xm radio dilemma

[ghost]

I've been debating purchasing an satellite radio for my bike.......

Normally I don't like any distractions while I ride { except for the random synapse, of course }, but , there are some roads between the interesting bits that are, quite frankly, boring as hell. I'm looking at the possibility of an xm radio to fill in those long dull bits, but the people I've talked to don't have experience in places like Burns Ore., Ely nev., Shiprock Nm., etc.

The radio that would seem to best fulfill my needs is the Roady 2 [ simple, single purpose,reasonable price,easily adapted to my bike ] but:

1. how's the reception, with the external antenna properly mounted, in Tonopah or Alamogoro ??

2. is the a better single purpose radio availble than the Roady ?

Thanks for any help or advice.

Ghost

 

[skyway]

The more open the terrain, the better the reception.

 

[Ignacio]

Yes, out in the middle of nowhere with a general view of the southern sky is even better than in urban areas. Don't think of coverage like cell phones. Totally different technology. They use Geo Stationary Earth Orbits to cover the U.S. and parts of North America.

Farther north you go the closer to the horizon the satellites become, but I can attest total reception all the time in Washington State and can confirm every point between here and the Mexico border in New Mexico.

 

[Grumpy]

This is exactly why I bought an XM radio.......great reception out in the middle of no where!

jim

 

[mdisher]

As long as that "Middle of no where" doesn't include you winding your way around mountain roads in say West By God Virginy, or the like you should be good.

I gave up on XM arround here. Seemed no matter where I was headed, the anteana wasn't pointed South-West where it needed to be and it just faded in and out too much.

In and around the hills wasn't good, but up and down the interstate was excellent.

Err, at least running South and West was.

The more open it is the better for sure.

YMMV

 

[avigar]

In certain urban areas, antenna repeaters are used to amplify the XM signals. As long as you have a somewhat clear view of the southern sky, you'll be fine.

 

[Bounce]

Sirius rocks! Moved the receiver out of the car (it also fits in the tank bag) and into the garage. Plugged in some PC speakers and listened to non-stop music all weekend while doing prep work on the bike while getting ready for the AT trip.

 

[kindofblue]

If you get an XM or Sirius (I've got XM and like it), consider putting the antenae as far away from you as possible so your body doesn't interfere. Some riders I met in WY told me this trick when I had mine attached near the windshield of the bike. Moving it back to a tail bag I was carrying helped immensely. I also took their advice and attached it to a 5"x5" metal plate which they said also improves reception. YMMV.

If you get the MySkyFi2 radio you can record up to 5 hours of music and play it back when you're carving in canyons and have poor reception.

 

[twowheelnut]

I just switched over from Sirius to XM. Main reason is the Sirius products have failed me 3 times - all with the antennae connection. Dunno what it is, but it sucks to be cut out in the middle of a great ride. That and after a 3 month free trial with the new car, I like the XM programming better. Stern went to shit when he went extraterrestrial and I grew bored with him which is why I originally got SatRad in the first place.

As far as reception: Beautimusly clear in the Nevada desert and canyons of Utah. Hell, the radio even withstood an Arizonan mega deluge for 45 minutes with no failure...

 

[S76]

Thanks for the great thread! I just installed an XM and am a little disapointed with the reception. Of course most of my roads are covered with trees and winding between hills. When out in the open it works fine. I originally had the antenna on the front brake master cylinder. No good, as I guess my body was blocking most of the signal. I moved it to the rear above the tail light and it was a huge improvment, as long as there wasn't a passenger. Today I put the top box on and mounted (velcroed) it to the top of the box and reception wasn't too good. Good suggestion about using a ground plane. I'll try that next.

 

[zzkenoman]

I had problems with reception with the antenna on the brake res so I used a speaker mount arm and bolted it to my passenger backrest. So its probably about 12" above the rear rack. Now reception is about 98%

 

[Scab]

Where's your av, z-man?

 

[zzkenoman]

Where's your av, z-man?

She's is semi-retired per requests.

 

[wpbfjr]

one solution from mark in leeds, ala (sorry, forgot screen name):

he spliced two xm antennas together, placing one up front, and the other in back with a litle bit of slack to mount on his touring trunk...

mark said it improved his reception and did not cause any reception issues since the antenna is one directional, as opposed to dish or direct tv and the 2way info exchange they use.

i wish i'd done it before eom, tons of drop outs in the sub-mountainous areas...

dana

 

[OhioFJR1300]

I've found the XM works well in the south, but in the northern states it cuts out when mounted on a motorcycle. Switched to Sirius and the signal is much better. Both work well on a car, but on a motorcycle with far less metal to act as a ground plane for the antenna, the Sirius Sats are in a higher orbit and therefore the signal works better in the northern states. Also, a GPS will cause some reception problems with some sat radios, so get them as far apart as you can.

 

[bmwhd]

I use this setup on all my bikes. It's a Sirius Starmate with all wires and mixing hardware contained in a Cortech Super Mini Magnetic tank bag.

With the antenna mounted directly in front of the unit, your body will block reception at certain angles and times of day. I left about a foot of slack in the antenna cable so I can pull it out and stick it on the tank at those times (the antenna is magnetic too).

 

[Bike Effects]

My XM seems to work well everywhere except in heavily forested areas.

 

[ghost]

Thanks for all the input.

Seems the biggest challenge will be where to mount the antenna........

Anyone have any experience with the roady2 ? Thats the one that I'm looking at the hardest right now.

Ghost