Sirius XM phenomena I just don’t understand

Jeff in TX

How many of y’all have Sirius XM in your vehicles?  If so I’m sure that you’ve experienced that quick loss of signal going under an overpass or being blocked by a tall building. Being an engineer I get it and fully understand!

What boggles my mind is when I get to the parking garages at DFW airport. I can pull into the parking garage travel up and down the center isles and still maintain service. Yeah, it may stop for a few seconds but it comes right back. I checked with some engineers at DFW and they said they have no repeaters or signal amplifiers in the garage. 

Blows my my mind I can pass under an overpass and lose signal, yet I can drive up and down through a parking garage and not...!  Go figure!

Spk

My only guess..... and it's only a guess. Signal reflection. There's no rebar under highways and tall building are grounded for a reason. I'm guessing some signal reflection is taking place allowing you to continue reception in the parking garage. Maybe, the garage structure (not the electrical system inside) is not properly grounded.

It would be weird but seen some dumb things in the past.

Gila

I've found two locations in Tucson where I lose my Sirius/XM signal, when I go there.  Both of them are on the top of overpasses with nothing but blue sky above. 

Spk

Gila said:

I've found two locations in Tucson where I lose my Sirius/XM signal, when I go there.  Both of them are on the top of overpasses with nothing but blue sky above. 

It sounds like interference... but from what?

I'd be curious how those overpasses are constructed and whether or not they have large power lines passing through them.

Gila

Spk said:

Gila said:

I've found two locations in Tucson where I lose my Sirius/XM signal, when I go there.  Both of them are on the top of overpasses with nothing but blue sky above. 

It sounds like interference... but from what?

I'd be curious how those overpasses are constructed and whether or not they have large power lines passing through them.

One of them goes over railroad tracks on divided city streets and was recently rebuilt from the ground up.  It happened on the old overpass there too.  The thing is, there is a stop light on the top of it, and if it's red, I get to sit there with no radio.  The other location is on a ramp from one interstate to another that goes up real high.  Farther down an interstate passes under power transmission lines, and I have never lost the signal there.  Go figure...

jbp-ohio

I heard one of their DJ's saying he was going to the anti-gun marches this summer so I cancelled them.......

Gila

jbp-ohio said:

I heard one of their DJ's saying he was going to the anti-gun marches this summer so I cancelled them.......

That's about the same as cancelling television service for the same reason.  I listen mostly to Willie's Roadhouse or Patriot Radio when I've driving.

NN

momentary loss of signal------boo hooo

I remember back in the day losing radio and tv signals for any possible reason,

including an aircraft flying over and we lived under the down wind pattern at an air station.

rberglof

Worked pretty good here in North Dakota but got tired of them raising prices and also renewing it on different months, canceled it early this year. They keep trying to get me back offering cheap rates, they should have thought of that sooner.

I got it in the first place for music with no talking but that didn't last.

ilove22s

i had it in my new car for 6? months but never used it.

they keep on trying to get me to re-subscribe, but i just listen to AM/FM.

I know in a tunnel in town there is radio reception, but not sure about Sirius XM

Big Chief

In a nutshell It is satellite radio and has things that block/degrade the signals, differently than AM/FM which have their own reception quirks.

You can read up on AM/FM and HD radio vs Sirius, the broadcast bands and how it is transmitted/received. 

   

coolgunguy

When they do the limited time free broadcast I get pretty good reception, but when the no charge period is over, my reception is nil.

Haven't figured out the cause yet...🤔

Make_My_Day

The XM in my truck goes out momentarily while driving under a thickly leaved tree, but I would never go back to FM. There's simply too much of a variety of programming to give it up. Politics on XM? I don't give a damn....the DJ's on all the Rock stations are obviously liberal, but it's the music that keeps me there. And yeah, I love Patriot Radio too.

zorba

I just geek stick it. That way I have my own playlist and don't have to pay to listen to somebody else's!

CHIRO1989

I like my CD's and blue tooth. 

Jayhawker

Back in the day I was stationed at Selfridge AFB....my Army unit was part of the Detroit/Cleveland Air Defense sector and co-located with an AF unit that ran a huge search radar...For miles around, every time that dish made a sweep, people's television would fuzz out...the only time they got a break was when the radar was down for maintenance...life can be hard

RugerFan

I don't like Sirius or XM: sound quality is awful.  I just stream using Spotify.  I'm on my son's plan so no commercials or DJs. Just music.

Jermanator

I have been doing either Amazon Music or Kettering University has a radio station. They play all kinds of crazy stuff-- classical, jazz, hip-hop, blues, soul, funk, rock, death metal, alternative, heavy metal, grunge... show tunes. No commercials.

RugerFan

cpj said:

YouTube or Spotify. Free. 

Yes, but then you have to listen to commercials.

On my son's premium Spotify plan he can have 4 or 5 devices on the plan for 1 price. He and his wife couldn't use them all so he added me.

The free spotify screws my pc and laptop up somehow. I don't use it on them anymore.

rberglof

I use this if I just want music. MP3 and only what I want.

Gila

RugerFan said:

I don't like Sirius or XM: sound quality is awful.  I just stream using Spotify.  I'm on my son's plan so no commercials or DJs. Just music.

Check out the new thread about the Canadians in the 2nd Amendment section.  Everyone is paying more for this than they realize....

Jermanator

Gila said:

RugerFan said:

I don't like Sirius or XM: sound quality is awful.  I just stream using Spotify.  I'm on my son's plan so no commercials or DJs. Just music.

Check out the new thread about the Canadians in the 2nd Amendment section.  Everyone is paying more for this than they realize....

Spotify and Shopify are entirely separate entities and have nothing to do with one another.

Gila

Jermanator said:

Gila said:

RugerFan said:

I don't like Sirius or XM: sound quality is awful.  I just stream using Spotify.  I'm on my son's plan so no commercials or DJs. Just music.

Check out the new thread about the Canadians in the 2nd Amendment section.  Everyone is paying more for this than they realize....

Spotify and Shopify are entirely separate entities and have nothing to do with one another.

Thanks for correcting me.  I was looking for a way to make everyone aware of Shopify, and in a round about way, I guess it worked.

RugerFan

cpj said:

RugerFan said:

cpj said:

YouTube or Spotify. Free. 

Yes, but then you have to listen to commercials.

On my son's premium Spotify plan he can have 4 or 5 devices on the plan for 1 price. He and his wife couldn't use them all so he added me.

The free spotify screws my pc and laptop up somehow. I don't use it on them anymore.

I may hear 1-2 commercials in a row PER HOUR. 
For free? I can deal with that. 

I never ck'd but it seemed like there were more than that. Don't doubt you though.