A random observation about the merger years later...

[Kryptonite]

I'm still seeing occasional people mention "XM" and the channel number. I don't think I've seen "Sirius" and the channel number in years. Obviously I've seen tons of "SiriusXM" and the channel number.

I wonder if "XM" channel number are people who had XM from before the merger.

I'd imagine it's next to impossible to find an Inno or other XM-exclusive radio these days. My last plug-and-play was an Onyx, which is a SiriusXM unit, right? My current radio is built in to a 2021 Mini Cooper which is a SiriusXM radio.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

My 2019 Toyota Corolla has "XM" radio. Think it takes years to make changes to the car lineup.

 

[scotchandcigar]

The site dogstarradio.com is gone, but xmplaylist.com still works. Last year, they shut down XMfans.com. It was a sad day for Channel98. No more trading insults from Waymore and the triode guy.

 

[Channel98]

Waymore, "the Hoaxman" and the "Totally Ridiculous Goofball" were the nastiest people on that site. They frequently quoted my posts but rewrote them to include vulgar self-deprecating comments. They accused me (and my anti-Trump posts) of being responsible for XMFan's shutdown. Um, no, Ryan shut it down because he could no longer afford the $1,500 monthly cost to maintain it and he did not want to ask members for donations.

 

[sadchild]

I miss 'lasvegaskid', who every week would point out every little mistake the VJs made on the Big 40. That guy was amazing at fact-checking.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

I miss 'lasvegaskid', who every week would point out every little mistake the VJs made on the Big 40. That guy was amazing at fact-checking.

All you have to do is count the number of times the VJs speak and that is the number of errors (on average). Sometimes they get something right, other times they make multiple errors on the same intro.

 

[Kryptonite]

My 2019 Toyota Corolla has "XM" radio. Think it takes years to make changes to the car lineup.

That's...not right.

I thought the plan was to shut down the Sirius side and keep/improve the XM side. In fact, they shut down the geosynchronous "figure eight" satellites years ago. All satellites today are stationary.

But they still have some car using some semblance of the OG XM system. Huh?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

That's...not right.

I thought the plan was to shut down the Sirius side and keep/improve the XM side. In fact, they shut down the geosynchronous "figure eight" satellites years ago. All satellites today are stationary.

But they still have some car using some semblance of the OG XM system. Huh?

They replaced the Sirius geosynchonous sattelites with geostationary satelites like XM had. Sirius radios still work.

 

[Kryptonite]

They replaced the Sirius geosynchonous sattelites with geostationary satelites like XM had. Sirius radios still work.

Yeah, that's probably what I meant. It's crazy that there's still some radios with the super-strong FM transmitters still working. I remember mine getting so hot that I had to turn the brightness all the way down AND pop it out while it was playing so it wouldn't overheat.

 

[IndustrialH]

Yeah, that's probably what I meant. It's crazy that there's still some radios with the super-strong FM transmitters still working. I remember mine getting so hot that I had to turn the brightness all the way down AND pop it out while it was playing so it wouldn't overheat.

If I turned the demister off, the windscreen never misted around the XACT or Brix units.. sort of dual purpose.

 

[IndustrialH]

They replaced the Sirius geosynchonous sattelites with geostationary satelites like XM had. Sirius radios still work.

The day that happened my daughter phoned on the way to work - "Dad... the Sirius is cutting in and out.. I think the antenna is screwed". No it wasn't, the hills were in the way.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

The day that happened my daughter phoned on the way to work - "Dad... the Sirius is cutting in and out.. I think the antenna is screwed". No it wasn't, the hills were in the way.

Yes, trees, hills and buildings will always block the geostationary sats when you get to the northern US or Canada.