pay a few bucks, and let an installer wire the wireless hookup.

 

[stljohn]

I installed that wired connector its really easy. It costs 20 bucks at Circuit City and connects inline with radio antenna. If you're lucky you can see the back of the radio from below you don't have to disassemble anything. I had to pull the radio from the front. Popped a cover off 4 screws back in less then 15 minutes.

Alternatively the Starmate has FM presets to facilitate a quick change.

 

[Chuck]

Radio-Locator's coverage maps and signal strength indicators are estimates - for "entertainment purposes." They are not based on actual readings.And sometimes they forget stuff. I entered some zip codes from around the Philadelphia area and in all of them Radio-Locator listed 87.9 as a "best" frequency. No FM interference but they forgot about Philadelphia's 6ABC audio on 87.7.If you are going to do any driving with satellite radio, and your car radio does not have an audio jack or does not have a casette deck - pay a few bucks, and let an installer wire the wireless hookup.

Radio Locaor's guide is seriously flawed. In my area it recommends using the same frequency as a local, licensed LPFM. It seems they still have work to do to be really useful. A much better choice seems to be REC's channel finder at: http://www.fmfind.info/ As far as I can tell, it is "dead on."

 

[DJKraze]

Yeah, those folks at REC are great, in addition to the massive database services they have some of the best anime/j-pop programming on the internet.