Moved from Chlt 2 yrs ago to Phx, do not have to worry about trees here

 

I can't listen to Sirius while i sit at Sonic, travesty

 

It has to be a combination of the reciever and antennea. My wifes G6 with XM has only cut out on me once. That was in a traffic jam parked under a 10 lane overopass, and even then it only cut out smack in the center. When I approached the over pass and was under it, it still worked fine till I got to the middle of it. Then, while I was 50 feet from the end, it came back on, WHILE I WAS UNDER IT!

My sirius cuts out if I look at an overpass. I like sirius better than XM though.

 

XM has a bunch invested in ground repeaters. Unsure about Sirius, I would even venture a guess as no seeing as I could be on the lip of an overpass and have it cut out, minus the few second buffer put in.

 

Perhaps there is a better antenna out there to replace the stock?

 

I have had XM for 2.5 years and Sirius for 7 months.

I don't know if Sirius has any repeaters but I know that XM does, in major cities. I live in Columbia, SC, they don't have them here. So dense foliage and tight buildings and overpasses can cause outages. But in Atlanta and Seattle, I have had great reception even in buildings. It seems to make a great difference.

 

I have an older Sporter Sirius and the same thing happens to me. When driving down the highway I get a second or two mute when I'm past it. Strange thing is driving in Philadelphia under a very long underpass (w/ one side open to the city) I get great connection. They really need to build a bigger buffer into it.

 

Sirius has a four second buffer. (One satellite transmits four seconds ahead of the other.) I noticed that cut outs under overpasses seem to happen more frequently immediately after changing the channel. If I leave it on one channel for an entire drive, it stops cutting out under overpasses. Sirius has terrestrial repeaters too. I know there's at least one in Denver.

My big issue with Sirius vs XM is in steep canyons. Sirius works great in these situations. XM cuts out all the time (for example the narrows in Poudre canyon and the Glenwood Springs canyon). Has to do with the different satellite orbits used by each of the companies.

My opinions: XM has the better codec. Sirius has the better orbital slots. As for programming, depends on what you like to listen to. Each one does a better job in some Genres than the other.

-Glen

 

i have an aftermarket sirius receiver and my only real problem is in tunnels and at gas stations.....have ran across some tree interfernce but only once or twice....

 

From my understanding Sirius has 2 geostationary satellites (this means that they are always in the same position relative to the earth and that they rotate with the earths rotation.) Anyway, they are suppossedly located centrally over North America, one to the north and one to the south. This would mean that as you reach either coast the angle from your vehicle to the satellite(s) would be much lower, closer to the horizon. Buildings, trees, mountains, etc. would interfere more so than if you were located in say Nebraska where the sat's are located directly overhead. The sat's position should also benefit those traveling in midwestern canyons and maybe why others have found Sirius better than XM in those locations. Though I have no idea the position of XM's sat's...