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  1. aaronbrace is offline
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    06-01-2011, 09:46 AM #41
    Xjeepguy,

    Not to correct you, but Sirius actually has 4 birds up. They are called RadioSat-1,RadioSat-2,RadioSat-3, and RadioSat-5. RadioSat-4 was never launched and is sitting on the ground as a spare. RadioSat1-3 are in highly elliptical orbits and their position is constantly changing in the sky. Generally, a maximum of (2) of them are visible at a time over a given point in North America...always at least 1. This is a strange orbit but its advantage is that the satellites are visible at a very high angle from the ground...this is what allows it to clear trees so well. This is really a requirement for mobile work as satellites with a lower angle (inclination) would not be visible from car level when driving in wooded areas. The angle of inclination is often much greater than 45 degrees for these birds (depending on their current position and your location). 60 degrees and up is not uncommon.

    RadioSat 5 was just launched 18 months ago or so and is a GeoStationary satellite. It is in a fixed position over the equator and its position in the sky never changes. Because of its position, this satellite has a relatively low angle. In my area the inclination for this bird is around 32 degrees. It is often blocked by trees. This satellite was put up primarily for fixed sirius installations, such as on a house. The benefit is that once you get line of site established to it, you do not have to worry about it dropping out because it doesn't move. The original 3 satellites provided some challenges for these installs as you could have perfect signal when installed, but as the birds move during the day they might pop behind an obstacle/tree etc. The other BIG benefit of RadioSat 5 is that it is using an extremely high gain antenna/reflector and is effectively beaming the signal to the East and West coast...This high signal power is actually much more effective at penetrating leaves and such if they do get in the way. Since the East and West coast have the lowest angles for the elliptical orbit birds (RadioSat1-3), and are therefore most affected by trees, this is a good way to help mitigate that somewhat.

    Sirius does an excellent job of getting signal from space and has made some major investments. It is my opinion that this problem they are having HAS to be a ground station issue where the actual stream is generated. I am having problems with skips/audio dropouts with full signal bars and clear LoS to RadioSat5 as well as signal to the other (2) birds likely to be overhead at any given time.

    Please note that the above statements are specific to SIRIUS satellites. I know very little about the legacy XM birds.

    ---Aaron

  2. xjeepguy is offline
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    Joined: May 2011 Location: BC Canada Posts: 31
    06-01-2011, 11:06 AM #42
    No worries man . I see the ones at 85.1W , 96.0W and 115.0W . Where is the 4th one ?

    Quote Originally Posted by aaronbrace View Post
    Xjeepguy,

    Not to correct you, but Sirius actually has 4 birds up.

    ---Aaron

  3. xjeepguy is offline
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    06-01-2011, 11:11 AM #43
    Found this little graphic



    Courtesy of http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/docs/sirius.html


    Really good info there as well.

  4. aaronbrace is offline
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    06-01-2011, 11:27 AM #44
    I believe 96.0 is RadioSat-5. The other 2 birds you are seeing are legacy XM birds. XM decided to go with all GeoStationary satellites, with lower inclinations that make it harder to see them through the trees, and make up the difference with a lot of land based terrestrial repeaters.

    You won't see the elliptical orbit birds on the list you posted because they do not have a fixed position in the sky. That list is only for geostationary birds that do not move.

    ---Aaron

  5. aaronbrace is offline
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    06-01-2011, 11:33 AM #45
    Just saw the graphic you posted. That is a neat one. Radiosat 5 sits on the equator between XM1 & XM2 on your animation. That animation is a little older as it does not show it on there.

    Radiosat 5 is better that XM1 and XM2 as it uses the newer high gain antennas/reflectors. One is pointed at the east coast and one at the west. I guess the middle of the country doesn't need it since that is where the Radiosat1-3 spend most of their time anyways...Some points in the middle of the country the angle to one of the birds can be up to 90 degrees at the right time of the day...No problem seeing the transponder when it is straight up!

    I know there are always Sirius vs XM wars going on, but it is my opinion that Sirius had the best satellite architecture. XM relied too much on terrestrial repeaters due to their GeoStationary satellites.

    ---Aaron


    ---Aaron

  6. xjeepguy is offline
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    06-01-2011, 12:54 PM #46
    Well I decided to call and complain . Wow talk about clueless !!! After about the third time telling me ITS MY EQUIPMENT I finally said how's that possible because I'm getting the same skip , same channels , on my satellite dish at home with the Sirius package . Then it was a 10 second blank and she sent in a 'escalated' letter to head office. Its going to come down to me pausing my service ( until its fixed ) or them crediting me for the month its been ****ing up . I have that one connection there and he says they know all about it yet how can it go on for so long without ANY improvement at all ? When I'm driving its beginning to really get on my nerves because I know the skips are coming .

  7. tactec is offline
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    06-01-2011, 12:58 PM #47
    i too have noticed the audio dropouts on sirius. good luck calling sirius. the first person i talked to acutally admitted there was a problem with their transmission system and sent me to tech support where that person was totally clueless! i have 5 radios on the service....all of them have this audio dropout problem on boneyard and deeptracks. customer service will offer to "reset" your radio if you press the issue but that has not cured the problem. i have also noticed the drop outs in a rental car i rented recently. my next action is to threaten to discontinue....but then that doesnt solve ANYTHING!

  8. changelives is offline
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    06-01-2011, 05:00 PM #48
    I am having the same problem on my iPhone - Howard keeps dropping for a few seconds. It started a few days ago for the first time and it is happening more often every day. Sirius needs to let people know this is a problem they are looking to solve - assuming they are. Are they?

  9. SiriusBuzz is offline
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    Joined: May 2007 Posts: 2,707
    06-01-2011, 06:45 PM #49
    Charles LaRocca
    SiriusBuzz Founder

  10. SaabinVT is offline
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    06-01-2011, 07:15 PM #50
    I've been having the "skipping" issue for a few weeks now. I have a Sony deck w/ a Sportster 2 hard-wired into the aux jack. It seems to happen only on music channels, and seems to be getting more frequent. VERY frustrating.

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