Help with Sirius

[Satchel Pooch]

I know my fellow SportsJournalists.commers can help out with this.

I'm thinking about getting a Sirius for my car (and our cars?) here pretty soon. My wife and I split driving to work because I work 3 blocks from her office and she has a free spot in front of her building.

OK..

• Are there any discernible differences between the Starmate 4 and the Sportster 4? I think the deal is, you buy one of the two for $90 and get a $50 Sirius gift card in return (4 months' worth of service).

• What does Best Buy charge to install it (I have a Honda Accord, she a Honda CRV)? About $80 or so?

• Given that we split driving, I'd like to bring the radio into her car when it's her week to drive. Would I need to have installation done in her car, too, or is there a way to Jerry-rig it so that it's listenable (stick the antenna out there somewhere, plug it in, use the built-in transmitter and go)?

Any light you all may shed will be appreciated.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Best Buy installed mine for free... Granted, that was five years ago when Sirius was just coming out...

Enjoy Howard...

 

[bagelchick]

I didn't have mine actually installed. I just plug it in, plop the antenae on the dashboard and away I go.
I love having it portable as I have taken it on business trips with me when I'm doing a lot of driving.

 

[pseudo]

I didn't have mine actually installed. I just plug it in, plop the antenae on the dashboard and away I go.
I love having it portable as I have taken it on business trips with me when I'm doing a lot of driving.

Second that. Install?

But if you do decide to make it somewhat permanent, you can pick up a second antenna for the other car.

 

[Satchel Pooch]

I didn't have mine actually installed. I just plug it in, plop the antenae on the dashboard and away I go.
I love having it portable as I have taken it on business trips with me when I'm doing a lot of driving.

Second that. Install?

But if you do decide to make it somewhat permanent, you can pick up a second antenna for the other car.

OK, for both of you, then: How is the reception when the antenna is merely shoved to the front of the car on the dashboard?

That's one thing Sirius, on its site, says NOT to do. But if it sounds good, who cares? It's easy.

 

[beefncheddar]

Total satellite radio noob here.

You mean you can get it in your car without having to install a bunch of ****? So, theoretically, I could just bring it with me in whichever car I'm using?

How's that work? How's the sound?

 

[Dyno]

Mine's not installed either. The antenna is on the front part of the dashboard (luckily, in my car, there's some metal on the top of the dash and the antenna's magnet sticks to it.) The reception is fine - I've never had a problem.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I have two antennae --- one I semi-permanently installed on my car with some 3M two-sided tape, and the other I use for rentals and what-not. Never had any luck with the antenna on the dashboard.

 

[beefncheddar]

OK, kids. Someone please explain to me how this works.

You mount an antenna in the car and then bring a radio with you? Does it work through the car's speakers?

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

OK, kids. Someone please explain to me how this works.

You mount an antenna in the car and then bring a radio with you? Does it work through the car's speakers?

Sirius or XM antenna plugs into the satellite radio receiver, which outputs one of two ways:

• directly to the car audio system via an aux-in jack or a cassette adapter
• via an FM modulator which can be received via the car's FM radio.

iPods can be set up the same way.

 

[beefncheddar]

I tried my iPod once with one of the FM transmitters and it was ****ty. Do the satellite ones work well? You guys had any problems with them?

Becuase I'd LOVE to get satellite radio, but haven't wanted to tear up my car to do it.

 

[Dyno]

Satellite radio reception is much better than with my ipod adapter. My ipod adapter was a cheapie, though.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I tried my iPod once with one of the FM transmitters and it was ****ty. Do the satellite ones work well? You guys had any problems with them?

Becuase I'd LOVE to get satellite radio, but haven't wanted to tear up my car to do it.

The one I have in my Visor is very good, but I have an aftermarket iPod interface that also gives me an extra aux-in jack (right and left RCA jacks, actually).

What are you driving? Does it have an aux-in jack? Give me enough info and I can punch it into the Crutchfield database.

 

[Hank_Scorpio]

So you just put the antenna in the sun visor, drop the cord down to the radio and plug it into the Aux jack?


I have an 07 Focus, but not sure if there's an Aux jack or not. I don't have a cassette player, so I'd definitely have to use the Aux jack.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

So you just put the antenna in the sun visor, drop the cord down to the radio and plug it into the Aux jack?

Won't work. Satellite radio signals (and TV signals, and GPS signals) require that the antenna have a clear "look" at the sky.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

I have just put the antenna on the dash in two different cars and never had a problem. My dad does the same thing with his.

I've never liked the sound quality of an FM modulator, though. I used to use a cassette adapter instead. Now I have XM built in so it's not an issue.

 

[budcrew08]

I know my fellow SportsJournalists.commers can help out with this.

I'm thinking about getting a Sirius for my car (and our cars?) here pretty soon. My wife and I split driving to work because I work 3 blocks from her office and she has a free spot in front of her building.

OK..

• Are there any discernible differences between the Starmate 4 and the Sportster 4? I think the deal is, you buy one of the two for $90 and get a $50 Sirius gift card in return (4 months' worth of service).

• What does Best Buy charge to install it (I have a Honda Accord, she a Honda CRV)? About $80 or so?

• Given that we split driving, I'd like to bring the radio into her car when it's her week to drive. Would I need to have installation done in her car, too, or is there a way to Jerry-rig it so that it's listenable (stick the antenna out there somewhere, plug it in, use the built-in transmitter and go)?

Any light you all may shed will be appreciated.

I'll help. Get XM. Much better than Sirius, IMHO.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

I know my fellow SportsJournalists.commers can help out with this.

I'm thinking about getting a Sirius for my car (and our cars?) here pretty soon. My wife and I split driving to work because I work 3 blocks from her office and she has a free spot in front of her building.

OK..

• Are there any discernible differences between the Starmate 4 and the Sportster 4? I think the deal is, you buy one of the two for $90 and get a $50 Sirius gift card in return (4 months' worth of service).

• What does Best Buy charge to install it (I have a Honda Accord, she a Honda CRV)? About $80 or so?

• Given that we split driving, I'd like to bring the radio into her car when it's her week to drive. Would I need to have installation done in her car, too, or is there a way to Jerry-rig it so that it's listenable (stick the antenna out there somewhere, plug it in, use the built-in transmitter and go)?

Any light you all may shed will be appreciated.

I'll help. Get XM. Much better than Sirius, IMHO.

Musically, I'm much more impressed with Sirius' music mix than I was with XM.

 

[21]

I am have sirius because it came with the car, but really wish I had XM instead....better music, better sports.

 

[pseudo]

Bought Sirius largely for NFL Sunday Drive, but hardly ever used it for that. And with XM factory-installed in the new buggy, the Sportster is gathering dust here in the house.

Never had an issue with the antenna-on-the-dashboard trick. Previous car didn't have either an aux jack or a cassette player, so FM was the only way to go. Not studio-quality sound, but good enough for my purposes.