poor sirius satellite reception

[morrisdl]

Im not impressed with the sound quality, but maybe that was a symptom of a bigger problem. My sat radio cuts out on hilly roads, in the rain, under trees, even under a small flock of birds. On a recent outing with 2 jeeps (one with after market siruis and one with 2009 factory sirius) mine was clearly the only on having trouble keeping a signal.

Do I have a problem or are the the LR3s that sensitive? I would think that massive LR3 antenna cluster should be great at pulling down the tunes. Is there even a way for the service dept to display /diagnose signal strength? Im afraid how many trip to the dealer this could take.

 

[jbrockiii]

I too have problems under overpasses, on very tree covered roads, etc. It is frustrating.

 

[huelsmma]

Sorry I can't help with the factory setup, but I have an aftermarket xm unit and it only cuts out if I go through a parking garage.

 

[morrisdl]

I expect loss of reception in parking garage and underpasses, but if there is a tree with in 10 feet of the road it drops.

 

[98Disco]

Do you happen to have a roof rack? Could mess with the signal if its right on top of that pod.

 

[umbertob]

FWIW, I definitely noticed a drop in signal quality of Sirius around Los Angeles in the past 6 months to 1 year, there are a lot more "dead spots" than there used to be on my regular morning commute. Other subscribers have noticed it too, and I recall reading articles about this fairly recently on the web, so it may not all be Land Rover's fault. Here's one:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10141543-47.html

This doesn't explain why other receivers may have better reception than ours in the same area, but since the Land Rover / Sirius modules had so-so reception and virtually no buffering capabilities to begin with even in the best conditions, should the signal from Sirius XM deteriorate (perhaps they don't have money to fix bad ground repeaters or their satellites are out of whack a bit? The company is not exactly swimming in gold lately, and someone's gotta pay Howard's salary!) the problem would become more noticeable on our cars than on others with better and more up-to-date receivers. Just a guess here, but we have had similar reports on the RRS forum recently, the dealer replaced both antenna and Sirius module based on customer complaints and reception didn't improve one bit.

PS: Sound quality of Sirius has always sucked and also got worse over the years as they obviously increased compression to make more stations "fit", digital CD quality my a**! At best, most music channels sound like heavily compressed MP3s, some talk stations sound a little worse than AM radio. For casual listening it's OK, but a far cry from what I expected when I subscribed.

 

[morrisdl]

No roof rack, but thanks for moving that item lower on my wish list now.

WOW, thats quite a list of complaints. Thanks for the tip about the RRS users.

Looks like Sirius it planning on new satellite launch in the next month. Hopefully it gets better soon. From wikipedia:

The new satellite has been designed for geostationary orbit, unlike the other satellites in the constellation; the different orbit has the stated purpose of allowing for more consistent reception for fixed location users (many subscribers have reported having to regularly reposition their antennas for optimal reception). SIRIUS FM-5 satellite has arrived at the launch location, and is scheduled to go into orbit in late June 2009 or early July 2009.​

Also found this:

Sirius FM-5, based on Space Systems/Loral’s LS-1300 platform, has a power output of 20 kilowatts and a 9-meter reflector dish – technology intended to increase signal performance with smaller receiver devices, according to Sirius XM.​

 

[uspurs]

FWIW, I'm in NYS and I've always thought that the reception problems I have are related to the satellites' elliptical orbit. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sirius_orbit_Earth.JPG]

The signal for the Sirius tuner we have at home seems less stable in the afternoons. I also notice the signal cutting in and out when driving more or less due south from our cottage to NYC - I put this down to a couple of things: that I normally make the drive in the afternoon (satellite orbit issue?) and that there are trees very close to the right (that is, west) shoulder of the southbound lanes (the satellites are normally on the western horizon for us) . I would think that 10-15 seconds of buffering would do the trick, so the lack / inadequacy of effective buffering certainly doesn't help.
I totally agree re the overall audio quality, though it does seem to be better when we listen via the internet.

Regards, John

FWIW, I definitely noticed a drop in signal quality of Sirius around Los Angeles in the past 6 months to 1 year, there are a lot more "dead spots" than there used to be on my regular morning commute. Other subscribers have noticed it too, and I recall reading articles about this fairly recently on the web, so it may not all be Land Rover's fault. Here's one:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13645_3-10141543-47.html

This doesn't explain why other receivers may have better reception than ours in the same area, but since the Land Rover / Sirius modules had so-so reception and virtually no buffering capabilities to begin with even in the best conditions, should the signal from Sirius XM deteriorate (perhaps they don't have money to fix bad ground repeaters or their satellites are out of whack a bit? The company is not exactly swimming in gold lately, and someone's gotta pay Howard's salary!) the problem would become more noticeable on our cars than on others with better and more up-to-date receivers. Just a guess here, but we have had similar reports on the RRS forum recently, the dealer replaced both antenna and Sirius module based on customer complaints and reception didn't improve one bit.

PS: Sound quality of Sirius has always sucked and also got worse over the years as they obviously increased compression to make more stations "fit", digital CD quality my a**! At best, most music channels sound like heavily compressed MP3s, some talk stations sound a little worse than AM radio. For casual listening it's OK, but a far cry from what I expected when I subscribed.

 

[Skarfy]

I was glad to see this post. I recently purchased a 2007 LR3 with Sirius - and the satellite reception is awful...just as you described. Heavy trees, slight road dips, etc. all cause the satellite to cut out. It is very bad. I have a sirius roadster mounted on my other car, with the magnetic antenna that is no bigger than a quarter, and it almost never cuts out. I'm wondering if there is a way to fit one of those within the LR3 antenna cluster...current set up is practically unacceptable.

 

[morrisdl]

My solution is iphone and slacker radio I listen at work, home, car, and the gym. Love it!

I cant believe AT&T has actually better coverage than someone, but it is better than Sirius on the roads I have travel (YMMV). Much better sound quality too. Stations always start at the beginning of songs, Skip songs, tag favorites, more content (except stern). The free service is better than Sirius, but Zero ads or DJs with $50/year subscription.