# Tell me about XM Sirius radio **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2013, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899 "2013-06-25T18:43:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/61 "2013-06-28T21:36:15Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > But if she does, she can amaze her friends with her satellite knowledge. 🙂 Ah, you know me… I live for that sort of thing. Really. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/62 "2013-08-28T16:10:23Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > I’ve only used the XM radio that came with my car, and I can also find fault with the music channel navigation. I can only go up or down the channel line up by turning the knob up or down, hitting every station along the way. It’s like changing the channel on an old rotary tuner TV. Using a folder based navigation, based on genre (Music, Talk, Comedy, Sports) with subfolders would be much better. Maybe other XM radios can do this, but mine does not. I just bought a 2013 Honda Accord with XM and tuning is the one thing that is dissapointing. Up until a few years ago I was able to use my dad’s player…it was the kind that could be moved from a car to a boombox. Two things that I liked alot were the ability to chose a navigational listing of either station or artist or even song and also the ability to tag favorite songs and be prompted whenever it was playing on any channel. I’m not getting either of those features on my Honda (XM btw) … I wonder if it’s possible that Honda might change that? ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/63 "2013-08-28T16:25:28Z")
I have it, I love it. The Blue Collar Comedy channel alone is worth the price of the subscription. When I’m in a bad mood, they will always make me laugh. And I have found some awesome music stations as well. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/64 "2013-08-28T17:55:31Z")
So I get one of the many come-on (actually, come-back!) emails from SiriusXM, telling me my XM radio is on for the next two weeks. So I flip it on and lo-and-behold… …the forest still makes my reception so spotty it’s not worth bothering with. Which means that the first and last ten minutes of any journey would be XM-less. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/65 "2013-08-28T18:08:28Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > But if she does, she can amaze her friends with her satellite knowledge. 🙂 > > The XM satellites are in geostationary orbits, but the Sirius satellites are in geosynchronous non-geostationary [Tundra orbits](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tundra_orbit). I went to the [Heavens-Above](http://www.heavens-above.com/) website, and plotted the orbit and ground track for the three Sirius satellites. > > [Sirius 1](http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=26390&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT) > [Sirius 2](http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=26483&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT) > [Sirius 3](http://www.heavens-above.com/orbit.aspx?satid=26626&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=UCT) > > They each get to over 47,000 km above Earth, higher than the almost 36,000 of geostationary orbits. That’s actually more than just a cool bit of trivia. Sirius works FAR better in the northern parts of the country, especially if you’ve got a lot of interference from trees and mountains. Since the programming is pretty much identical these days, that’s the only real difference between the services, but if you live certain places it can be a significant one. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2013, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/66 "2013-08-28T18:31:06Z")
DirecTV includes a few of these channels. I listen to the 70’s music (804), country, and bluegrass channels. It’s only a sample of whats on XM Sirius but I enjoy the channels DirecTV carries. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/67 "2013-08-30T16:48:13Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > So I get one of the many come-on (actually, come-back!) emails from SiriusXM, telling me my XM radio is on for the next two weeks. So I flip it on and lo-and-behold… I got the same thing, except via snail mail. I have no idea how to even get the satellite radio in my car to pick up the satellite. I certainly hope that they don’t use this promotion as another reason to start calling me umpteen times a day. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2013, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/68 "2013-08-30T19:48:34Z")
I like it. Mostly, I listen to the channels featuring 60s, 70s, and 80s music. Good programming for the most part (though I did at one point want to suggest that they should rename the 70s channel to “The Peter Frampton Channel”), and great hosts. Recently, I drove nearly halfway across Canada and back again, with the radio on the whole time. No problems with reception, except in a few deep rock cuts in northern Ontario. But it was nice not to deal with the fade-in-and-out of terrestrial radio in remote areas, nor with commercials. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/69 "2013-08-31T12:49:14Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I just bought a 2013 Honda Accord with XM and tuning is the one thing that is dissapointing. Up until a few years ago I was able to use my dad’s player…it was the kind that could be moved from a car to a boombox. Two things that I liked alot were the ability to chose a navigational listing of either station or artist or even song and also the ability to tag favorite songs and be prompted whenever it was playing on any channel. > > I’m not getting either of those features on my Honda (XM btw) … I wonder if it’s possible that Honda might change that? I should have started a new thread rather than try to refocus an old one. One more shot before I do that: I did contact SXM who said to talk to the manufacturer (Honda). Does anybody know if the tuners you would get directly from SXM still have the capabilities I’m looking for? Does anybody have experience with a built-in tuner in a vehicle with that capability? Do auto manufacturers ever provide software updates with significant improvements? (I’m pretty sure I’ve heard of updates that fixed a problem). TIA ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@The\_Man\_In\_Black](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_In_Black)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2013, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899/70 "2013-08-31T13:37:14Z")
My sister has XM Sirius in her car. I went on a trip with her last week, and I can tell you that if you drive on roads that are lined with trees, you will not have a signal. When we started on the trip, I was thinking of getting it for my truck. But by the end, I didn’t see the point of paying for radio that goes out if anything is above you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-xm-sirius-radio/661899.md?page=3)