Anyone using satellite radio??? (how much, house, to buy)

[LillieB]

Hello Mainers....

I've been considering satellite radio for my home. I know many people have it for the car now. But I happen to live in an area that gets very bad terrestrial radio reception (geographically my house is land-locked or something - very little signal gets through), and I'd sort of like to get some news and a little good quality music. The companies that offer it -- XM and Sirus -- seem to have great lineups for relatively low subscription rates (under $15/mo).

If anyone reading has this in their home, could you comment on how you like it? How does it work -- is there a satellite antenna on the outside of the house like satellite TV that hooks up to receivers inside? How much hardware do you have to buy? And is the reception really a consistent good quality?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks -- LillieB

[Maineah]

It came with our car free for three months. We let it run out.
if you get cable tv or satellite tv you already have the signal for most of the xm stations coming in to the house.
Hook your cable or satellite box to the stereo and you're all set.
My DB has XM/Sirius in his car but did not bother with the home receiver as he does the cable tv thing.

[Aylalou]

I love it! I do not have an antenna on the top of my house; that would probably be best. However, I point the little antenna to face south in my house as directed. Didn't have to buy hardware and was told that if I wanted it on the roof, what I purchased would do the trick - so no having to buy anything extra. Reception is excellent.

One thing I had to figure out. Sometimes I would take the "monitor" from the car to the boombox in the house and when I turned on the radio, I wouldn't get a sound or I would get a message saying, "Check antenna." I would then check the signal strength from the menu on the remote. If the top bar shows just one-quarter of the top bar filled and all of the bottom bar, it means you should get reception. I re-read the directions which said if there is no audio, just reinsert the monitor and I've had no problems since. I have really really enjoyed it.

[GarlicGuy]

I love my XM setup. I have a couple Pioneer AirWare xm2go receivers along with the Altec Lansing XM3020 Docking/Speaker Station. Signal comes in fine even though I can't aim the antenna towards the south. I prefer it over the Delphi XM MyFi as the Pioneer will hold about 10 hours of recording as opposed to 5 hours even though it stated 5 hours also. Check out Amazon and you'll be surprised at the low price you can get one for. My second one was around $20. They still work with the merge and plenty of choices of stations. Never thought I'd pay for radio but have enjoyed it for about 3 years. I record my favorite station and take it to work and listen to it seems the signal won't come in the building. I can carry it on my belt or put it in my car and save money. Good luck

[ClownShoes]

I have Sirius in my vehicles.

When I want to listen in the house, all I do is login to my account online and play it thru the computer.

I added a subwoofer to the computer and it sounds great!