I've had an XM radio for over a year and a couple months ago I decided to get a Sirius radio. It's the Orbiter from Radio Shack, but it's the same unit that Dish Network and others sell. Anyway, I'm having signal issues. Some days it's great and some days it cuts out a lot. I'm wondering if anyone has any similar problems. The weather doesn't seem to make a difference. The unit checks out so I'm wondering if it's just a difference in orbit of the satellite. The XM picks up much better in the mountains.

XM's birds are on a geo-sync orbit over the continental US.

sirius' birds are on a figure 8 pattern constantly moving in the sky.

my audiovox PnP unit has a signal strength meter. sometimes when i drive down a freeway and the road kinda dips down, and high walls, that's enough to block the signals...

i'll post a graphic of the birds in the sky tomorrow...

XM's birds are on a geo-sync orbit over the continental US.

sirius' birds are on a figure 8 pattern constantly moving in the sky.

my audiovox PnP unit has a signal strength meter. sometimes when i drive down a freeway and the road kinda dips down, and high walls, that's enough to block the signals...

i'll post a graphic of the birds in the sky tomorrow...

Cool. Thanks for the info. Yeah mine will cut out going under a small bridge and other small things when going down a 4 lane highway. The XM is consistent when it cuts out. Always at the same exact spot on my daily drive. Makes more sense now.

clicky here:

http://www.tiger-usa.com/sirius-xmorbitanim.gif

Good visual. Helps explain why the signal strength on the radio goes up and down. I'll pass this info onto friends looking at buying a satellite radio. Thanks.