We have been noticing a lot more Sirius XM radio signal drops in the last few months. I was hoping to get a clear technical explanation of why this might be happening from someone knowledgeable at the company. However, my attempts at reaching the appropriate person at the company have been unsuccessful. So I thought I would make a blog post about the topic and hope that someone will find us to explain.
The radio signal seems to drop in areas with a clear view of the sky and where you would least expect it. The signal usually only drops for a few seconds but then it catches up. I live in Los Angeles and apparently thousands of other people around the US are experiencing similar problems. I wonder if its a factor of living on the coast of the US? Do people living in the center of the US have better reception? I would be curious if any truck drivers can tell us what they experience driving across the Country.
We have two Sirius receivers and one is installed as an aftermarket on the dash. The other Sirius receiver is factory installed in Volvo XC90. However, the older aftermarket receiver seems to work the best and the newer more expensive factory receivers seem to drop signal more. We have conclusive evidence of this since we have leased two Volvo XC90's in the last 6 years.
It would NOT surprise me if Sirius XM management is being cheap with their satellite signal upgrades or terrestrial repeaters on the ground. It appears Mel Karmazin is trying to screw Howard Stern out of promised money in his contract and now Howard is sewing him. Sirius is no doubt a penny pinching company it wouldn't surprise me to see a class action law suit if the signal problem gets worse for consumers. One satellite radio company in the market doesn't bode well for competition and the company's stock price (Nasdaq: SIRI) is not performing well and has a ton of debt.
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