Satellite Receivers

[Paisley]

Short version: I don't recommend Starmate receivers.

Longer version: My Starmate receiver broke one month ago (September 5). Fortunately, it was still under the one-year warranty. After a number of half-hour wait times on hold, Sirius finally sent a replacement September 28 (they'd been on backorder). Then UPS didn't deliver the package because they thought I had moved. Apparently, they have my work phone on file and it didn't match my home address. So naturally, they assumed I had moved from my suburban home to an office high-rise. My receiver is somewhere in UPSland. I am ready to scream!

 

[moustache]

Sirius

I purchased a Sirius receiver a few years back used the service for a year.Not a bad idea for those with non-obstructive receiving areas.But i had a difficult time keeping a signal locked on.When it did,i found myself listening to mainly worldwide /shortwave stations.Now that these are available on the Internet for free,i have sold said radio.
I see that there are now Internet radios available that are stand alone units.No computer needed. Might be a good idea.

JD

 

[John in Covina]

Radio choices?

Sirus is satelite, and I believe there is another satelite competitor the "brand" name I can't think of at all. XM, XD? Now I hear there is an HD radio and the web carries radio. What is going to happen to AM & FM?

 

[Elaina]

Good to know. Earthlink's on my bad list. After 5 months of them not being able to get my service stable, repeated promises of free service (which they haven't lived up to) and a bunch of other stuff, adding another product isn't a biggie.

LOL, you should see the list of items/stores/services I boycott. Most are for valid resons.

 

[moustache]

No problem

Sirus is satelite, and I believe there is another satelite competitor the "brand" name I can't think of at all. XD? Now I hear there is an HD radio and the web carries radio. What is going to happen to AM & FM?

Am radio broadcast to the public has been around since 1905 and FM since the late 40's.Both will be around a long time.The cost is low to produce both signals
and being free to all who have a radio,it will be popular to those without disposable incomes.As long as advertisers and the private citizen continue to pay that is.
I listen to both Am and Fm all the time.
But who knows:The iPod and other mediums are taking a chunk of that listening time away from the public.A shame if you ask me.All i see anymore are iPod carrying zombies when walking downtown or at a mall.Maybe it is a fad.
Sure enough another medium will take over in the future.Always happens.

JD

 

[John in Covina]

In your own personal music video, man!

But who knows:The iPod and other mediums are taking a chunk of that listening time away from the public.A shame if you ask me.All i see anymore are iPod carrying zombies when walking downtown or at a mall.Maybe it is a fad. Sure enough another medium will take over in the future.Always happens. JD

*******
In the 80's & 90's I wore out a number of SONY Walkman cassette players and eventually got them with a digital AM/FM built in. I was able to be in my own "music video" or listen to radio on my daily lunch walk. For some reason I have had awful luck with portible Walkman type cd players.

As a music fan, I enjoy being able to listen to what I want when I want and it is not as rude as loud cell phone talkers.

 

[Hawkcigar]

I rarely listen to AM and FM radio anymore. It seems that most of the stations I used to listen to have all been acquired by big conglomerates/corporatons like ClearChannel.

The AM stations have almost all gone to a talk and political format. This format doesn't appeal to me at all. Most of the FM stations around here have changed a lot also. It seems like the corporate heads have set playlists that the stations must play. This has led to a loss of "local flavor" from many of the stations.

So in our cars we have installed XM satellite radio. It's very nice for any length of road trip. Lots of channels for every musical taste and most are commercial-free or have very few commercials. I especially like the Old Time Radio channel along with the 40's channel, Frank's (Sinatra) place and a couple of the jazz channels.

I also enjoy collecting old radios. With the programming offered on the AM band however, it makes it difficult to listen to them in the house. To fix that I bought an SStran AMT 3000 Transmitter. With this attached to my computer I am able to listen to mp3 recordings, cd's, or internet radio on any of my old radios in the house. Last night I was out in the garage and driveway grilling steaks and listening to some big band/swing compilation cd's I had made. While I was outside, my wife was inside in the kitchen listening to the same thing on a different radio. I'm really enjoying this new piece of equipment.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

The iPod's just a more modern, smaller and better version of John's Walkman cassette playor from years ago. I really didn't think I'd get as addicted to it as I did. No need to have a radio blaring on the deck while I'm working around the yard or garage. I bought an iPod Shuffle mainly as a means of escape to "sane sounds" while visiting the in-laws. Paul's dad (1) never stops talking and (2) never lets anyone else squeeze a word in and (3) is the world expert on absolutely everything - if you don't believe him, just say so. The explanation runs about 8 hours at last count. Fortunately, you can load a Shuffle with many, many more hours of music than that. lol lol lol

Then they came out with the Nano and when I found out it would synch to my Windows Outlook contacts & calendar, and we were on the way to the store while the webcast by Steve Jobs was still underway - got the first one sold in the store we hit. I can plug it into the car stereo and works great. It's generally Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman and Mora's Modern among others. With the snow falling all over the greater Seattle area, I'm thinking it's time to reload it with holiday songs. But I still find it amazing to plug a pair of full-sized headphones (with an adaptor of course) into something that's not much bigger than a stick of gum and get such full sound.