Some Sirius newbie questions

[almaniac27]

I just recieved Sirius radio for my birthday and I am really pleased. I like the liberal talk (I don't care what other people say, Ed Schultz rocks), and I'm a big football fan, and the music channels are awesome. I just have 1 or 2 questions.

1. I've been having trouble with reception. It happens usually around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and again at around midnight. The weird thing is, when this happens, I look at the antenna aiming screen and it says I still have 3 bars.

2. Are all Sirius channels digital? I've noticed that Radio Disney and Cracked Up Comedy don't sound as crisp as the other channels.

3. I've been getting a weird buzzing noise in one of the speakers on my JVC boombox. Is that normal?

 

[Kent]

> 1. I've been having trouble with reception. It happens
> usually around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and again at
> around midnight. The weird thing is, when this happens, I
> look at the antenna aiming screen and it says I still have 3
> bars.

I had a lot of reception problems with Sirius when I first got it, too. One of my friends, who knew I wasn't using the car kit, suggested I put the car antenna, which is omni-directional, through the window and let it rest in my garden. It did the trick. Don't know if that will help in your situation as I'm not familiar with the radio you have, though I get the impression it's a boombox from the rest of your post.

> 2. Are all Sirius channels digital? I've noticed that Radio
> Disney and Cracked Up Comedy don't sound as crisp as the
> other channels.

My understanding is that they are, though I don't think they sound quite as good as FM. Also, keep in mind that the channels are only as good as the feed they get from their providers.

 

[OldNumber7]

> 1. I've been having trouble with reception. It happens
> usually around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and again at
> around midnight. The weird thing is, when this happens, I
> look at the antenna aiming screen and it says I still have 3
> bars.
>
The three Sirius satellites are always in motion and are about 8 hours and 4 minutes apart. So each day, the worst possible reception moments arrive three times a day, a few minutes later than the day before, and always when the sats are in the same part of the sky. But unless you are on the extreme edge of either coast, you should be able to find a sweet spot where this isn't much of a problem. Keep trying with different antenna positions. Last point -- as long as you are getting steady audio, the number of bars really doesn't matter. You either are receiving the digital data, or you aren't.


> 2. Are all Sirius channels digital? I've noticed that Radio
> Disney and Cracked Up Comedy don't sound as crisp as the
> other channels.

All Sirius channels are digital, but some are allowed more bandwidth than others. The all-music stations get the top priority. Talk, news and comedy get less (because so much of the content is human voice in a narrower freq. range than music).

> 3. I've been getting a weird buzzing noise in one of the
> speakers on my JVC boombox. Is that normal?
No. That is not normal.


>

 

[Radio-X]

> > 1. I've been having trouble with reception. It happens
> > usually around 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and again
> at
> > around midnight. The weird thing is, when this happens, I
>
> > look at the antenna aiming screen and it says I still have
> 3
> > bars.
>
> I had a lot of reception problems with Sirius when I first
> got it, too. One of my friends, who knew I wasn't using the
> car kit, suggested I put the car antenna, which is
> omni-directional, through the window and let it rest in my
> garden. It did the trick. Don't know if that will help in
> your situation as I'm not familiar with the radio you have,
> though I get the impression it's a boombox from the rest of
> your post.
>
> > 2. Are all Sirius channels digital? I've noticed that
> Radio
> > Disney and Cracked Up Comedy don't sound as crisp as the
> > other channels.
>
> My understanding is that they are, though I don't think they
> sound quite as good as FM. Also, keep in mind that the
> channels are only as good as the feed they get from their
> providers.

If you are using Sirius in a car...

A) The car antenna is not as good as a home-based one
B) Sat. radio is line-of-sight...

As for 'in the house' listening, try (if you have not already) putting the antenna outside (even between your window and the window screen...I did this right after getting my receiver in January, and the only time I had signal issues was when there was 4" of snow covering the antenna! Even in the summer, with my antenna mostly hidden by flowers, I have yet to have a reception problem.

Welcome to the Sirius family...I wouldn't trade it for anything now that R1 is on...all we need now is BBC R4

Radio-X
<P ID="signature">______________
If a DJ talks into a microphone, and no one's there to listen to him, does he make a noise?</P>