Free XM not even worth it!

[liam51]

I know it comes free for 90 days when you buy a new 06', but wouldnt the XM company offer great reception in the Northeast U.S. so that an individual would actually consider purchasing their product? Perhaps its because I have a Vert and the antennae is located on the dash which causes very poor reception? All I know is that even when I'm passing a group of trees, I lose my signal....Maine is called the Pine Tree State, so go figure.......
How many are satisfied with their XM reception?

[hestersu]

I'm very satisfied with my XM. I have 3 of them - 1 in the Tahoe, 1 in the bug and a MyFi. Yes you lose signal going under underpasses, tunnels and dense foliage. But that is also true of Sirius. For what it's worth, even satelite TV will lose signal if you have a tree growing in front of the dish or one that moves in and out of the view of the dish. I listen to XM every day. If I could get it in my office, I would.

[FineExampl]

You will find that your reception is different on different days. At home i never lose a signal. In the car i only lose a signal at overpasses and tunnels. At my office, as i don't have an eastern exposure, i sometimes lose signal in inclement weather. Also, being in the Tri-state area, we have many terrestrial repeaters in the area so that helps as well. You may be having this difficulty because of your location. However, XM is also in Canada and Maine is pretty darn close to them. It sounds like you are still in your trial period, keep giving it a try. Also, see if you can relocate the antenna. Just be aware, you'd have the same issues with any other satellite provider.

Good luck!

[SPIRU]

Ya know, I very rarely lose the signal under any condition, well except for when the antenna is blocked from a clear line of sight by being under an overpass but in my humble option is still better then free radio.

[liam51]

It just must be my location. I believe the satellite is quite low on the horizon here, in Downeast Maine, which would create line of sight problems more often than more southern areas.

[callisto9]

we had it for a day. couldn't get good reception anywhere. indoors, outside...around town. problematic enough that we took it back the very next day. not impressed.

[GatorBeetle]

It really has alot to do with the repeaters...Erin, I bet there are not many in Iowa...and probably not many in Maine, either. I have heard people in the midwest and Maine complain before about reception.

Here in North Florida I usually get four bars on the ground source, so I only lose signal when I am stopped under an overpass or thick trees, which is VERY rare. We must be near a repeater antenna at home, because we usually have zero Sat Signal, but STRONG for the ground signal.

I love my XM...will only give it up if they start running commercials on the music channels.

[callisto9]

Originally Posted by GatorBeetle

It really has alot to do with the repeaters...Erin, I bet there are not many in Iowa...and probably not many in Maine, either. I have heard people in the midwest and Maine complain before about reception.

poopies! oh well, it was the BF who bought it anyway. wasn't worth $12 a month to have spotty reception. we still have pirated music...

[GatorBeetle]

I agree...if the reception was poor locally, I would not have it either. my Bro-in-Law had one, and it worked great, or I probably wouldn't have even tried it.

[deeceedub]

We have Sirius, not XM, but our only reception issues have been when we were in large metropolitan areas, where there just seems to be too much traffic on and around the home frequency that we use.

We live in a very rural area and the satellite is great for us. Otherwise we'd have a choice of 3-4 stations that the reception is fairly poor for as well.

Of course, there are no trees here at all. Gotta love flat dusty hot old West Texas

[PhoenixRising]

Originally Posted by GatorBeetle

It really has alot to do with the repeaters...Erin, I bet there are not many in Iowa...and probably not many in Maine, either. I have heard people in the midwest and Maine complain before about reception.

Here in North Florida I usually get four bars on the ground source, so I only lose signal when I am stopped under an overpass or thick trees, which is VERY rare. We must be near a repeater antenna at home, because we usually have zero Sat Signal, but STRONG for the ground signal.

I love my XM...will only give it up if they start running commercials on the music channels.

Uh oh...then be ready to give it up.

At least one station is running ads (22, I think it is). Clear Channel won a court case, and they are running ads on their owned stations. I just ignore them, and keep my presets away from them...but you know how this slippery slope is...

But I love XM, and get a great signal, even in the rain.

[GatorBeetle]

yeah, I've read that...not any that I listen to, yet. It will be the begnning of the end for me and XM.

[jumm]

Dont mean to be naive but if you dont want the XM radio after 90 days will it pick up the free stations? Thanks, Jumm

[hestersu]

If you are referring to terrestial radio (your local stations in your area), those work no matter what. The radio in the car has normal AM/FM receiver and a button that you push to switch to the satellite radio. This is a different receiver from the AM/FM receiver and actually uses a different antenna. On cars with the factory satellite (XM or Sirius), the antenna base is the satellite antenna (for hard tops) and for soft tops, the antenna is in dash area.

After 90 days, the satellite receiver no longer works unless you pay for the service. Each receiver is incoded and has a receiver ID that is unique. Both companies know if the receiver is being paid for.

Since the receivers are different, your local radio that works off of ground transmitters always works.

[liam51]

Well, I finally had the dealer check the gain on my receiver and could find nothing wrong. That tells me that poor reception in my area must be the norm....I will miss the bluegrass and folk stations after my 90 days are up. Guess I'll just have to purchase an MP3 player and download my types of music that way. Has anyone used the factory MP3 player jack on their 06' NB's??? Just wondering if it works well or not. Thanks for all the feedback on this subject.

[liam51]

Originally Posted by liam51

Has anyone used the factory MP3 player jack on their 06' NB's??? Just wondering if it works well or not. Thanks for all the feedback on this subject.

Does the display on the radio show info from the mp3 player such as artist and title of song, or is there just audio when the mp3 player is hooked up to the built-in mini stereo jack on 06' models????

[hestersu]

If you are using the standard MP3 audio jack, you just get music - no track information.

If you want the song title and all and you have an ipod, you can get the ipod connector that goes into the glove box. This will allow you to put the ipod into the glove box and fully control it from the headunit. You should get all of the track information.

Warning to all: you cannot use the ipod connector and have satellite radio. This means you cannot have satellite service. You can have one or the other but not both. You can still have the cd changer.