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Satelite radio for shop entertainment.

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Anybody use it? Plain and simple I want it in a one man shop to listen to sports of any kind and sports talk radio. That seems to be the one thing that keeps me distracted when doing hated long stints on what I call monkey drills. My efficiency on short cycle times is lucky to hit 33% even listening to music. Yesterday with a Nascar race on I made it 3 hrs straight doing a 72 second part and a 23 second one. The problem is the only sporting events on FM radio (no AM reception with machines running) are top level Nascar and the Washington NFL team (they have no nickname now). ESPN dumped their local FM affiliate. Also radio stations in this area mostly all broadcast a weak signal.

Using the internet for radio is out due to my data gap of 15GB a month. If anyone uses it and likes it I would appreciate the feed back along with what I need to buy. I would need the receiver and what to hook it to. All I have is a boom box and it is on it's last legs.

I tried online chat at Best Buy first and it appears like with a lot of other stores they have cut back on customer service agents recently, it was not available, the virtual agent BS is useless.
 
Get an unlimited plan, or spotify premium where you can just download playlists. XM radio was great in 2004 when driving 18 wheeler, but the price of a satellite subscription these days, you’re better off putting the cash towards an unlimited plan.
 
My Sirius subscription is $180/year for one vehicle. Which brings up a point, since said vehicle is sitting in the driveway doing nothing because everyone around here with a desk job (me) is WFH. In wonder whether I can transfer the subscription to a device in my shop?
 
The price can be substantially lower if you negotiate.

I got the free subscription when I bought my car. It was a nice feature in traffic, sitting bumper to bumper I'd toss on the comedy channels and the 45 minute to an hour ride that usually took 20 minutes became bearable.

At the end of the subscription, I thought I'd keep it till told the price. No way am I paying that..not to mention reception at home, at work and the boat was horrible. I said I'd cancel...but an offer was given I could not say no to...3 months for $15 bucks. So for 9 years every 3 months, we have to call to cancel and they have negotiated a deal. Well most times...one or two times the deal wasn't that great so I canceled. But a call a few days later with a better offer came along.

It may be because the reception is bad around here in some spots and they know it or they know I'd canceled a higher rate.


Anyway to answer your question...If satellite keeps you sane in an insane world, its worth it and becomes a cost of doing business expense.
 
We used to have Sirius XM, but got out of it due to the high subscription prices and the fact that they give you hundreds of channels!!!.... and we only listened to two because nobody wants to change the channel and everyone wants to complain about it. We do the Pandora thing now as we can have 50 stations on shuffle and it's free with commercials, and cheap without.

If bandwidth is an issue? At home, I still buy CD's, but immediately burn them to a hard-drive and can shuffle that. I like buying something once and being done with it. Software, Hardware, and Media makes it really hard to do that these days... I've never been a fan of Cable or Satellite TV for the same reasons as the XM radio. I like to own my media, or get it for cheap if not free, because 90% of what comes in the package deals is never wanted.
 
I have a TV in the shop with a Roku. I use I-heart radio, get radio stations from
all over the country, and its free. Though you do have to sign up for a free
account if you want to save more than 2 stations to your favorites.

Yesterday, the Nascar race was on FREE over the air TV.. So I couldn't get it. I listened
to it on my TV on a radio station out of Tampa, and had to call my Dad for his Spectrum
password so I could watch the race on my computer (still listened on MRN though).

I haven't messed with the I-Heart thing all that much, but there is a ton of stuff on there,
I mostly listen to a decent rock station from about 500 miles away, and occasionally put
NPR on, usually on the weekend mornings because I don't have a radio in the shop, and the NPR
signal cuts out on the edge of town.

There is just too much free stuff on the internet now to bother with paying for subscriptions,
especially since you are in a fixed location. For a truck driver, satellite radio would be a
life saver, but a fixed location with internet(you do have internet?), I don't see a point.
 
Sorry-

Forgot to mention you can buy lots of receivers, standalone speaker boxes, and antenea kits for reception.

Sometimes its just easier to do it smartphone style and call the provider, they will sell you the equipment as part of your "package". You you pay it back with your subscription. They also list many of the devices that will work and you can go out and buy on your own, Amazon or whatever.


As to the reason why...because you want to is more then enough reason for me and I guess there are plenty of others as its a pretty big business.
 
Sorry-

Forgot to mention you can buy lots of receivers, standalone speaker boxes, and antenea kits for reception.

Sometimes its just easier to do it smartphone style and call the provider, they will sell you the equipment as part of your "package". You you pay it back with your subscription. They also list many of the devices that will work and you can go out and buy on your own, Amazon or whatever.


As to the reason why...because you want to is more then enough reason for me and I guess there are plenty of others as its a pretty big business.
 
I appreciate the advice, but do note I cannot download anything due to data capped internet. Most people cannot relate to me because of the internet situation, I have 15 GB available for data in a month, most people burn that in two days.
 
Sorry-

Forgot to mention you can buy lots of receivers, standalone speaker boxes, and antenea kits for reception.

Sometimes its just easier to do it smartphone style and call the provider, they will sell you the equipment as part of your "package". You you pay it back with your subscription. They also list many of the devices that will work and you can go out and buy on your own, Amazon or whatever.


As to the reason why...because you want to is more then enough reason for me and I guess there are plenty of others as its a pretty big business.

And please, which ones do you recommend? I am home electronics challenged. I can put a 4 speed transmission together if you scattered all the parts across a two car garage floor and I had no drawings, but jam a piece of toast in a toaster and I will struggle to fix it.
 
I appreciate the advice, but do note I cannot download anything due to data capped internet. Most people cannot relate to me because of the internet situation, I have 15 GB available for data in a month, most people burn that in two days.

Satellite:ack2:? or are you dealing with a cell phone thing?

Many moons ago I had what I think was wireless microwave. I couldn't get DSL, I couldn't get cable, I was not going to pay through my poor little nostrils for satellite.. So I suffered at 28k, all my shitty little phone line could handle, and that was only if it hadn't rained recently. Then I found out that I COULD GET FAST INTERNET!!!!!

$100 to set up the antennae and get me hooked up, and then $50 a month (Its actually still the same unless you want stupid speeds). Little antennae on my roof, it shot 8 miles down the valley to a cell phone tower.

Got some family up in Colorado, and they couldn't get anything wired. They were using a modem through AT&T, it sucked, and that was on a good day.. And then the overages. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. So I did some digging one time when I was up there. They have a wireless company. Now they pay less per month($30) and have really fast unlimited internet.

I guess they are calling it Fixed Wireless now. It apparently now covers 51% of the country. A lot of the providers are tiny little companies, so they are not all that easy to find, but keep digging. Even if I had to drag a Cat5 cable through 1/2 mile of woods and put up a telephone pole to get line of sight, I'd do it. Satellite blows. Anything through your cell phone company blows too.
 
Why such a restriction on internet data?

I used to use Sirius, but as others have mentioned the cost became exorbitant, especially when how much I use it was factored. I have a NOS (12yo?) Sirius receiver that never got installed in my Toyota, think I robbed the power cord for the one I was using, if you can use it for cost of postage (small flat rate priority mail box), I'll send it.
 
My only options for internet here are data capped, the best choice is using Verizon Wireless, which I have now, satellite was not reliable, I suffered with that for 8 years. It is a strange situation most people cannot understand. I use most all of my internet data allowance for checking e-mail and minor web surfing. I am looking for entertainment over the airwaves in an area where radio stations broadcast a weak signal and have a short range. I figure my only options are something going through satellite radio or TV.
 
Why such a restriction on internet data?

Those are the options here, that is a fact of life, 15 GB a month whether using satellite or cell wireless. If you want to buy more it is around $7 a GB, and note a typical movie is 2GB.
 
Satellite:ack2:? or are you dealing with a cell phone thing?

Many moons ago I had what I think was wireless microwave. I couldn't get DSL, I couldn't get cable, I was not going to pay through my poor little nostrils for satellite.. So I suffered at 28k, all my shitty little phone line could handle, and that was only if it hadn't rained recently. Then I found out that I COULD GET FAST INTERNET!!!!!

$100 to set up the antennae and get me hooked up, and then $50 a month (Its actually still the same unless you want stupid speeds). Little antennae on my roof, it shot 8 miles down the valley to a cell phone tower.

Got some family up in Colorado, and they couldn't get anything wired. They were using a modem through AT&T, it sucked, and that was on a good day.. And then the overages. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$. So I did some digging one time when I was up there. They have a wireless company. Now they pay less per month($30) and have really fast unlimited internet.

I guess they are calling it Fixed Wireless now. It apparently now covers 51% of the country. A lot of the providers are tiny little companies, so they are not all that easy to find, but keep digging. Even if I had to drag a Cat5 cable through 1/2 mile of woods and put up a telephone pole to get line of sight, I'd do it. Satellite blows. Anything through your cell phone company blows too.

Fixed wireless is not available in this whole state, last I checked. The best available internet is through a cell phone service.
 
My only options for internet here are data capped, the best choice is using Verizon Wireless, which I have now, satellite was not reliable, I suffered with that for 8 years. It is a strange situation most people cannot understand. I use most all of my internet data allowance for checking e-mail and minor web surfing. I am looking for entertainment over the airwaves in an area where radio stations broadcast a weak signal and have a short range. I figure my only options are something going through satellite radio or TV.

At our old place I couldn't get FM as the mountians next to us were 300+ ft tall, I talked with the tech guy at the radio station I wanted to hear and he told me to get a heavy duty antenna ( forget the maker now) it used 3/8 dia aluminum rode and came with quite a selection of lengths. He told me how long they needed to be to get his station, I think it had 18 of them and I made them all the length he said and by golly it worked. His station was 93.5 FM and I could get anything from about 90 to 95, but his was clear as could be. My new pickup came with satelite radio, I had thoght it was commercial free but it was a lot more bla, bla, bla than country music and when it came time to buy it they wanted a lot of money, wifey put 3500 songs on a usb and in 55k miles I am just now starting to have it repeat some songs and without the bal bla.
 
Fixed wireless is not available in this whole state, last I checked. The best available internet is through a cell phone service.

Home - Virginia Broadband

Virginia Broadband is a high-speed Wireless Internet Service Provider – “WISP”.

These guys cover a lot of the state. And from a search for your town, it says
they cover 7% of it. Call, and keep calling, and have your neighbors call. If
they can get some customers, they'll stick up an antennae. Most of them are on
cell phone towers.

Like I said earlier, a lot of these companies are SMALL and local. They don't
show up on the big searches, and a lot don't even show up on the sites that
point you to where to go. Maybe call some of the little computer places around
your area and ask them whats available.

On the flip side. A lot of the no-name cell companies piggy back on the big companies
and offer "unlimited" data. Maybe take a look at that also.
 
Those are the options here, that is a fact of life, 15 GB a month whether using satellite or cell wireless. If you want to buy more it is around $7 a GB, and note a typical movie is 2GB.

That sounds like a seriously sucky plan, makes mine look good. Not sure all the details, but sometime back in the 90's ATT wanted to run a fiber optic trunk line thru my town, the city leaders, in their infinite wisdom and thinking the internet was just a tool for scammers and carrier of porno, decided to charge a hefty fee per foot for the right of way. So ATT went around the town, with just one little branch for internet service, today there are more people wanting service than the branch can carry, if you don't pay your bill and get cutoff, you go on a waiting list for new service, I hear it takes over a year.
 








 
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