BajaNomad - Sirius Sat radio in Baja: update

Sirius Sat radio in Baja: update

Lee - 2-15-2007 at 12:58 PM

Just for the record, I've had a strong signal through out Baja and no dead spots including Loreto.

Got Sirius because they had an Elvis channel (24/7) and 2 NPR's.

Got the lifetime membership for about $300 which at the $12/monthly charge will pay for itself in 2-3 years -- then it's free radio.

There are also channels devoted solely to music from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, 2 comedy channels, sports and about 6 country channels.

This is also cool: plug in a headphone and go online and listen to your favorite channels where ever you are.

:cool:

oxxo - 2-15-2007 at 01:54 PM

I also had excellent reception with Sirius Satellite on the road throughout the Baja as well as 15 miles out to sea on a separate boat trip down. Prior to Christmas they had one channel devoted entirely to Christmas music but I swear if I had heard Gene Autry sing Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer one more time I was ready to chuck the radio. Sirius also has Court TV and it was fascinating. We deemed that everyone was guilty!

Hook - 2-15-2007 at 02:02 PM

300.00 for a lifetime contract?

That sounds like a company in financial distress.

PLAYBALL! on XM in about 2 weeks!!!!

tripledigitken - 2-15-2007 at 02:11 PM

And coming in the near future on Sirius....................................................Sinatra 24/7! :tumble:

Capt. George - 2-15-2007 at 02:20 PM

just bought a boombox sirius great AC or 4 D batteries and you don't need a docking station for your home...use the boom box $99.00

really cool. beach, boat, desert etc. everywhere....ELVIS!

thebajarunner - 2-15-2007 at 04:27 PM

and NASCAR....

I was hooked on XM, but NASCAR rules!

$300 lifetime???
whose lifetime???

tripledigitken - 2-15-2007 at 04:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by thebajarunner
and NASCAR....

I was hooked on XM, but NASCAR rules!

$300 lifetime???
whose lifetime???

Lifetime of the receiver (radio) not you.

Taco de Baja - 2-15-2007 at 05:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken

Quote:

Originally posted by thebajarunner
and NASCAR....

I was hooked on XM, but NASCAR rules!

$300 lifetime???
whose lifetime???

Lifetime of the receiver (radio) not you.

Actually, lifetime of the Company. Which may, or may, not be longer than 2-3 years :lol:

ItsBetterInBaja - 2-15-2007 at 10:23 PM

For me it started with Sirius on Dish Network sat TV. I got hooked on listening to the Buzzsaw channel while working on my Jeeps out in the garage. (yes I have sat TV in my garage...doesn't everyone). A buddy and I were planning to drive to Cabo in July 06 and I thought how cool it would be to listen to commercial free music the whole way!! So I picked up the starmate replay unit and quickly installed it in his truck. It worked great all the way to Cabo and back. The only place we had a reception issue was crossing the border in TJ going under a bridge at .00001 miles per hour. Some days we didnt even turn it on. We just gazed in amazement at the wonders that Baja holds. After we got back I quickly installed the unit in MY vehicle. I now have the boombox, the home kit (for the garage of course), I listen on the web and my Baja buddy bought one for his truck too. Capt George you are correct. The boombox rocks. Ken you are correct lifetime is lifetime of the radio (receiver). So if it dies in 2 years and you buy a new one then you need to pay for activation and the service on that radio.
I cant wait for Sunday. Nascar with 10 channels of driver to team broadcasts. All 10 will broadcast the normal race coverage and you will hear the respective driver to team talk depending on which team's channel you are on. Did XM broadcast this driver to team talk when Nascar was on XM? If anyone heard it on XM let me know...it sounds really cool.
I'm not gonna play the Sirius vs XM game. I bought Sirius without researching the dif between the two. I am very happy with Sirius and the selection of COMMERCIAL FREE music. And considering LA/OC radio these days I'm sure either Sirius or XM is a no brainer compared to public radio.
Sorry for the long post...guess I felt like rambling.
Lee aren't you the one that asked an honest question about a sensitive issue in your very first post? I'm sure you can relate to rambling at times.

You been reading my mail?

thebajarunner - 2-15-2007 at 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taco de Baja

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken

Quote:

Originally posted by thebajarunner
and NASCAR....

I was hooked on XM, but NASCAR rules!

$300 lifetime???
whose lifetime???

Lifetime of the receiver (radio) not you.

Actually, lifetime of the Company. Which may, or may, not be longer than 2-3 years :lol:

"The Company"
precisely my thoughts when I posed the query...

DanO - 2-16-2007 at 11:19 AM

For home installations where the portable antenna doesn't get reception inside and you don't want to be worrying about who will trip over the cable strung outside throught the window, they also sell a permanent exterior-mounted and weatherproof (we'll see if that means Baja weatherproof) antenna. I'm partial to Faction myself, but have to switch over to Chill or 1st Wave when the wife and kids are around. Too much cursing for the kids and the wife just looks at me funny when I crank the Deftones up to eleven. (She likes System of a Down, though, so all is not lost.)

Hook - 2-16-2007 at 11:30 AM

With the XM My2Go unit, which comes with a wearable antennae, a car antennae and a house antennae (and cradles for the last two), I have my house type antenna simply pointing south RIGHT THROUGH A WALL. Its very close to a sliding glass door but its pointing right at the wall, not the glass. I get the maximum bars; three. The cable is snaked along the floor/wall junction. Even this antennae is very portable......just a curved square disc with an attached stand.

One thing's for sure......ANY satellite radio beats the terrestrials.

[Edited on 2-16-2007 by Hook]

Lee - 2-16-2007 at 11:32 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken

$300 lifetime???
whose lifetime???

Lifetime of the receiver (radio) not you.

Well, OK, I get it.

If the receiver is replaced, $75 fee to activate, then it's Elvis.

:cool:

Lee - 2-16-2007 at 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken
And coming in the near future on Sirius....................................................Sinatra 24/7! :tumble:

Sinatra is cool.

For awhile, channel 10 was Bruce Springstein 24/7.

Then it was The Who 24/7.

Beatles would be nice.

How about Classic Vinyl? YEAH! Guess that date's me.

:cool:

DanO - 2-16-2007 at 12:11 PM

Classic Vinyl? Dig that too. "Hey You" by BTO is on right now. It's all good.

capt. mike - 2-16-2007 at 01:50 PM

i like my XM weather NEXRAD receiver and would now hate to fly without it - am spoiled! but not too hot yet on pay to listen radio. i get too much free stuff online that dumps into my MP3 and plays in all my rigs and homes. Think you have to pay to download music? wrong again - its ALL free if you know how to do it AND legal!!

Insider Trading mags report they are both in trouble financially. i do miss Howard a little but not at $12 a month. I really like Adam Corolla mornings - commercials, hell i tune them out like a dog does. i bet they have failings later. WX will last cause the bird is already there and the production costs are minimal, unlike music channels.

Lifetime

MrBillM - 2-16-2007 at 02:01 PM

A buddy of mine just last month found out that the "Lifetime" was for the receiver. He changed his receiver and had to pay.

I stay away from "Lifetime" memberships in most anything, especially companies that have yet to make a profit. A friend down in Hemet bought a "Long-Term" membership with a long established ISP which turned out to be worthless when they went out of business.

The one personal exception to the "No Lifetime" membership is my NRA Life Member status.

I bought XM a couple of years back, but only because the hardware package at that time was a better offer than Sirius.

Capt. George - 2-16-2007 at 04:47 PM

have any of you ran into the problem of the 88.1 station overpowering the satelite signal??

I had this happen today, to the extent that I shut off the radio?? :fire:

It occured in Northern Florida and Southern Georgia:moon:. Any answers?

DanO - 2-16-2007 at 05:16 PM

Happens to me driving south to San Diego from L.A., right around San Clemente. If you're using a Sportster, hit menu, go to FM transmitter options, go to change frequency, then dial it up to 88.3 or 88.5 or whatever frequency is clear in that area, and enter it by pushing in the dial button. Hit the menu button twice to get back, turn your radio dial to the selected frequency, and you should be in business. It can be reset to the original frequence in the same manner.

Capt. George - 2-16-2007 at 05:36 PM

gracias george

BornFisher - 2-16-2007 at 09:26 PM

Also Capt. if you have a system with a tape player, just get one of those whatcamacallits with a tape thingy and a wire to your radio. Then NO MORE INTERFERENCE!!! Also available, is some cable thing that plugs right into your radio. Also is an FM amp for a stronger signal.

sirius rules!

Cardon Man - 2-19-2007 at 08:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike

i do miss Howard a little but not at $12 a month. I really like Adam Corolla mornings - commercials, hell i tune them out like a dog does. i bet they have failings later.

Howard is better than ever. Well worth the price!! Check it out if you get the chance.

Taco de Baja - 2-19-2007 at 01:36 PM

XM and Sirius to merge.

I wonder if that "lifetime" membership will still be honored? Or did it just 'expire'? :lol:

Or maybe you can will be able to get all XM and Sirius programs? :yes:

Of course the Feds may throw out the merger as being in violation of fair competition....

Quote:

Feb. 19 (Bloomberg) -- XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. and Sirius Satellite Radio Inc. agreed to a $13 billion merger that will combine the only pay radio services in the U.S.

Under the agreement, XM investors will receive 4.6 shares of Sirius common stock for each share they own, Washington-based XM and New York-based Sirius said today in a statement distributed by PR Newswire. Shareholders of each will own about 50 percent of the combined radio company.

Link

wornout - 2-19-2007 at 02:02 PM

Kind of a mute point as of today, I just heard on XM Fox News that Sirius and XM are going to merge.

No Sure Bet

MrBillM - 2-19-2007 at 02:47 PM

It was pointed out that the Approval process by the Feds could take up to 15 months and the fact that they are the ONLY two competitors in the market would work against Approval.

Don't Hold your Breath.

comitan - 2-19-2007 at 05:36 PM

The following is from another forum much more detailed info.

As a dealer for Sirius I received this press release this morning! SIRIUS and XM to Combine in $13 Billion Merger of Equals Provides Consumers with Enhanced Content, Greater Choices and Accelerated Technological Innovation Enables Satellite Radio to Better Compete in Rapidly Evolving Audio Entertainment Industry Extraordinary Value Creation for Shareholders Mel Karmazin to Serve as Chief Executive Officer and Gary Parsons to Serve as Chairman of Combined Company

WASHINGTON and NEW YORK, Feb. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- XM Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: XMSR - News) and SIRIUS Satellite Radio (Nasdaq: SIRI - News) today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement, under which the companies will be combined in a tax-free, all-stock merger of equals with a combined enterprise value of approximately $13 billion, which includes net debt of approximately $1.6 billion.

Under the terms of the agreement, XM shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 4.6 shares of SIRIUS common stock for each share of XM they own. XM and SIRIUS shareholders will each own approximately 50 percent of the combined company.

Mel Karmazin, currently Chief Executive Officer of SIRIUS, will become Chief Executive Officer of the combined company and Gary Parsons, currently Chairman of XM, will become Chairman of the combined company. The new company's board of directors will consist of 12 directors, including Messrs. Karmazin and Parsons, four independent members designated by each company, as well as one representative from each of General Motors and American Honda. Hugh Panero, the Chief Executive Officer of XM, will continue in his current role until the anticipated close of the merger.

The combined company will benefit from a highly experienced management team from both companies with extensive industry knowledge in radio, media, consumer electronics, OEM engineering and technology. Further management appointments will be announced prior to closing. The companies will continue to operate independently until the transaction is completed and will work together to determine the combined company's corporate name and headquarters location prior to closing.

The combination creates a nationwide audio entertainment provider with combined 2006 revenues of approximately $1.5 billion based on analysts' consensus estimates. Today the companies have approximately 14 million combined subscribers. Together, SIRIUS and XM will create a stronger platform for future innovation within the audio entertainment industry and will provide significant benefits to all constituencies, including:

* Greater Programming and Content Choices -- The combined company is committed to consumer choice, including offering consumers the ability to pick and choose the channels and content they want on a more a la carte basis. The combined company will also provide consumers with a broader selection of content, including a wide range of commercial-free music channels, exclusive and non-exclusive sports coverage, news, talk, and entertainment programming. Together, XM and SIRIUS will be able to improve on products such as real-time traffic and rear-seat video and introduce new ones such as advanced data services including enhanced traffic, weather and infotainment offerings.

* Accelerated Technological Innovation -- The merger will enable the combined company to develop and introduce a wider range of lower cost, easy-to-use, and multi-functional devices through efficiencies in chip set and radio design and procurement. Such innovation is essential to remaining competitive in the consumer electronics-driven world of audio entertainment.

* Benefits to OEM and Retail Partners -- The combined company will offer automakers and retailers the opportunity to provide a broader content offering to their customers. Consumer electronics retailers, including Best Buy, Circuit City, RadioShack, Wal-Mart and others, will benefit from enhanced product offerings that should allow satellite radio to compete more effectively.

* Enhanced Financial Performance -- This transaction will enhance the long-term financial success of satellite radio by allowing the combined company to better manage its costs through sales and marketing and subscriber acquisition efficiencies, satellite fleet synergies, combined R&

and other benefits from economies of scale. Wall Street equity analysts have published estimates of the present value of cost synergies ranging from $3 billion to $7 billion.

* More Competitive Audio Entertainment Provider -- The combination of an enhanced programming lineup with improved technology, distribution and financials will better position satellite radio to compete for consumers' attention and entertainment dollars against a host of products and services in the highly competitive and rapidly evolving audio entertainment marketplace. In addition to existing competition from free "over-the-air" AM and FM radio as well as iPods and mobile phone streaming, satellite radio will face new challenges from the rapid growth of HD Radio, Internet radio and next generation wireless technologies.

"We are excited for the many opportunities that an XM and SIRIUS combination will provide consumers," said Gary Parsons, Chairman of XM Satellite Radio and Hugh Panero, CEO of XM Satellite Radio, in a joint statement. "The combined company will be better positioned to compete effectively with the continually expanding array of entertainment alternatives that consumers have embraced since the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) first granted our satellite radio licenses a decade ago."

"This combination is the next logical step in the evolution of audio entertainment," said Mel Karmazin, CEO of SIRIUS Satellite Radio. "Together, our best-in-class management team and programming content will create unprecedented choice for consumers, while creating long-term value for shareholders of both companies. The combined company will be positioned to capitalize on SIRIUS and XM's complementary distribution and licensing agreements to enhance availability of satellite radios, offer expanded content to subscribers, drive increased advertising revenue and reduce expenses. Each of our companies has a strong commitment to providing listeners the broadest range of music, news, sports and entertainment and the best customer service possible. We look forward to sharing the benefits of the exciting new growth opportunities this combination will provide with all of our stakeholders."

The transaction is subject to approval by both companies' shareholders, the satisfaction of customary closing conditions and regulatory review and approvals, including antitrust agencies and the FCC. Pending regulatory approval, the companies expect the transaction to be completed by the end of 2007.

SIRIUS's financ... [Message truncated]

View F

Great Press Release

MrBillM - 2-19-2007 at 07:53 PM

It sounds as good as the press releases announcing the merger of Dish Network and DirecTV a few years back.

Hook - 2-19-2007 at 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBillM
It was pointed out that the Approval process by the Feds could take up to 15 months and the fact that they are the ONLY two competitors in the market would work against Approval.

Don't Hold your Breath.

Wouldnt it be just like the Feds to block the merger.........and then have both companies fold. :lol:

I would think they would treat this like cable TV in its infancy.....it needs a little bit of coddling, even though it could be viewed as a monopoly.

Folding

MrBillM - 2-20-2007 at 09:13 AM

That appears to be the argument that the two will make. Without a merger, one (or both) are destined to fail so the market would not benefit.

At one point, Both DirecTV and Dish made that same argument without success and, of course, it turned out not to be true. I think the Radio situation is much more critical, though.

I would prefer that the merger not go through since XM is in the stronger situation and I don't want to inherit the costs of Howard and Okra, among others which will, no doubt, give rise to rate increases.

Hook - 2-20-2007 at 09:31 AM

We are already paying for Okra......she's on XM.

The LA Times had an editorial this AM in favor of the merger. Their reasoning is that sat radio is also competing against new technologies like podcasting, internet radio, etc.

For me, the appeal of sat radio is its unbelieveable coverage area for traveling. And I dont need another device for downloading content.

I admit to knowing very little about podcasting and ipods but I dont see how these technologies could compete if one is interested in live events like major league baseball, the NBA or NASCAR. Wouldnt you have to download the event AFTER it is complete and stay away from other news outlets so you dont know the outcome?

OH NO ! OKRA Bloat !

MrBillM - 2-20-2007 at 10:31 AM

Dang, you're right ! I guess I missed that because my listening is limited to such a narrow segment of the offerings.

Track 4 (30s-40s), Track 5 (50s) and Fox News account for 95 % of my listening. When I'm away, my wife sneaks in the C & W stuff, but that gets changed the minute I get back.

I would actually cancel the service if they did away with Track 4.

bajajudy - 2-20-2007 at 03:00 PM

R&

ursidae69 - 2-20-2007 at 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MrBillM
I would prefer that the merger not go through since XM is in the stronger situation and I don't want to inherit the costs of Howard and Okra, among others which will, no doubt, give rise to rate increases.

Interesting thought. I also don't want the merger to happen because I think Sirius has the stronger content quality and I don't want to see it watered down by XM and Okra.

wornout - 2-20-2007 at 03:45 PM

My XM is better than your Ford, DirecTV is better than your Chevy, Apple Laptops are better than Cingular ..... and on and on.... One of the things I agree on, the Feds will get in the middle of it and screw it up!

Merger Mania

MrBillM - 2-20-2007 at 08:26 PM

XM and Sirius may be sensing that the time is right.

It was pointed out earlier that the pace of mergers is likely to pick up in the next year since business feels that a change in the administration might not be beneficial.

During GWB's term, there has been a record 5.7 trillion in merger activity. An all-time record.

[Edited on 2-21-2007 by MrBillM]

There you go agin --Bill

beercan - 2-21-2007 at 08:50 AM

Cutting down my fried Okra!!What's next? My GRITS or my BUTTER BEANS ???

Actually ,I didn't buy either one of them because of the over-priced "performers" that they chose to feature!! stern makes me sick and opra is just politically correct.

EXPENSIVE Crap.

MrBillM - 2-21-2007 at 09:26 AM

Since my subscription price on XM hasn't gone up as a result of their paying huge sums to Okra or others (?), I'm happy with the service. It is irritating that they shell out all that dough before ever showing a profit. As I said before, I rarely listen to other than a few channels so I'm not even aware of who else that they offer.

The 30s/40s music on XM makes it worthwhile, though. I usually listen to that channel almost the entire trip to and from Percebu and I rarely hear a song repeated. The big problem in the past with the regular stations was the depth of their library.

Ford - 2-21-2007 at 09:49 PM

I had and XM on the drive from san diego to cabo and it worked great almost the whole way down and once in the vacinity of San Jose half of the channels quit working. Including the baseball :no:

I don't understand how that can happen if you are on the sat. shouldn't they all work and if you have no recep. they won't...
Any insight?

Lee - 2-22-2007 at 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ford
I had and XM on the drive from san diego to cabo and it worked great almost the whole way down and once in the vacinity of San Jose half of the channels quit working. Including the baseball :no:

I don't understand how that can happen if you are on the sat. shouldn't they all work and if you have no recep. they won't...
Any insight?

Define ''quit working?'' Did you lose signal? Is the receiver on but no signal? Is the receiver on with signal but no sound? Have you checked all the connections? Has this problem happened before somewhere else?

:cool:

Marie-Rose - 2-22-2007 at 12:38 PM

Our XM unit quit getting reception just out of Loreto. Still no reception here in TS although we have not spent much time moving the antena around. The unit says "loading" and then there is no recption!

Trip report coming once I can get the details of their trip!!

oxxo - 2-22-2007 at 01:13 PM

Our Sirius receiver worked from Ensenada all the way to Cabo including San Jose. Could loss of reception have something to do with solar flares or technical problems with the satellite? I hear more complaints about XM than I do with Sirius but that should not be construed as a scientific survey.

toneart - 2-22-2007 at 03:52 PM

I hope the merger goes through because I think the two company's survival depends on it.

Serius works well here in Mulege and did not lose reception anywhere on the multiple trips up and down. I have a Sportster receiver and a car kit plus a boombox that I use in the house with the small antenna through the window and on the ground outside. All bought at Radio Shack. Never any problems. I have been concerned because the receiver gets very hot, but so far, no problems in two years.

My only complaint is that they spent too much money on Howard whose schtick gets tiresome fast. He could bring down the company. They also just dropped C-Span which ran all the Sunday morning TV network news programs in succession. We lost a good source for staying plugged in, if one cares. Journalism is a lot like watching a train wreck. You can't turn away even though you don't like what is happening. If you think, "So what?", I understand. :coolup:

bajajudy - 2-22-2007 at 04:03 PM

Anyone heard anything about which equipment will work or will both?
I do love my Sirius but I also like what I have heard on XM. Seems like a win win situation for the listening public.

bajalou - 2-22-2007 at 04:52 PM

This I got from XM a couple days ago

February 20, 2007

Dear XM Radio Subscriber:

We want to share with you some exciting news: Yesterday, in Washington DC, we announced XM Radio will be merging with Sirius Satellite Radio to form the premier digital audio service.

The merger will create a satellite radio company that will provide consumers across the country with more and better premium radio programming. The combined company will be able to compete better in what has become a very complex and dynamic entertainment market.

Where today our exclusive contracts mean you had to choose between baseball and football or Oprah and Martha Stewart, the new company will seek to ensure that in the future, you will be able to access both companies' programming. And, once we are fully integrated, those of you who have factory-installed satellite radio will no longer be limited to the programming provided by the exclusive satellite radio service chosen by their car manufacturer.

This merger should be completed in late 2007 or early in 2008. Throughout the year, we will provide updates on how the merger is progressing and information will be available at our website, www.xmradio.com.

Between today and the merger date, as well as during the period immediately after the merger date, all of your services will remain the same. The channel lineup, the customer service number, the great music technology, and the XM Radio web site will all remain unchanged and there will be no disruption to service. But, if you have questions, information will be available and maintained on our website, and you can contact our Listener Care team at 800-XMRADIO, with questions and concerns.

XM Radio continues to be committed to providing you the highest quality audio entertainment and customer service available today. After the merger, our new company will be able to offer you the most exciting listening experience in radio.

Sincerely,

Hugh Panero
CEO, XM Satellite Radio

I'm told all will remain the same, XM receivers getting XM and Sirius receivers getting only Sirius programing until well after the merger and new receivers developed,