April 26th, 2005
Project Journal: Taking the Sirius Satellite Radio Plunge, Part One
Satellite radio is getting a lot of press these days, (I actually wrote a column on Satellite for ZDNet back in 2000) but not many people are writing about what it means to actually take the plunge and install and use one of these services. Yesterday, I placed my order online for an inexpensive receiver that can do double duty as a home and auto unit, plus the corresponding home and car kits, and a year of service. Here’s what happened next so you can follow along at home:
1. Placing the Order.
Sirius re-tooled its website and broke the task of getting hooked up into three easy pieces; picking a radio, ordering service, and then activating your radio when it arrives by mail. I chose the Sirius Starmate essentially because it was small and cheap (hey, this is my own money after all) and I am not ready to go the complete carve up the car dash and integrate multiple units route just yet. For experimenting, the unit seemed small and easy to work with and very affordable. I also sprang for the home kit so I could use it at home and in the car. Here are the details from the manufacturer:
==============
Starmate Complete Car and Home Package $139
This is our smallest plug and play radio yet at just 4″ wide and slightly over 1″ thick. It features a very clear 3 line display that shows artists, song titles, and other channel information. You’ll be able to use it in your vehicle - a car kit (which features a suction-cup mount, a roof-mount antenna, and a DC power adapter) is included in the package. A wireless remote is also included for convenient system operation.
More Details:
# Unique channel toggle switch
# Integrated connectivity for antenna, audio/headphone out, FM out and power
# Headphone volume control
# Compact 3-line display
# 30 channel presets
# S-Seek
# Wireless remote control
# Integrated FM transmitter with 100 frequency selections
# Package includes car kit accessories:
* Car antenna
* Suction cup mount
* Cigarette lighter power adapter
# Optional home kit
=======================
2. Order Confirmation
Ouch! Even though I was being frugal, the costs sure did add up. After taxes, the hardware came to $151.88. Add to that a year of service at $142.45 and we’re talking nearly $300 to get set up. I think that will be the hardest thing for consumers to stomach. When you added cable to your TV set, you already had the set, so the monthly service and usually free installation made the move palatable. If you had to go out a buy a TV set, and the cables and connectors and then add in a year of service, then I think we’d all be singing a different tune with cable.
I have not yet been billed for the service and I got a month free by ordering a year up front, but I also don’t remember a monthly billing option. Today I went back and looked at the website and you can go month-to-month at $12.95, and you can also do $499 and keep the service for life. I did that with TiVo in its first year and really saved as the fees went up, but at this point, I just picked the one year option.
Stay tuned for Part Two: When the Hardware Arrives. I heard that you have to put the antenna on your roof or near a window which may be a nightmare to do by myself, and something no one really talks about, so stay tuned. I’ll be taking pictures of the whole process and giving you the lowdown on signal quality, plug and play ease, and of course, the actual service - is it worth $300? Let me know what questions you have in the meantime. –Alice Hill
Stephen says:
What made you decide on Sirius over XM radio? I have been looking at both and would be grateful for knowing your thoughts.
How’s the cat doing?
April 26th, 2005 at 9:37 pm
Alice says:
I went with the content. From thew research I’ve done, Sirius is spending money on luring big names to the platform, while XM is spending money on the hardware and occasional sports exclusives - and I’m not really that into sports. I figure that the hardware can always improve, but content is king. But we shall see. Maybe XM will give me a demo unit so I can try both, like I did with TiVo and ReplayTV back in the day. I just can’t afford to buy both myself.
My cat is much better. She is still not what I would call 100% but comared to what she was like last weekend, it is like night and day. Thanks for asking!
April 27th, 2005 at 10:07 am
Justin says:
How are you going to run the audio from the Sirius unit to your stereo? If you use the fm modulator please post your thoughts on it’s clarity and how far the unit can be from your antenna and still sound good. I use an airplay fm modulator with my iPod, but with my antenna in the back of the car and me in the front seat I tend to get alot of static. I hope the Sirius reciever has a stronger signal.
April 27th, 2005 at 9:36 pm
Alice says:
Not worry, I am going to test, document, and photograph every aspect of this and get down to the real truth! I also have some issues that may be tricky. When I get ready for work in the morning I like to listen to the radio. My living room stereo is too far to hear from the bathroom unless you crank the volume and annoy the neighbors, so I bought a little Sony portable. If I connect the Sirius receiver to my home stereo, then I am out of luck in the morning, which next to commuting to and from work, is the time I would use a radio most. I am wondering if I can transmit the signal into the bathroom radio and use it that way. A possibility?
Anyway, we shall see. And I hav ean FM transmitter and in San Francisco, it is almost useless. The static makes me nuts.
Stay tuned…..
April 28th, 2005 at 10:08 am
Jim says:
GO XM
May 7th, 2005 at 5:02 am
Jim Daggon says:
Alice
I have had XM radio in the car for about a year now and I love it. I just bought a Delphi XM to Go portable unit and I will let you know how it goes. I live in a house in NJ that faces north so I have no good southern exposure (meeded for satellite, although I am told in larger cities, there are also terrestrial satellites). So, the XM radio (in car) worked great with almost no drop outs from NJ to WI, but in my driveway…..Nothing!
The Xm to go portable worked almost flawlessly using the FM modulator in another car with regular FM from NJ to PA and back (picking up daughter from college). If you like, I can give some XM feedback if you want to compare to Sirius.
Thanks, and glad to have you back!
Jim
May 8th, 2005 at 9:05 am
Alice says:
Jim - email me alice@realtechnews.com and let’s set up a comparion we can publish. Should be interesting.
May 8th, 2005 at 10:28 am
Poor Quality says:
MONO is the key word. If you are looking for cd quality or even FM quality don’t get your hopes up. If you like the sound quality of AM radio then you’ll enjoy every flat mono moment that sirius gives you.
November 23rd, 2005 at 8:57 am
Alice Hill’s Real Tech News - Independent Tech » Project Notebook: Installing a Sirius Satellite Radio in Your Car says:
[…] cheapie base product I selected and why. To bone up on that, please catch up here: –Taking the Plunge Now, on with the show: When the Package Arrives After many “back-order” de […]
December 9th, 2005 at 6:07 pm
car insuranc says:
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August 6th, 2006 at 7:07 am
Will says:
I have just been told by Sirius customer service that the sound quality for the satelite radio service is 32kbps which means it is very digitally compressed. Sirius considers 128kbps to be CD quality which they provide at an extra charge for internet radio but not satelite radio. It is also a mono signal not stero like FM. These things would explain why the audio doesn’t sound as good as it should. I had wondered for 2 years now why the sound quality was poor and now I know.
December 10th, 2007 at 1:33 pm
翻译公司 says:
车库门
May 18th, 2008 at 10:06 pm