anyone have XM radio?

[saldana]

So i work in an office essentially all by myself for 7 hours a day, and i want to listen to the mets games, but my company's computer policy wont let me use mlb.com to listen to the streaming audio. (they wont let me post on this board either, but that is a little easier to get around)

i am planning to buy the new XM radio/mp3 player from Pioneer, its called the INNO, next week when it comes out, but before i drop the 400 bucks on it, i was wondering if anyone had any experience with the little portable satellite radios as far as reception inside a building. i should mention that inside my office, the only conventional radio stations that you can get are the ones that are broadcast from less than 10 miles away. is the building going to prevent me from getting reception?

[Flasch186]

yes...IMO, you will have to run the receiver to a window facing a certain direction that I dont remember.

[rjolley]

They have to face south

[saldana]

yes...IMO, you will have to run the receiver to a window facing a certain direction that I dont remember.
my office has no windows, so basically you are saying it isnt gonna work at all?!

[Flasch186]

..as far as I know the satellite receiver has to have a "clear view of the [southern] sky."

[saldana]

then how do they work as stereo components inside a house?

[MacroGuru]

Not really, although it is helpful.

I have the Roady XT home and car kit, so I am able to take it in the car and run it at home. In the home, my antenna isn't facing south at all, and it gets great reception, however, I think it is due to the fact I have windows next to where it is it.

You might want to purchase the Roady as a test for the office, it's like $48 and you can see if it works there.

[saldana]

dola and what is the point of having a portable one then....this thing is the size of an ipod...what is the point of having something that small and portable if it only works outside

[IwasHere]

I have the XM2GO and love it. At home I have it hooked up to my stereo system, so I can either listen through speakers or slap on the wireless headphones and run all over my house. I also take it with me everywhere in my car. And, every night when I am sleeping I have it record 5 hours of new music I can play back while I am at the gym(Boneyard). I will never buy another CD or Song again. :)



BTW. My home antenna sits on a shelf in my house pointing directly at a wall facing south. No south Window for me.

[Toddzilla]

There is no point of having a portable unit if it only works in certain conditions, you got that right. Maybe there is some way you can trt-it-before-you-buy-it sorat thing and make sure you have reception where you work before buying.

However, you do get free access to XM Online when you buy a subscription, so in the office, if you're at a desk most of the day, then you can listen online - there are more channels online, too (Special X - w00t!).

Also, someone on FOFC works for an XM partner (Aor America?) and they have access to their online store which may have a nice discount available for you.

Bottom line, unless I wasn't 100% sure the Inno worked at work where I sat, I wouldn't buy it.

PS - Sirius doesn't even have a portable unit that can play live content - it has to be docked and content downloaded to the unit - so it isn't even a option for you unfortunately.

[Ksyrup]

They just added more channels this past Monday - and brought back Liquid Metal. I was so happy when I accidentally discovered this in the car yesterday that I forced my family to listen to a full song from some death metal band. The kids got a kick out of me describing the vocals as "cookie monster." I had my 6 year old half-believing CM's other job was singing in a metal band.

[MikeVick7]

..as far as I know the satellite receiver has to have a "clear view of the [southern] sky."
Isn't that a DirecTV thing?

I was given a portable XM radio unit as a xmas gift and had a 3-month subscription just to try it out and I took it took work with me and could barely pick up a thing.

[panerd]

I understand your complaint about what the purpose of a hand-held radio is, but what I am wondering is how exactly you thought you could receive satellite radio without aiming an antenna at a satellite.

[Ramzavail]

There is no point of having a portable unit if it only works in certain conditions, you got that right. Maybe there is some way you can trt-it-before-you-buy-it sorat thing and make sure you have reception where you work before buying.

However, you do get free access to XM Online when you buy a subscription, so in the office, if you're at a desk most of the day, then you can listen online - there are more channels online, too (Special X - w00t!).

Also, someone on FOFC works for an XM partner (Aor America?) and they have access to their online store which may have a nice discount available for you.

Bottom line, unless I wasn't 100% sure the Inno worked at work where I sat, I wouldn't buy it.

PS - Sirius doesn't even have a portable unit that can play live content - it has to be docked and content downloaded to the unit - so it isn't even a option for you unfortunately.

XM Online does not have ANY MLB games that you can listen to, thats the only problem with that.

[Ramzavail]

I understand your complaint about what the purpose of a hand-held radio is, but what I am wondering is how exactly you thought you could receive satellite radio without aiming an antenna at a satellite.

I agree, and I wondered that myself.

[ice4277]

A guy at my work had an XM ToGo, and it worked pretty well in the windowless warehouse where his office was. He didn't have an antenna outside, either, so, it may work.

[Bee]

A guy at my work had an XM ToGo, and it worked pretty well in the windowless warehouse where his office was. He didn't have an antenna outside, either, so, it may work.

Yep, I think it might work if you're on an outside wall. One of my techs has XM toGo and it worked in his old office which was along an outside wall without windows. The new office he doesn't get reception because we're deeper inside the building now.

[saldana]

I agree, and I wondered that myself.

does your cell phone work inside...mine does...its called signal penetration... xm advertises that their transmitters are the most powerful commercial transmitters ever, hence i interpreted that to mean they would have enough power to penetrate a building.

as far as sirius goes...this is all about the baseball for me, and my company wont allow any type of streaming audio to be played

i dont have any windows, or an outside wall, but my office is on the 2nd floor of a flat roofed building, and the roof is thin (when it rains you have to turn up the radio because its so loud)

[saldana]

dola, how about your wireless modem or your cordless phone in your house.

[IwasHere]

i dont have any windows, or an outside wall, but my office is on the 2nd floor of a flat roofed building, and the roof is thin (when it rains you have to turn up the radio because its so loud)

I have noticed that metal roofs are a death sentence for XM signals. If you have a standard flat roof with tar an asphalt you should be fine.

Remember this is a digital signal, you either get it or you don't.

[Ramzavail]

does your cell phone work inside...mine does...its called signal penetration... xm advertises that their transmitters are the most powerful commercial transmitters ever, hence i interpreted that to mean they would have enough power to penetrate a building.

as far as sirius goes...this is all about the baseball for me, and my company wont allow any type of streaming audio to be played

i dont have any windows, or an outside wall, but my office is on the 2nd floor of a flat roofed building, and the roof is thin (when it rains you have to turn up the radio because its so loud)

You are the one who is going to get penetrated if you spend $400 on a portable mp3/radio.

[IwasHere]

You are the one who is going to get penetrated if you spend $400 on a portable mp3/radio.
After the sale and a Rebate offer, I spent a $100.00 for my xm2go.

[Aylmar]

It also depends on the area where your office building is located. With Sirius, I listen to it at work all day because they have dropped a ton of terrestrial repeaters around here (Chicagoland) to compensate for the buildings and such obscuring motorists view of the sky. Inside my office building, I am listening to Sirius based totally off of my ability to pick up that repeated sat signal. Normal radio has trouble getting into this building and yet I get pretty much full signal from the repeater. Contrary to the commentary in this thread, listening to satellite radio may have nothing at all to do with whether you can actually point an antenna at the sky.

[saldana]

You are the one who is going to get penetrated if you spend $400 on a portable mp3/radio.

i think that may be what that little antenna is for

[saldana]

just thought i'd update this and thank everyone for their advice and input...i went ahead and bought the simple little RoadyXT and the home kit, which comes with an antenna (total combined cost of less than 100 bucks), took it into my office and stared at the screen that said "No Signal". jerked around with the antenna for about an hour, and got all of no where. my office has no outside walls, no windows, and i was able to check and find out that it has a corrugated sheet metal roof...hence, the entire thing didnt work at all...i'll be returning it to the store tomorrow. :(

[CraigSca]

Isn't technology amazing?!

Seriously, sorry it didn't work out for you :(.

[MikeVick7]

Saldana, you really wanted that to work. Sorry to hear that it didn't. I know if I couldn't listen to sports radio at work I would go fricken nuts.

[saldana]

Saldana, you really wanted that to work. Sorry to hear that it didn't. I know if I couldn't listen to sports radio at work I would go fricken nuts.

i'm half way there, especially since i am there alone.

[Toddzilla]

Sorry about that, amigo. You did the smart thing and took it for a test drive first - kudos. I guess if you want to listen to baseball, you will have to pony up the cash for MLB.com on-line audio.