• Corporate website http://www.xmradio.com

• The company was founded in 1992

• Two satellites more than 22,000 miles above the Earth in a geostationary orbit. Both satellites have a combined effective power of 10 Megawatts, making Rock & Roll the most powerful commercial satellites.

• Main broadcast and office facility in Washington, D.C., with other resources in Boca Raton, FL, Southfield, MI, and Japan, with additional studios in New York, NY, and Nashville, TN

•  Listed on NASDAQ with the symbol XMSR

• Service is available with a monthly subscription rate of $9.99 and available in the U.S. only.

• Corporate partners include, General Motors, Hughes Electronic/DIRECTV, and Clear Channel, and manufacturing partnering with Sony, Pioneer, and Alpine.

• XM expects to hit the 1 millionth user by the end of 2003. Compared to early adoption of other new electronics such as DVD, Cassette, VHS, and Compact Disc, XM has far exceeded the expectations of critics.

A bit of XM History

• The original planned launch of the first XM satellite didn't go so well. As this story outlines.

• For reasons unknown, XM planned to launch Roll before Rock. As it turns out, that wasn't to be as Rock first launched in March of 2001 as Roll was being prepped for another launch attempt.

• Here's an image of Rock and Roll being assembled at the Boeing Plant.

XM radio isn't the only game on the block, but there were several reasons why I chose XM over Sirius Radio. One of the items I looked at was the company's financial support, which XM has plenty of with General Motors, AEA Investors, American Honda, Clear Channel Communications, Columbia Capital, DIRECTV, Hughes, Madison Dearborn Partners, and Telcom Ventures.

The next thing was the fact that they had a head start over Sirius, and a big start. Currently, it's estimated that XM has 10 times the listener base. The holiday season of 2002 was an indication that XM Radio has exploded on the scene. Sirius on the other hand only enjoyed only meager gains on XM.

Any early adopter of electronic equipment wants to buy into something that's not going to be extinct in the next few years. (remember Circuit City's Divx Player or Sony's Beta?)

I am confident that both XM and Sirius can survive. In fact, I hope Sirius does survive and allow for competition. Do I think they'll ever overtake XM? Possible, but not likely.

There are other reasons to choose XM besides what I've outlined, one of them being the per month cost. $9.99 for XM verses $12.95 for Sirius. Sirius Radio does have 100% commercial free programming, hence the extra cost. Sirius does boast three satellites to XM's two.

One of the unique features of this unit is the capability to be used just about anywhere!

Currently there's only one option for portability, and that's the Delphi SKYFi Boombox (pictured below).

The Delphi SKYFi unit can be placed not only into the Boombox, but a home or auto kit.

Currently I own both the Boombox and Home Kit. For an extra treat, hook it   into your computer's audio-in. For both, use a 1/8" to 1/8" (Male -Male) cable.

The PDF Operations Manual for the SKYFi unit, and for the Installation Manual

Although setting up the Delphi SKYFi is straightforward, there is a way to tweak the antenna tuning by adjusting your settings visually, and without using the "Antenna Aiming" option under the menu.

Here's how to do it:

Press and release the buttons on the unit in order, 2  0  7 then the XM button. This will turn the unit on. Press the Display button 3 times until you see the following screen:

Now the optimum setting of the BER % will be as shown above (0.0). The display above shows a optimum setting for both satellites, Rock & Roll. Unfortunately, I don't have access to terrestrial repeaters, so this shows as 100.0.

Position your antenna while watching the BER % display and shoot for the lowest setting possible.

If you can obtain something similar with just one satellite, that's ok too! But, in my situation, I've all but eliminated the "Loading" screen as the channel is being buffered. You won't notice any increase in sound quality, but you will eliminate any drop offs.

By continuously pressing the display button, other menu are displayed, but what they are, who knows! :) If you know, drop me an e-mail. In the meantime, here's a PDF file (courtesy of C.J. Carlson) outlining how each menu item relates.

XM Radio Home

A Technical Analysis of XM Radio

208 KB PDF (Michael V. Pellicano)

Delphi SKYFi

Home page of the Delphi SKYFi unit.

XMFan

There's a handful of boards out there, and personally, this one is by far the best of the bunch.

Delphi SKYFi Promo

Windows Media Format 300K

Since we all have opinions, and if you'd like to voice it, good or bad, drop me an e-mail and I'll include your comments and/or pictures on this page.

XM radio has made it easy for us that own more than one receiver by introducing the XM Family Plan.  From 2-5 radios under the same account, pay only $6.99 per month, the first radio remains at $9.99. What's the catch? You have to be on the semi-annual, or annual billing cycle.

To get on the plan, just call Listener Care at 1-800-852-9696 and start saving a few bucks a month!

Sirius Radio has something else to worry about--

XM Radio introduces XM PCR, a new way to enjoy XM Radio! Through your computer's audio system and with the use of a on-screen control panel, it's easy to customize your listening preferences. No internet connection is required since this is satellite radio and not streaming. The computer is required for not only the audio, but to control the unit itself.

At $69.95, this is a deal when you consider that up until this point, the cheapest alternative was the Delphi SKYFi and the home kit.

Screenshots of:

Control panel   Settings screen  Antenna positioning

Here's a few interesting features:

• Customizable display to show your favorite channels.

• See everything currently playing across XM's 100 channels

• Set the control panel to alert you when your favorite song is playing.

• If this is your second XM Radio, only pay $6.99 per month. ($9.99 otherwise)

The requirements:

Pentium®-class processor

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000, or Windows XP

Memory: 32 MB of RAM & 15 MB of hard-disk space

CD-ROM drive for software installation

Sound card or powered speakers

Available USB port
 

Is your broadband connection up to speed?

Testing that broadband connection!

Miscellaneous Tips and Tweaks