Question About Reception In the House

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11-06-2010, 11:08 PM
jcf20010

Question About Reception In the House

After some research I have decided to purchase a Starmate 5. I will be using it at home 99% of the time so I plan on getting the home kit.

I downloaded the instructions for the home kit and after reading it I'm a little concerned about the reception of the satellite signal. I have big trees around the house and I really don't want to mount the antenna outside if I don't have to.

How critical is the pointing of the antenna? Is it as critical as it is with satellite TV? I have my DirectTV dish mounted on a 6 foot pole on the roof of the house to get a clear view of the satellite. My new car which came with Sirius radio can pick up a signal when it's parked in the garage. So I'm not quite sure what to expect.

Does anyone insight any insight on this?

Thanks.
11-07-2010, 01:02 AM
SiriusBuzz

Thats amazing that you get reception with the car parked in the garage. Do you live near a repeater?

Making sure your antenna has a clear line to the sky is pretty crucial. I have never had an issue with aiming it exactly like you would directTV, just as long is it points up and there is nothing overhead works fine for me.
11-07-2010, 04:33 PM
jcf20010

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiriusBuzz

Thats amazing that you get reception with the car parked in the garage. Do you live near a repeater?

I have no idea if there is a repeater neat by or not. How can you tell if there is one?

If I do have to put the antenna outside the total run is going to be greater than 21' which is the length of the cable on the antenna that comes with the home kit. Is there a maximum limit on the length of the run?
11-11-2010, 02:03 AM
SiriusBuzz

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcf20010

I have no idea if there is a repeater neat by or not. How can you tell if there is one?

You can check out the repeater network here http://www.dogstarradio.com/sirius_map.php just pick your state to view the repeaters in your area.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcf20010

If I do have to put the antenna outside the total run is going to be greater than 21' which is the length of the cable on the antenna that comes with the home kit. Is there a maximum limit on the length of the run?

You can get yourself a 50ft antenna extender from TSS (make sure you tell them we sent you) http://www.tss-radio.com/products/ts...-cable-50-ft-2
11-16-2010, 06:36 PM
jcf20010

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiriusBuzz

You can check out the repeater network here http://www.dogstarradio.com/sirius_map.php just pick your state to view the repeaters in your area.

The repeater map is interesting. It shows my location is right in the center of the coverage area of a repeater but the signal bar for TER - on the radio shows nothing being received.

Whats up with that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by SiriusBuzz

You can get yourself a 50ft antenna extender from TSS (make sure you tell them we sent you) http://www.tss-radio.com/products/ts...-cable-50-ft-2

As it turns out I can point the antenna straight up at the ceiling and get a full strength signal. If I point it out the window toward where the satellite is it goes down to 3 bars. Weird.......

Thanks for the tips....
11-16-2010, 07:45 PM
SiriuslyLong

Your radio should tell you the strength of signal - satellite and repeater. The old Sportster did anyway.
11-16-2010, 07:59 PM
SiriusBuzz

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcf20010

It shows my location is right in the center of the coverage area of a repeater...

As it turns out I can point the antenna straight up at the ceiling and get a full strength signal. If I point it out the window toward where the satellite is it goes down to 3 bars. Weird.......

That is insane... maybe the repeater is in your house. In all seriousness, I dont know many people that are lucky enough to get that kind of reception, that's awesome. When I was in college I had to stick my antenna on the side of the building and point it in precisely the right direction to half bars.