Satellite radio RAWKS!

[NicoleM]

We used the gift cards we got for Christmas to get a Sirius satellite radio system. It is extremely awesome. Let me give you some reasons why:

1. No commercials on the music stations.
2. You can see what's playing on the other streams while you're listening to the one you're on, so if I decide I don't want to listen to "Longview" by Green Day right now, I can press a button and find out what else is on while I've still got Green Day on.
3. No radio edits--all the swear words are there!
4. A whole channel just of liberal talk radio.
5. BBC World News, two NPR stations, PRI.
6. The trucker channel. Music, news and talk for truckers.
7. When they play, for example, a Susan Tedeschi song, I can memo the song and then the next time that song is coming on it will tell me, even if it's on a different channel.

Awesome.

[hlthe2b]

1. Any problems with reception?

I am temporarily in a high rise condo in the city. Do you have to have an external antennae? How about in the interior of buildings with heavy walls around? I really am very interested. What did you buy? What kind of set up. I've looked at the Sirius-- it's the one that has the module that can go from car to boombox to home audio system, right?

[NicoleM]

4. Some answers.

I'm sure it depends on where you live. I think they have some transmitters on the ground in addition to the satellites. We live in the middle of nowhere. The antenna that comes with the system can be mounted outside, but we have it inside. Occasionally we lose our signal, but it doesn't take long to get it back. We have it in the one room in the house that doesn't have a second floor above it. When we had it elsewhere on the first floor, we couldn't get a signal.

We got the receiver and the car kit, which come together in one box. Right now there is a rebate going on--if you buy the receiver and car kit, you get a $50 rebate for the home kit (which costs about $50). Sirius doesn't have a boombox yet, so we have it hooked up to our stereo system. But the receiver is easy to move between the house and the car.

XM is the system that has the boombox.

[Tripper11]

2. Can you get local stuff?

Like news, traffic and weather?

[NicoleM]

5. Nope.

That's why God invented AM and FM.

[Kolesar]

3. I thought "sirius left" on Sirius satellite was pretty lame

Thom Hartman was a snoozer. I learn more at the DU (of course).

[Snorkel]

6. siriusoutq is good

particularly michelangelo signorile.

[NicoleM]

7. I haven't sampled that one yet.

We've only had it for a week, there are a lot of channels I haven't gotten to yet.

Welcome to DU!

:hi:

[Snorkel]

8. definitely...

listen to signorile in the afternoon. Siriusoutq is the "gay" channel, so there's focus on GLBT issues, but signorile is much more generally political. He has fun bringing weird right wingers on and make fun of them. One time he had fred Phelps's daughter on.

[NicoleM]

9. Cool.

I will check it out.