Personal Xm

[NoMerits]

Hey, who has a personal xm and how is your reception? Jim

[ragingfish]

Personal XM?

[DaddyVibeMI]

Quote, originally posted by NoMerits »Hey, who has a personal xm and how is your reception? JimWhat do you mean "personal xm"? I own Delphi XM Roady II for our Vibe and bring in house and we get really good reception everywhere we go.

[NoMerits]

I'm referring to the Delphi MyFi Personal XM Satellite Radio. My wife got one for her birthday and it only works on one side of the house, the south side, and was wondering if anyone has some tips on how to get better reception. Thanks for the input, Jim

[ColonelPanic]

I take it that this is what you have....http://www.xmradio.com/myfi/index.jspLooks cool - but I've wondered how well those would work...

[NoMerits]

That what we have, it's not working as well as you would think. Was wondering if any one with the same model was having the issues with reception. The MYFI even cuts out while walking on the beach! Not real impressed. Jim

[ColonelPanic]

Doesn't appear that anyone here has any experience with it! That's odd, we've got some hardcore XM gurus. Can't believe few here have heard about it, let alone used it. I dunno, I'm in the opposite camp, being a Sirius junkie. But I'm guessing like Sirius, XM has some ground based repeaters in metropolitan areas to help with the satellite signals being blocked by buildings and such... I wonder if you have any of those in your area? I can't imagine that tiny receiver would work too well on only satellite signal - sometimes it requires creative positioning to get the best signal possible on a full sized receiver with a normal antenna when you're inside, away from a repeater, and only have the satellite signal to rely on. Do you have a detailed signal strength meter on that thing that would show satellite signal as well as terrestrial signal?

[Jahntassa]

The fact that the MiFi gets ANY reception is amazing to me.. That's why they put in the 5 hour recording time.I do use the 'wearable' antenna a bit, but it's not that great.What people have been doing is getting the adapters to plug the Car antenna into the wearable antenna jack and going around with that. The wearable antenna is passive and has no amplification in it, but the car antenna is active with amplification, so you can get a whole lot better reception with that.Take a search around on XMFan.com, I think there's a few threads on it.Otherwise, I love the thing!

[jwalcik]

are you familiar w/ o'reilly's 'make' magazine? they had a tutorial on turning a normal XM receiver into a portable unit. the plans aren't available online, but if you can find a copy of the first issue, the antenna they talk about might work for you... http://makezine.com/01/diy_satradio/

[Jahntassa]

The personal audio kit for the Roady2 would probably get better reception. The antenna is built into the headphones.

[NoMerits]

The myfi came with a car kit, the next time we go the the beach I'll try the car antenna. As far as the house goes, we are now using a antenna a guy from work gave me from his old car xm set-up, I think it's a old roady antenna, but it works fine (needed a small adapter to make it fit). Thanks for all the suggestion, Jim

[AzFusionGT]

The persoal kit for the Roady II is great. I walk with it, and wear it in the house when my Family asleep. No probs, and I LOVE it.I listen to the radio all day at work, and every time a commercial comes on, I change the station. I am so spoiled by XM.

[AzFusionGT]

I was referring to the radio stations on regular radio, rather than on XM. XM has 65+ (I think?!?) that are commercial-free. If I could trust my students to leave it alone, I'd have in my classroom. Since I can't, it's regular radio for me.

[AzFusionGT]

Since I am known for my Non-Mr. Goodwrench abilities, my Father installed the XM antenna for me. He ran it from just behind the stock antenna, behind the hatch, through the taillight wireholes, through the interior behind the panels to where it comes out on the left side of the passenger floor. The Roady II sits just in front of the gear shifter. It's ackward when in 3rd and 5th, but I LOVE it. And yes, commercials on "regular" radio drive me insane.