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What Are My Choices With The Satellite Radio Service Technology ?

If you’re browsing the internet in search of a satellite radio service for the US and Canada, then you need only check two websites: Sirius and XMRadio. These two giants are your only options and yet you’ll notice striking similarities between the two websites’ design, the product pricing and the programmer’s stations.

Rumors have been flying around that Sirius and XM will form a ground-breaking merger this year, uniting all 14+ million customers under one banner. However, as of right now, you’ll need to know what makes each slightly unique.

Country Music Fans may favor the XM Radio satellite service, which provides listeners with two extra stations – one focusing on Americana Country like Robert Plant or Blackfoot, and the other focusing on Folk Country like Tim Garrison and The Nitty Gritty Band. Both stations have country music from the 80s and 90s, new country, bluegrass and classic country.

Christian Music Fans may favor XM one. This service includes one more Christian music channel than Sirius – in addition to Christian Pop / Rock and Gospel, XM also hosts a Southern Gospel channel with Gold City, Greater Vision and The McKarneys.

Electronic Music Fans will prefer the Sirius service if they’d like a Breakbeat/Old SKool station, in addition to the usual Trance/Progressive stations that both satellite radio services provide. XM has exclusive rights to acclaimed BPM, but Sirius has a special Dance Hits station.

Rock Music Fans will probably prefer Sirius. While XM provides four different “alternative radio” stations, a punk station, a heavy metal station, a jam bands station, a college indie station and three classic rock stations, Sirius gives subscribers roughly 23 stations with everything that XM’s service has — plus New Wave, Glam Metal, Jimmy Buffet, Grateful Dead, Elvis, Canadian rock, UK rock, Garage, 60s Rock, 70s Rock and an additional punk/ska station.

World Music Fans will find that both service providers offering two French stations, but Spanish-speaking subscribers will find XM the better option, since they offer Rock En Espanol, Regional Mexican, Latin Pop, Latin Jazz, Hispanic Rhythmic and Spanish AC. Sirius, on the other hand, has only one Spanish music station for Latin Pop. Additionally, XM has a station for African and a business station in Italian.

Rap and Hip Hop Fans may prefer XM because their service focuses on more Soul and Funk, along with uncensored Hip Hop and Urban Contemporary — unless they’re big Slim Shady fans, in which case they may need Sirius Radio’s Eminem station.

In some ways, XM Radio caters to the aging population with Good Morning America, Casey Casem’s Top 40 Countdown, Theme Time with Bob Dylan and Wolfman Jack. On the other hand, Sirius Radio goes after the 20-somethings crowd with Bam Marguera, Howard Stern, Jamie Foxx and Tony Hawk shows. However, both satellite radio service providers are likely to give you something you can enjoy.

Sports Fans will find many similarities in XM and Sirius service options. For instance, both providers have ESPN, Nascar and NHL exclusives, as well as both college and NFL football. XM gives better golf / PGA Tour coverage and Fox Sports, while Sirius gives better NBA coverage. On XM, catch shows with Jimmy Johnson, Dale Jr, Coach K, James Carville, Luke Russert and Cal Ripkin.

With the Delphi SkiFi2 radio, you can get a sports ticker to show game scores on your display screen and the SportsCaster comes with 30 sports presets programmed in. However, Sirius gives you game alerts, 30 presets and lists all your favorite teams in one category with the Sportster and Streamer satellite radios. Additionally, get exclusive programming with Jerry Rice, Daryl Johnston, Randy Cross, Adam Schein, Shannon Sharpe, Ray Evernham, Tony Stewart, Rick Ackerman and Frank Isola.

Whichever satellite radio service you prefer, you’ll be surprised to find that both are competitively priced at $13/month and most of the radio components cost from $20 – $200. However, which ever service you choose for now, you will still need to purchase a satellite radio receiver and luckily, most of the satellite radios will work in your home and in your car.

How Does Satellite Radio Work?

You have probably been hearing a lot about satellite radio lately, and there is no doubt that you will be hearing even more about it soon. If you haven’t adopted this new technology into your entertainment and information mix, then you may not understand it very well. So let’s help you get the facts on how this new technology works.

You have probably guessed that satellites are involved due to the name satellite radio, and you would be right. But first the programming is recorded in studios digitally so that the signal contains much more and higher quality sound than is possible with standard radio. That recording is converted into a signal that is beamed up to satellites that orbit earth more than 20,000 miles up into the atmosphere. There the signal is encoded and sent down to a receiver that decodes the signal and plays the sound for you.

It all takes place very quickly, easily, and reliably due to advanced technology. All that you need to have to be able to take advantage of this technology is three things: a subscription to a satellite radio provider’s service, a receiver, and an antenna.

There are currently three major satellite radio provider’s, but only two, Sirius and XM are available in the US. The third is a company called WorldSpace that takes a more global view of the potential that satellite radio has and is available in Asia, Africa, Europe, and South America. All you have to do is choose the company whose programming seems to best fit what you are interested in listening to and your first step is done.

Now that you have the programming available, you wuill need the equipment to receive the special signals since normal radios cannmot decode the satellite radio signal unless they already have that capability and are are equipped to do so. There are lost of places though where you can get satellite radio equipment and even have them installed in your boat, car and RV. You can usually get very good deals on radio receiving equipment that you can either install yourself or have installed locally. Quite often you can even buy equipment that will let you use a satellite radio receiver in multiple places including your home, car, RV, etc. You just take the receiver with you as you go.

More and more new car companies are even installing satellite radio as standard equipment in their vehicles, so expect this technology to grow, improve and become more accepted as time goes on. We think that if you just take some time to listen to a satellite radio broadcast for a while, you will begin to understand and appreciate what a pleasure it is to have.

Fast satellite dish alignment with a meter

www.sadoun.com This video shows how a satellite meter can help finding the sweet spot to perfectly align a satellite dish. This can be used on a directv, Dish Network, C Band, KU Band, Free To Air, satellite dishes. Good for DIY Home installer and for RV campers.