The status of the new Sirius/XM satellite, FM-6, has changed from "moving" to "testing."

 

Does that have anything to do with all the space shuttle walks going on right now?

Thanks for the update.

 

Loool...space station can only dream of reaching those birds

 

Well said. Serius XM satellites, called Rock and Roll, orbit at 22,000 miles above earth. The space station is at about 260 miles above us.

See the following:

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com...ite-radio2.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_Station

 

Happens to me every now and then. But it eventually goes back to normal. I just figured it was a problem on their end.

 

jmcraney: I just acquired a '14 ES and the dropouts are especially severe here in northern NJ. Do you, or anyone else, know if separate signals are still being sent out by Sirius and XM? My friend's '09 Mercedes has almost no dropouts on the same streets where I experience the worst dropouts. I am just wondering if the receivers on the current ES are just not up to par. Also, has anyone with these receptions issues gotten any satisfaction bringing your car back to the dealer (loose connection, etc.). The 3 month free trial period will be up before my 5,000 mile checkup and I'd rather not waste a trip to the dealer unless someone thinks I might have an equipment issue.

 

If your '14 ES has OEM satellite equipment then your car has an XM receiver and if your friend's '09 Mercedes has OEM satellite equipment then his car has a Sirius receiver, according to the SiriusXM.com site. Since these are two different technologies, the signals come from two different sources. The XM signal comes from one of two geostationary satellites and the Sirius signal comes from one of three highly elliptical orbit satellites. Comparing reception of these two signals is not very meaningful. The two signal technologies are different and will always remain separate. New cars will soon be equipped with dual technology receivers but yours seems to be the single XM technology. About 7 months ago SiriusXM launched a new geostationary satellite, FM-6, that will transmit both Sirius and XM signals. The status of FM-6 remains "testing" with no indication when it will be operational but I expect that it will be in use soon as that will reduce the operational cost of the ground segment. The new satellite will have more power and better antenna footprint that will reduce the signal dropouts and will reduce the requirement for terrestrial repeaters. Since you are receiving signals I think it is unlikely that you have an equipment problem. If you have an opportunity to travel to a large metropolitan area where terrestrial repeaters are employed your reception may be very satisfactory.

 

Ah, that's interesting. I used to keep up on this stuff, but lost interest some time ago. I knew that at some point those satellites would either stop functioning or fall out of the sky. I thought only one technology would survive. I guess both are going to live on.

 

Thanks for the detailed response! I found the email address for the Sirius spokesperson who in Dec 2013 announced the new satellite. I sent him an email asking when it should become operational. Will post his reply if I get one.