XM satellite radio on board

[hawkerjet]

Can anyone tell me if the portable satellite radio player work in airplanes, more specifically jets at altitude. I was thinking about this for the my airplane. It would be a poor man's airshow.

 

[Diesel]

XMMYFI works fine.

 

[SNAFU22]

What airplane are you planning on putting the XM in? I know of a couple of people who have the Garmin 396 panel mounted in their a/c. If you have a Garmin 340 intercom there's an interface allowing you to hear xm through all headsets or passenger headsets only, with an automatic squelch option. If you don't have a Garmin intercom and have an aux input on your panel that will work as well.

Our company just picked up the Garmin 496 for a C-414, the guys in the back love it.

 

[hawkerjet]

We have a GIII and a westwind I. I'm not the most tech savvy guy out there, but would like to know a bit more. I do a lot of flying on Monday nights, ( you can see where I'm going with this). I would like to be able to listen to MNF on something better than an ADF.

 

[momalley81]

Better get Sirius then if you want MNF. They have the NFL deal locked up, so no football, even on ESPN over XM.

Though they (XM does have MLB)

 

[schafjet]

So those who have it which is better XM or Sirius. Also, looking into a portable radio like the Pioneer and the MYFI, any thoughts on a portable? Does it work okay in the car with the FM thing. I know my IPOD worked like !@#$ on the FM wireless.

 

[FL420]

I was in Wal Mart yesterday and saw they had the XM MyFi marked down to $90. Not too long ago it was $176.

 

[Spooky 2]

Can anyone tell me if the portable satellite radio player work in airplanes, more specifically jets at altitude. I was thinking about this for the my airplane. It would be a poor man's airshow.

We have it in our airplane and it is fantastic. Works great with no issues as long as you stay out of long tunnels!

 

[agpilot34]

Ive got a Delphi Roady XT (XM) unit mounted in the Skylane I fly on pipeline patrol, and it works perfectly. I just mounted it with the car kit, attached to a RAM mount. Runs through a volume booster and into my intercom. I tried Sirius first, and frankly, it SUCKED. The signal was constantly cutting out in turns, no matter WHERE I mounted the antenna. Ive been using the XM unit for about 6 months now, and I can count on one hand how many times it's lost signal. It will even maintain a signal in a 90 degree banked 180 turn. Dont know about the question of operation at high altitudes, but I can tell you that it WILL work up to 9,500, because I used mine on a cross country last month. Dont know why it shouldnt work at higher altitudes. As far as the portable units go, one of our other pilots has one, and he says it works great.

 

[hawkerjet]

Thanks guys, I think i'll go with the XM even though it doesn't get the NFL. Befor I go out and buy this I would like to verify one thing first.

We are talking about the portable system, right? I mean the small one you have in your car, then office, then bring it along into the plane? Like I said, I'm not that tech savvy and want to be sure. The same little XM radio that I'll have in my car will also work in my plane.

Sorry for sounding like an idiot.

 

[FL420]

We are talking about the portable system, right? I mean the small one you have in your car, then office, then bring it along into the plane?

"Portable" generally means battery powered. You don't have to plug it into a cradle which is plugged into a 120VAC wall socket or a 12VDC cigarette lighter socket. You can take a "portable" like the XM MyFi jogging.

The RoadyXT and the like must be plugged in to something for power unless you can find or figure out how to hook up a self-contained battery pack.

 

[Spooky 2]

Thanks guys, I think i'll go with the XM even though it doesn't get the NFL. Befor I go out and buy this I would like to verify one thing first.

We are talking about the portable system, right? I mean the small one you have in your car, then office, then bring it along into the plane? Like I said, I'm not that tech savvy and want to be sure. The same little XM radio that I'll have in my car will also work in my plane.

Sorry for sounding like an idiot.

No problem as I'm computer shy and look upon anything techie as an assault on my manhood. Having cleared that up, I really don't know how our system was put together as we do all the tuning through a gizmo that looks like a Palm Pilot. The system is part of a very large and robust audio visual system that probably cost well in excess of several million dollars all inclusive. Works great, and may just have an off the shelf XM unit behind it somehow but it certainly is not portable or something bought at the local Costco. I mean how hard can this be? I know the one in my car is great and works just fine.

 

[agpilot34]

Like I said, I have been using the Roady XT XM unit, but if I had to do it again, I'd probably buy one of the portable units like the MyFi or something similar. The only problem with the units like the Roady is that there is no actual volume control on the unit itself. Since it is designed to be used THROUGH a car stereo or one of the boom box type units for the home, it only has a level control in the menu. It relys on the car stereo volume or boom box volume. I have to run mine through a little gizmo called a volume booster that I picked up from Radio Shack. You wouldnt have this problem with a unit like the MyFi portable. That's really the only complaint I've had with my system, and it's only due to me not doing enough research before I picked my equipment out.

 

[Galaxy]

I thought the new Stiletto from Sirius was supposed to finally rival the equiptment of XM. It not only can finally pick up a sat signal and record 100 hrs but if it loses sat signal or can pick up a WiFi it will save the battery and use the web instead.
Anyone buy it yet or better yet try it in the plane yet?

 

[ultrarunner]

XM also has an aviation weather package, so if you are interested in that, research your hardware solutions.....


http://www.xmradio.com/weather/index.html

 

[Captain Josh]

I have the MYFI and it works well most of the time. I use the little portable antenna an sometimes I have to find the sweet spot near the window to make it work. I was thinking of one of the new ones but those run around 300 dollars. The only downside to the MYFI is that the battery only lasts about 5 hours. For those long days it can be a pain to keep charging it if you don't have power in the plane. It really makes the trips better. I listen to the classic country stations and theirs a lot of songs about truckers being away from home on the road haulin hot freight. I can really relate. Its like a music video all day long.

 

[OLD DOG]

I occasionally fly a sr22 with XM. It runs through thr Garmin audio panel and the volume is the same as ATC. I have never lost the signal with the antenna on the panel. It does get a little distracting in busy airspace though.

 

[Way2Broke]

I thought the new Stiletto from Sirius was supposed to finally rival the equiptment of XM. It not only can finally pick up a sat signal and record 100 hrs but if it loses sat signal or can pick up a WiFi it will save the battery and use the web instead.
Anyone buy it yet or better yet try it in the plane yet?

Is there anyone out there that can answer this one for us. I was going to get Sirius for X-mas, because they are getting Nascar next year. What is the difference between the two. No one seems to have anything good to say about the Sirius, and lots of good to say about XM. Elaborate? I am not talking about aircraft units, I am talking about the portable units. Thanks.

 

[JimNtexas]

Sirius has Jimmy Buffet!

 

[JediNein]

Been cross country a few times with XM. They have a LOT of chatter, especially when you just want to hear music. They also seem to have a very short channel list and play the same songs again and again and again. It was the same playlist in January, March, two times in April, and June.

Sirius plays more of the music without the DJs thinking they're god's gift to chat radio. Sirius has a better channel selection and they at least randomize the playlist. Reception seems fine with a portable unit and suction cupped antenna.

As I'm too cheap to pay subscriptions for music, I just blew a hundred (2 month XM subscription) at the "One Cent CD" Store, burned 'em all to MP3, and have a 60 hour playlist on two 2 GB SD cards which plug into my cell phone. No commercials, no blabbermouth DJs, and if I want more music, it's just ten CDs for ten cents and ten bucks shipping. The only drawback? I now have a large coffee coaster and metal frisbee collection.

Fly SAFE!
Jedi Nein