SiriusXM Installation - Lakes Region

[brk-lnt]

Originally Posted by MAXUM

All about the amount of buffer the SAT radio has, the more it has the less sensitive it is to momentary signal loss.

Buffer is only part of it. Satellite radio is one-way, the radio can't request lost parts. They use a forward error correction scheme, along with basically dual-broadcast of all streams on two frequencies with a 4 second delay. This gives you about 10-12 seconds of overall buffer ability. If your radio loses a signal for more than 10 seconds, or is only able to lock onto one of the streams, you risk the dropouts.

Overall a better antenna and receiver, and better antenna placement is the best solution to poor signals.

We have Sirius/XM in all our vehicles and on the boat. I've been a subscriber since about 2004, and have tried all combinations of portable units, OEM installs, aftermarket HU's and so on. The boat gets the best coverage, since it is generally out in the open water and have the standard Sirius/XM marine antenna, but even there we've gotten random dropouts for no explainable reason.

I agree that Sirius hasn't lived up to its initial hype, but I find FM radio grating these days. Censored content, tons of commercials, and absolutely asinine DJs on every major station. These days we listen to Pandora or similar streams in the vehicles, but Sirius still gets played regularly enough that I can't give up our subscriptions yet.

A couple of the vehicles also have HD Radio. In the end, HD Radio is really just FM radio, but more channels. Same basic music. Same censorship, same commercials.