Sirius Radio

[OUPilot]

Anyone tried the new Sirius Stiletto (portable) in the cockpit? Just curious if it works well, or not at all. Please don't turn this into a debate about listening to music in the cockpit. All of the people who listen to music, great, all of the people who don't, great.

 

[Jon Rivoli]

I only know of one guy who tried it and it didn't work. I don't know why. He returned it.

 

[twolinepass]

Not sure about the portable units, but I use an XM Roady in the CRJ. The stock antenna is a p.o.s and will not pick up sattelite unless heading south. I bought an external antenna, I think it's called a "home" antenna, and I can get signal about 95% of the time regardless of heading. I just put it on top of the ashtray facing forward and it usually pulls full signal. Remember, the sats are in the southwest sky, so ideally you should position the anttenna accordingly. XM also has terrestrial repeaters on the ground so that helps also. Radio Shack has all the junk you would need to pipe it straight to your headset.
I think I spent about ten bucks for a cable and headset splitter. And the extra antenna was about 20 bucks. Sirius has the same stuff at the same price as XM, so it should all work for ya.

 

[DrewBlows]

Sirius satellite technology is a little different that XM. XM uses 2 geostationary satellites that essentially stay in the same relative position, which is why your best signal is facing the southern sky. Sirius uses three satellites in an elliptical orbit, which ensures that at least one is over the US at all times. I suspect that means that the best aiming position will differ from day-to-day. In my experience this is true. The antenna on my car always gets a good signal, but sometimes I have to move the antenna in my house to get a good sigal. Of course I haven't used the Sirius in the cockpit, though I'm considering buying the Stiletto to do just that (not in flight of course). I'm not sure how it would work.

 

[Vandal]

We listen to XM in the Herk all the time...dono about sirius though.

 

[mckpickle]

XM works well in the cockpit

 

[Way2Broke]

The new stelleto is a POS. I have a S50 and it works great in the plane, I throw the car antenna on the dash and walla! Just keep in mind that antenna has a huge magnet on it, so keep it away from the mag compass.

 

[WWEfan]

I got XM for Christmas and love it. Cant wait to try it in the cockpit.

 

[I Hate Freight]

I got XM for Christmas and love it. Cant wait to try it in the cockpit.

Is the person who gave it to you also paying your subscription? Seems odd to give a gift that costs the recipient money!

 

[n32jk]

The new stelleto is a POS. I have a S50 and it works great in the plane, I throw the car antenna on the dash and walla! Just keep in mind that antenna has a huge magnet on it, so keep it away from the mag compass.

Please elaborate....I gave my spouse a s100 for christmas. It sounded like a winner especially the wi-fi ability. Only drawback from the manual is no record from internet streaming. Please explain what the problems are before I find them.

 

[mavdog]

Please elaborate....I gave my spouse a s100 for christmas. It sounded like a winner especially the wi-fi ability. Only drawback from the manual is no record from internet streaming. Please explain what the problems are before I find them.

Well, for one... the reception without those stupid looking headphones in horrible if there is no ground repeater around. The wi-fi works pretty good, but the sound quality is noticeably worse. I actually prefer listening to recorded music from sat radio than live radio via wi-fi.

 

[n32jk]

Well, for one... the reception without those stupid looking headphones in horrible if there is no ground repeater around. The wi-fi works pretty good, but the sound quality is noticeably worse. I actually prefer listening to recorded music from sat radio than live radio via wi-fi.

Thanks,,, that is the stuff I needed to know. She wants to listen inside at home a lot. I guess I need to get another antennae for the house. I haven't set the unit up yet for her. Is there an external antennae jack and does the standard sirius antennaes work?? I have a spare one somewhere from a home bundle.

 

[OUPilot]

the reception at the house was bad with the stilletto, so i traded that for a sportster 4 and also bought the home kit. the home kit works great, it comes with a bigger antenna for the house. i spent a few hours last night and set up the car kit that came with the sportster in my accord. works great. it took me a few hours b/c i hid every wire and had to remove some console pieces to do it. i guess the fcc won a lawsuit that limits the strength of the fm transmitter in the unit so it is overpowered by regular fm. if you are not going to hardwire it your radio, buy the fm direct adapter. (modulator part number fmda25) 20-30 bucks, easy to set up and works great. it disables the car fm antenna when the sirius is on. when it is off, the fm antenna kicks back on. major difference...night and day. enjoy.

 

[Way2Broke]

The key to the s100 is to buy it later after they work the kinks out. Just like most techy things they rushed it to market before it was ready. I am in love with S50. Its smooothhhh.

 

[n32jk]

The key to the s100 is to buy it later after they work the kinks out. Just like most techy things they rushed it to market before it was ready. I am in love with S50. Its smooothhhh.

Already bought it. The way this will work out is, when the kinks are out, she gets a new model and I will get the old one. And be happy about it.....whether I like it or not.....

 

[Way2Broke]

You can always take it back?

 

[SAAB Driver]

I went to Radio Shack to get my IPOD to play striaght to my headset and the guy didn't know what I was talking about. I assume I need one end to be a 3.5mm end and the other end should be able to fit into the observers MIC jack? Would I be better off going to an avionics shop? Anyone?