I just got the Starmate unit and, according to what part of the country I live in, I’m supposed to place the antenna in a north or east-facing window. Unfortunately, my apartment only has west-facing windows and I can’t get a signal in here.
Does this mean I’m basically SOL and I need to cancel my subscription and return the unit or is there anything I can do? Does anyone know if they make stronger antennas or if a different unit would pick up a signal better?
I’m not sure about the exact unit, but I had Sirius with an indoor antenna, and (unless you are buried inside a concrete bunker) the antenna should be able to receive through the walls, not just through a window. I didn’t have any problem receiving it in my basement, nor in my office with no outside windows because it was deep inside the building.
(I don’t have Sirius any more, but not because of reception problems.)
I’ve never had much luck with indoor reception on my Sirius radio. Are you sure your radio wasn’t receiving signals from a repeater station on the ground?
You might try your question at the help area of sirius backstage a message board devoted to Sirius Satellite radio.
I worked a temp job at Sirius for a few weeks. It is very difficult to receive the signal indoor if the antenna can not face the proper direction. Sirius uses far fewer repeaters than XM, which assist XM’s indoors reception.
There are stronger antennas available which might be able to help get the signal indoors.
Since you’re just listening at home (and presumably not in the car), have you tried listening on their Web site? As a subscriber you can log in.
The sound quality isn’t the crispest, but it should at least help you getyour $$ out of your subscription while you wait for a solution to your reception problem.
The web site only streams music channels, however. It streams at 32 kbs.