Acquiring Signal in Older Sportster

[garageman402]

From reading an archived thread (http://www.digitalradiocentral.com/...ortster-acquiring-signal-its-not-antenna.html), it seems as though these older Sportsters just go bad. This unit has been in the glove box for about a year, because the FM transmitter was not usable when you topped a hill, or in any other wide open area.

We bought a new GM car with the XM Radio, and was not able to transfer the Sirius account over to XM (thought they merged), so had to open a new XM account and close the Sirius account. Put the radio in a box, where it sat for the last 5 months. Recently, I found I could buy an adaptor to plug into the changer port of my old GM factory radio, and tried the old Sportster again. WOW, what a difference from the FM transmitter!! If you have a GM factory radio, check out Crutchfields.com.

The reception was great in my driveway, and I started experimenting with it driving to work. I am now getting the dreaded "acquiring signal" screen at least 70% of the time. This seems to be a common issue on the older Sportster Replays. This radio is not subscribed, but I don't want to re-activate it if it is a radio problem. Maybe the problem is because the radio is not subscribed? Does this make sense? Seems like it just would not work at all if that was the reason.

The XM in the new car is flawless, so I would be inclined to just add another XM radio to the account if I needed new hardware.......

Any thoughts?

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

If you already have XM in the car and have gone to the trouble of switching to XM ... keep it. There is no real difference in the services except for channel numbers. Why invest in more hardware and activation fees?

 

[My name is Matt]

IdRatherBeSkiing is right about merged content if you get the best of sirius on that xm unit in your car. But if you don't have "best of" you will miss Howard and some other premium content. Now, depending on what year and model that GM vehicle is, we have a kit here at TSS Radio that can change your stock XM to sirius and control everything through your factory head unit, just like your XM. Give us a call at 773-772-4340 and we can help. Or check out these links for the two conversion kits we have for GM cars and truck.

Newer Model GM: GM Sirius Connect SIRGM2L
Older Model GM: GM SIRIUS Connect SIRGM1

As for your sportster, acquiring signal is a common and typical issue of the radio starting to die. Eventually it may say that all of the time. You could replace that with one of our refurbished units and be done with it. here is a link to our refurbished Sportster replay radios: Refurbished SIRIUS Sportster Replay Standalone Receiver

Hope this information helps!

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

IdRatherBeSkiing is right about merged content if you get the best of sirius on that xm unit in your car. But if you don't have "best of" you will miss Howard and some other premium content. Now, depending on what year and model that GM vehicle is, we have a kit here at TSS Radio that can change your stock XM to sirius and control everything through your factory head unit, just like your XM. Give us a call at 773-772-4340 and we can help. Or check out these links for the two conversion kits we have for GM cars and truck.

Newer Model GM: GM Sirius Connect SIRGM2L
Older Model GM: GM SIRIUS Connect SIRGM1

As for your sportster, acquiring signal is a common and typical issue of the radio starting to die. Eventually it may say that all of the time. You could replace that with one of our refurbished units and be done with it. here is a link to our refurbished Sportster replay radios: Refurbished SIRIUS Sportster Replay Standalone Receiver

Hope this information helps!

Adding Best Of Sirius to an XM radio is far less hastle than installing new hardware etc. Besides, there is also XM exclusive content such as MLB which cannot be pulled in on a Sirius radio. There is very little content on a XM + BoS package that is only available on a Sirius radio.

 

[My name is Matt]

Adding Best Of Sirius to an XM radio is far less hastle than installing new hardware etc. Besides, there is also XM exclusive content such as MLB which cannot be pulled in on a Sirius radio. There is very little content on a XM + BoS package that is only available on a Sirius radio.

Very true! I feel that XM subscribers kind of get a better deal with "best of" packages. It's a great line up if you go that route.

 

[garageman402]

Re: Acquiring Signal in Older Sportster Replay

Thanks for the replies!! I thought the ol' Sportster may be dying

The XM is in a 2008 Buick Enclave, I am using the Sirius in a 2000 Pontiac Montana van. I found yet another old relic my son-in-law gave to me years ago, a Kenwood Here2Anywhere. That seems to work a lot better than the Sportster, it works good on FM transmitter, too. Audio level is a lot lower through the changer port, the output doesn't seem to be adjustable like the Sportster is. Will mount it and check it out more during the week. The antenna plug seems to be permanently attached, but I did plug in my old antenna to the "terr" jack, and got an "antenna error" message. Maybe my Sportster just needs a new antenna?

Any idea how to disconnect the antenna from the Kenwood without ripping it out?

Thanks again!!