TSS: Pixel Pro-500 Sat and SIRIUS Home Signal Dist. Kit?

[hexagram]

I have noticed your advertisements of the Pro-500 satellite antennas for $129.99 and I noticed you have the official antenna with a DBS kit (for integrating with Satellite TV) for $79.99

Is there any difference in sound quality, signal strength, or anything that makes it worth the extra $50?

This is the kit I'm talking about:

http://www.tss-radio.com/sirius-home-signal-distribution-kit-with-dbs-combiner-p-5621.html

 

[Davis]

I have the kit you are talking about and I loved it. I now have Comcast and it won't work with the Bundle (The Internet is causing an interference). I now have it setup on a dedicated line. I can't tell you how the Pro-500 is. I did help a family friend put one on the roof of his
Dentist office.

 

[TSS Taylor]

I have noticed your advertisements of the Pro-500 satellite antennas for $129.99 and I noticed you have the official antenna with a DBS kit (for integrating with Satellite TV) for $79.99

Is there any difference in sound quality, signal strength, or anything that makes it worth the extra $50?

This is the kit I'm talking about:

Sirius Home Signal Distribution Kit with DBS Combiner

Yes, the Pro-500 Antenna is the strongest outdoor SIRIUS antenna we are aware of. It has a far higher gain than the antenna that comes with the DBS kit.

In Alaska the Pro-500 is awesome. Alaska is one of those places that even the regular Outdoor Antenna might get dropouts since it's so far away.

 

[hexagram]

Sounds good. Thanks for answering my question.

 

[mynameisjamie]

As a note,
We have one of those mounted here in the warehouse and it picks up a satellite signal through the roof... so...
Take that for what it's worth.

 

[Zman44]

I just bought the Home Signal Dist Kit from TSS and keep getting an error....Antenna Not Detected. However, I played around with it and found that if I left the connection at the antenna loose and moved it around I received a signal. Does the coax center conductor need to be longer than what is normally left when installing the F-connector on the cable? Has anyone else had this problem with the 14240 antenna? I'm on the second one now.

 

[TSS Taylor]

I'm having some trouble understanding the last two lines of the post. You bought the 14245 from us and it works if you simple connect the F to SMB cable onto the antenna loosely? Maybe you can describe it another way. We get a certain amount of F to SMB Cables that come out of those kits that are defective and it's frustrating. But not sure if that's it or not.

 

[Zman44]

Home Signal Dist Kit

Yes, it is the 14250 kit. I connected per the diagram on pg 10 of the manual. Antenna to coax to adapter cable to Starmate.

When all connections are tight I get error message "Antenna Not Detected".

If I loosen the coax to antenna connection and move the coax side to side the starmate then goes to "Acquiring Signal" then to the station once the signal is acquired. Sounds weird but it works. This is the 2nd antenna and 2nd adapter cable I've received from TSS.

I have tried a couple of different coax sections and get the same results.

I am open to suggestions. Thanks.

 

[mynameisjamie]

Here is the thing....
For whatever reason that setup causes so many problems. Don't know why they do but they never work the way they are supposed to.

If I had to guess I would say it might have something to do with the RG-6 connection into the antenna.

There really isn't any great solution to this. It sounds like you might have found one that will kind of work.

How long is the RG-6 section? The practical length is much shorter than the length in the instructions.

If you have it kind of loose and wiggled, does the signal seem to be holding. I'm worried that you'll loose signal if it's windy out.

 

[Zman44]

That's not good.

Thanks for the feedback. It's not good but thanks. If they don't work as advertised then what good are they? Seems to me that this is a relatively easy problem for the design engineer to solve. My guess is that the problem is the actual f connector at the antenna. Probably a substandard or very marginal spec part. I am going to try one other idea and see what happens. If it works I will pass it on. If not I will return the part and go with a Pixel antenna. More $$ but.....you get what you pay for.

Thanks again.

 

[sparks54]

Pixel Pro-500 Antenna

I installed this antenna on the container ship I work on almost 2 years ago. I was shocked to get solid signal at the International Dateline on our way back from Japan. People don't believe me when I tell them how far offshore we get XM but we are and it's awesome!

 

[TSS Taylor]

Whoa!!!!!!
You gotta get a pic. That is beyond cool. We've heard of people in ships pretty far from the continent getting a signal depending on the heavy duty antenna. Off the shore of Spain and England comes to mind with the SIRIUS Service.

You are using the XM service. I would love to hear your story about how you use Satellite Radio.