BajaNomad

For what Little it's worth ...............

MrBillM - 1-1-2012 at 06:25 PM

For Anybody (in Baja, of course) who might have wondered:

Wanting to use my XM in my latest New (Used) Lincoln Town Car, I hated the idea of sticking the Magnetic antenna on the roof and leading that wire in through a door-seam.

I read where a guy put his on the Rear Deck with no problem so I thought "why not on the Dash under the windshield" ?

Received the antenna ayer and today gave it a try.

Works fine.

As long as I don't want to drive EAST and listen. Signal 1-2 Bars and drops out frequently

WEST is fine. SOUTH, of course.

Which SEEMS strange.

NORTH I could understand.

On to Plan B. Back edge of Hood.

BajaWarrior - 1-1-2012 at 07:53 PM

I use back edge of hood on three vehicles and works perfect in all directions.

bufeo - 1-1-2012 at 07:56 PM

For years I had our XM antenna inside, on top of the dash, right up next to the windshield. Never noticed signal being dropped except in deep canyon country.

Allen R

Packoderm - 1-1-2012 at 08:13 PM

Congratulations on your New Years resolution to keep away from the off-topic and making an asss of yourself. Maybe you do have an interest in Baja California after all.

BornFisher - 1-1-2012 at 08:51 PM

Only put mine outside way down south of La Paz. Dash is fine, no worries!

Dashing About ?

MrBillM - 1-1-2012 at 09:07 PM

That is curious.

I'm "assuming" that the XM service is still on the two geo-stationary sats rather than the migrating Sirius sats which would mean that West would more likely be problematic. Along with North.

Browsing on XM/Sirius forums, I find a number of posters who use a Dash-Mount without problems. I'll have to try it out again en la manana. The reception problem did appear driving East on the same streets where West was fine, but Quien Sabe ?

BTW, Pack, WHAT resolution was that ?

jeffg - 1-1-2012 at 09:09 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by BornFisher
Only put mine outside way down south of La Paz. Dash is fine, no worries!


Do you have XM, or Sirius? My XM reception gets really spotty below Constitucion.

Pompano - 1-2-2012 at 09:31 AM

I have XM in my boat, pickup, and motorhome. Problems are rare down to Conception Bay. None noticed on trips to Cabo and Mag Bay. Certain cities in US have interferring FM stations with 88.1 and the other..10.2?

The XM Roadie in the pickup has the button on center forward edge of roof. Works fine (except for that wierd 2 mile zone by El Rosario)

For motorhome and boat I use the batwing Delphi model Ski-Fi with flip-up, place-anywhere antenna on a long cable. Mostly trouble free ...unless you get too far off SSE...then merely adjust your course. (Unless that cliff disturbs you...)

Bajahowodd - 1-2-2012 at 04:52 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Packoderm
Congratulations on your New Years resolution to keep away from the off-topic and making an burrro of yourself. Maybe you do have an interest in Baja California after all.


:lol::lol::lol::lol:

Empirically Speaking

MrBillM - 1-2-2012 at 05:22 PM

The frequent failure of empirical evidence is making an assumption based upon insufficient data. In the case of my earlier experiment, THAT was again true.

Further testing today revealed the "possible" cause to be power-line interference. The two streets (where today it was still an intermittent problem) have in common significant overhead high-voltage runs on the South-side of the roadway which only degrades the signal Eastbound. On other streets where there aren't said lines, A-OK.

But, I'm still now leaning towards the hood placement to avoid ANY degradation.

805gregg - 1-2-2012 at 07:01 PM

XM? radio is free, thats what Marconi wanted.

NOTHING is FREE

MrBillM - 1-2-2012 at 07:44 PM

Including Radio. Which is paid for by Advertisers or (XM-Sirius) Subscribers. People are FREE to choose. I (and others) CHOOSE XM/Sirius.

In my case, BOTH. I had thought about dropping the Sirius when my "Free" year expired on the latest Dodge, but for the $125 or so per year, it's cheap enough and built-in.

As to Marconi (the BUSINESSMAN), he didn't Entirely believe that it should be FREE. From Wikipedia:

"..........As an entrepreneur, businessman, and founder of the The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company in 1897, Marconi was more successful than any other because of his ability to commercialize radio and its associated equipment...."

AND, he defended his Patents vigorously.

KaceyJ - 1-2-2012 at 08:18 PM

Bill ,

Did you get a letter from Mel telling you why they are going to raise subscription rates appx. 10%?

I don't remember if three years have passed but I seem to remember that there was testimony before congress that rates shouldn't have to go up for at least 3 years after the sirius /xm merger .

They're are following the same business plan as the sat tv's and raising rates on a regular basis now.

I just called DTV and told them to come pick up their stuff. Cancel.

I'll do the same w XM eventually.

Re: the antenna, we got some double sided adhesive tape and stuck a small antenna on top of the mirror of the tacoma , right over the hole we drilled in it and ran it thru the sane channel with the mirror controls .

Sanitary , good reception all directions and you don't really notice anything.

Going UP !

MrBillM - 1-2-2012 at 08:41 PM

We KNEW they were lying, didn't we ? They ALWAYS lie until the deal goes through.

Yes, I received the increase notice. Ironically, it will save me. Not a lot, but a saving.

I went to the website and found that there were other plans cheaper than my current plan. Looking at one - "Family-Friendly select", every station we listen to was included, so I downgraded effective with the plan renewal later this month.

Same thing happened with Netflix. Raised rate. Downgraded and saved.

Dish Network is probably going to be the next. My current rate is $130. Long ago too much. Any more raises and something's going.

Interesting idea on the mirror. Especially since there's a scratch on the passenger-side top which the antenna would hide.

KaceyJ - 1-2-2012 at 09:11 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by MrBillM
We KNEW they were lying, didn't we ? They ALWAYS lie until the deal goes through.

Yes, I received the increase notice. Ironically, it will save me. Not a lot, but a saving.

I went to the website and found that there were other plans cheaper than my current plan. Looking at one - "Family-Friendly select", every station we listen to was included, so I downgraded effective with the plan renewal later this month.

Same thing happened with Netflix. Raised rate. Downgraded and saved.

Dish Network is probably going to be the next. My current rate is $130. Long ago too much. Any more raises and something's going.

Interesting idea on the mirror. Especially since there's a scratch on the passenger-side top which the antenna would hide.


I started adding up all my subscriptions and figured out I could pay half a mortgage if I got rid of them all. It's past ridiculous. They hook you and figure you'll keep on paying.

Screwem

I do like my radio though.

Thanks for the tip , will research other plans. I keep hoping if I call the phillipines toll free enough they'll offer me a one time life subscriptiion.