The reception on my satellite radio has been getting progressively worse and worse, till now it’s at the point where I can’t even listen to a single song without losing sound. It can be a completely clear day with not even a telephone pole to block the sky, and the dang thing still cuts out. The signal goes completely out and the radio displays that signal has been lost. It doesn’t matter what channel I’m listening to - once it’s lost signal, I can flip to multiple channels and never get any sound. After various periods of time, signal comes back. Rinse and repeat. I’ve checked with several people in the area, and they aren’t experiencing anything like this, so I assume there is some issue with my radio.
I’ve tried Googling this, but all I come up with are complaints about the quality of satellite radio in general. I tried sending a refresh signal and it hasn’t seemed to make a difference.
My first thought would be a problem with the radio/antenna connection–maybe a faulty cable or loose connector. Depending on how the radio is installed you might be able to check the cable yourself and make sure the connectors are firmly seated and the cable doesn’t have any breaks in it.
That’d be my thought, as well. I don’t think that the satellite radio antenna is an active system, so I’m not sure that there’s anything in there that could fail, per se, but I could be wrong.
What kind of radio? I went through a few XM SkyFi units because they’d crap out after a few years with exactly those symptoms.
If this is an aftermarket unit you might want to see if you can pick up a new antenna, plug it in and if it doesn’t make a difference, return it.
Factory radio? Add on unit sold as a dealer installed accessory? Aftermarket add on? Total aftermarket radio with sat radio built in?
What year make and model?
For crying out loud throw us a freakin bone here.
From your (extremely minimal) description of symptoms, I’m inclined to agree with the assessments of passive signal strength loss caused by antenna or cabling issues – for instance, corrosion or loosening of connectors in the antenna path.
I’m not sure of this, but the antenna itself may be an active component. (Depending on whether this application of S-band reception is sensitive enough to require a low-noise amplifier and/or IF down-converter before going to the tuner block. I know that satellite TV does, but radio is a much lower-bandwidth use.)
yes it is, it’s an amplified ground-plane antenna. it could have failed, or the receiver may have stopped sending it power. or there could be a break in the cable between the antenna and receiver. This used to be common with the AM/FM system when the non-latching Motorola plug was common, but satellite uses latching FAKRA connectors so a disconnect is unlikely.
Looks like this may be resolved but I have a related question. Can I do anything to get a better reception on my car’s XM? I get brief random signal drops when I’m in an area with clear line of sight to the south - presumably to the geosynch satellite(s) over the equator. If it matters my car is a 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and it has the factory-equipped XM radio and shark fin antenna on the roof.
Also if it matters I don’t have this now but will be getting CB and Ham radio in my car, so maybe there’s a good unified solution for an antenna? I imagine a possible long whip antenna mounted at the rear and where I will anchor the antenna top to the front of the car in urban settings, and let fly free in wide open spaces - some early concept thoughts on this setup.
Probably not, with the disparity of frequencies involved. To get any decent range with a ham/CB you’ll want a decent whip with a good ground. Here is a decent guide to get you started.
I live in Southern California. Every time my Sirius (only) radio cuts out, I do a quick scan and locate the nearby cell phone tower that I have to assume is the culprit.
