Klarinet Archive - Posting 000296.txt from 2005/06
From: "Woodwind" <woodwind@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] OT: Classical music via satellite
Date: Thu, 16 Jun 2005 19:27:34 -0400
The quality and consistency of your signal depends on a couple of things:
1) How far north you are - the further north, the more specific you have to
be with the placement of your antenna to get a good signal.
2) Is it a stationary or mobile (i.e., mounted in your car) satellite
receiver? Again, the further north you are, because of the angle to the
satellites, which are located much closer to the equator, the more likely it
is you'll have signal drop-outs with fairly short obstacles, as the
satellites aren't very high above the horizon. However, drop-outs are
possible anywhere in mobile vehicles if you get into an area where obstacles
block your antenna's "line of sight" to the satellite. In my experience,
drop-outs are generally of short duration, and usually occur in locations
like roads with heavily wooded stretches and occasionally up in the
mountains. I've also experienced very brief drop-outs when driving in the
heart of a small city, but those events were pretty rare.
My husband and I have XM radios in our cars, and we definitely like them.
We live in Washington State, so we do have some issues with drop-outs on our
usual driving routes, but overall, it isn't bad, and it's fairly
predictable. Satellite radio is certainly excellent if you spend much time
traveling, as you don't have to deal with the lack of radio stations or
radio stations that play music which you enjoy in some areas.
I have a Roady, which I do sometimes use in the house. Unfortunately the
window in my office at home faces ESE, so it's hard for me to get good
signal strength as I would probably have if it were more southerly. Still,
I get enough strength to warrant listening in the house. I could also log
into xmradio.com and listen to it online (all account holders also have
access to streaming audio of the same stuff the satellites are broadcasting)
but it's not usually as nice as listening to the direct feed.
Overall, I agree with Diane's assessment of the three classical stations.
They appear to have quite acceptable playlists and a reasonable amount of
variety, though I admittedly split my listening time between several genres
of music and thus only listen to the classical stations a few hours a week.
I should also note that I tried Sirius and it was also quite acceptable - I
have nothing negative to say about it in comparison with XM from an
objective perspective. However, my husband and I both preferred the channel
lineup on XM.
Trish
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