Sirius is terrific, but choosing a receiver or a service on the basis of the
band-readiness of your car stereo is a bad idea from the previous generation of
satellite radio equipment. You'll get more enjoyment from a Plug 'n Play unit
that lets you take the music from home to car to office. "XM-ready" or
"Sirius-ready" car stereos are ready only for a satellite-tuner of the same make
as the car stereo, one that limits your subscription to the vehicle. With luck
your receiver has auxiliary input, or perhaps the Sirius jack or the CD changer
jack can be deployed as an aux. Otherwise, PnP's work through the cassette deck
or through FM modulation, and there will be an appreciable hit in sound quality
compared to the car-dedicated unit you have planned for.

Suggestion: ask around at the "Install Garage" area at
www.siriusbackstage.com .

Jerome

"Arklier" wrote in message
...
It's rather saddening that the Seattle area will have no more free 80s
music. It doesn't effect me as much, as my car stereo (where I do 95%
of my radio listening) is Sirius satellite radio ready, and since they
have an all 80s channel, I've decided to activate with them. Still, I
will miss The Point's web site where they always had announcements
about which 80s bands were coming to the area, and the contests they
used to have to win tickets for the concerts.

I'm sure satellite radio is great for tunes on the road but once locked into
Sirius or equiv how are you warned
that the road ahead is blocked by an overturned sewerage sludge carrier ?
Listen to channel 19 on the old CB radio ??? lol


--


Remove "zz" from e-mail address to direct reply.



"Cooperstown.Net" wrote in message
...
Sirius is terrific, but choosing a receiver or a service on the basis
of the
band-readiness of your car stereo is a bad idea from the previous
generation of
satellite radio equipment. You'll get more enjoyment from a Plug 'n Play
unit
that lets you take the music from home to car to office. "XM-ready" or
"Sirius-ready" car stereos are ready only for a satellite-tuner of the
same make
as the car stereo, one that limits your subscription to the vehicle. With
luck
your receiver has auxiliary input, or perhaps the Sirius jack or the CD
changer
jack can be deployed as an aux. Otherwise, PnP's work through the
cassette deck
or through FM modulation, and there will be an appreciable hit in sound
quality
compared to the car-dedicated unit you have planned for.

Suggestion: ask around at the "Install Garage" area at
www.siriusbackstage.com .

Jerome

"Arklier" wrote in message
...
It's rather saddening that the Seattle area will have no more free 80s
music. It doesn't effect me as much, as my car stereo (where I do 95%
of my radio listening) is Sirius satellite radio ready, and since they
have an all 80s channel, I've decided to activate with them. Still, I
will miss The Point's web site where they always had announcements
about which 80s bands were coming to the area, and the contests they
used to have to win tickets for the concerts.

On 1 Jan 2004 17:30:42 GMT, "Steve Stone"
wrote:

I'm sure satellite radio is great for tunes on the road but once locked into
Sirius or equiv how are you warned
that the road ahead is blocked by an overturned sewerage sludge carrier ?

Don't you have a sense of smell? I don't think there's a way to be
absolutely accurate in traffic reporting. I can't count the number of
times I've been returning to New York from a camping trip listening to
one of the all news stations and being told it's backed up for miles
as I breeze along at 65 (being passed by everyone else).

The converse has often been true. Everything is reported as clear as
we sit in bumper to bumper traffic long enough to wish we hadn't had
those last 3 cups of coffee or took the advice of that lady whose
husband is constipated.

Another traffic problem indicator is thick black smoke ahead. You can
assume you be communing with your car for an extended period. Yet
another nighttime clue is miles and miles of red lights ahead of you
that don't seem to be moving forward.

I now live in Western Massachusetts and have no hope during the day of
being told there's a flaming tanker truck heading my way. There's no
all news station and no one dares break away from Rush Limbaugh except
to run a few drug commercials.

I've found the absolute best traffic info comes from Ham Radio
operators chatting on repeaters as they watch their cars boil over.
Get a simple scanner and program the local 2 meter repeaters into it.
Most of the usual conversation is about gout and medical problems
until traffic takes over. It hasn't failed me, yet. As a Ham myself it
has the added advantage of providing me with local directions. Hams
are great people always willing to help even with something as simple
as finding the local carbohydrate palace.

Listen to channel 19 on the old CB radio ??? lol

Won't work. You'd be disrupting the search for hookers at truck stops.

Rich
KF2JO

Rich - I've got the scoop on traffic reporting and other "breaking news" items on
broadcasting....in many cases, they're bogus.

Traffic reporting, as I've seen, experienced and even participated in, is often so
old that if you take the advice to avoid a backup, you'll often end up just adding
time and distance to your trip, since the cause of the backup and most of the backup
itself is already gone by the time you hear the report on the radio. The whole
reason why traffic reports exist on radio is to make it seem that you're getting
up-to-the-minute reports, and since the majority of the roads covered aren't used by
a specific commuter (how could it be otherwise) there's no way that individual
listeners can check on how accurate the reports really are, and when the alleged
backup on the road travlled seems to have evaporated, said listener simply thinks
they got lucky that time.

"Breaking news" is often as much as 6 hours old, with the major actor(s) already
apprehended or otherwise dealt with. And, as often as not, the newspaper story the
next day will have the actual story, whereas the field reporter, being so far from
reliable sources of information, will have gotten it wrong in the live shot,
breathlessly intro'ed by the blowdried anchor whose closest encounter with a real
news event was the time he was at the Orlando airport when a plane went down....in
Europe.

Yeah, I'm being snide. But these days, with localism all but gone in American radio,
it really is mostly smoke and mirrors. I'll admit that with the trafficams going up
in various major cities it may be easier for the information to be accurate and
timely, but without these tools, you might just as well have a field reporter (or DJ
aspirant...it seems the job of traffic reporter is often filled by failed jocks) call
in to the station while the sound effect of a helicopter plays in the background.
(And I hope I haven't revealed any trade secrets!)
--
For direct replies, take out the contents between the hyphens. -Really!-



"Rich Wood" wrote in message
...
On 1 Jan 2004 17:30:42 GMT, "Steve Stone"
wrote:

I'm sure satellite radio is great for tunes on the road but once locked into
Sirius or equiv how are you warned
that the road ahead is blocked by an overturned sewerage sludge carrier ?

Don't you have a sense of smell? I don't think there's a way to be
absolutely accurate in traffic reporting. I can't count the number of
times I've been returning to New York from a camping trip listening to
one of the all news stations and being told it's backed up for miles
as I breeze along at 65 (being passed by everyone else).

The converse has often been true. Everything is reported as clear as
we sit in bumper to bumper traffic long enough to wish we hadn't had
those last 3 cups of coffee or took the advice of that lady whose
husband is constipated.

Another traffic problem indicator is thick black smoke ahead. You can
assume you be communing with your car for an extended period. Yet
another nighttime clue is miles and miles of red lights ahead of you
that don't seem to be moving forward.

I now live in Western Massachusetts and have no hope during the day of
being told there's a flaming tanker truck heading my way. There's no
all news station and no one dares break away from Rush Limbaugh except
to run a few drug commercials.

I've found the absolute best traffic info comes from Ham Radio
operators chatting on repeaters as they watch their cars boil over.
Get a simple scanner and program the local 2 meter repeaters into it.
Most of the usual conversation is about gout and medical problems
until traffic takes over. It hasn't failed me, yet. As a Ham myself it
has the added advantage of providing me with local directions. Hams
are great people always willing to help even with something as simple
as finding the local carbohydrate palace.

Listen to channel 19 on the old CB radio ??? lol

Won't work. You'd be disrupting the search for hookers at truck stops.

Rich
KF2JO

On 2 Jan 2004 17:42:00 GMT, "Bob Haberkost"
wrote:

Rich - I've got the scoop on traffic reporting and other "breaking news" items on
broadcasting....in many cases, they're bogus.

Alas, I feel you're right.

"Breaking news" is often as much as 6 hours old, with the major actor(s) already
apprehended or otherwise dealt with. And, as often as not, the newspaper story the
next day will have the actual story, whereas the field reporter, being so far from
reliable sources of information, will have gotten it wrong in the live shot,
breathlessly intro'ed by the blowdried anchor whose closest encounter with a real
news event was the time he was at the Orlando airport when a plane went down....in
Europe.

While I think you're being too harsh with blown-dry anchors (there's
an entire hairdressing and makeup industry at stake) I would
occasionally listen to my NYC precinct's frequency. I was amazed often
at how quickly the police apprehended the person they were after. It
was old news before it got to be news.

In my new market we have an anchor who must be the wife of the owner.
She looks as though she just rolled out of bed. I can only imagine
what the show looks like in HDTV where Bondo as makeup no longer
works.

Rich

"Steve Stone" wrote in message
...
I'm sure satellite radio is great for tunes on the road but once locked
into
Sirius or equiv how are you warned
that the road ahead is blocked by an overturned sewerage sludge carrier ?
Listen to channel 19 on the old CB radio ??? lol

CB Chan 19 is probably the best solution. Broadcast traffic reports hardly
ever helped me.

I listen to Metro Traffic, 455.95 mHz on my Beartrackers.

On 1 Jan 2004 19:10:23 GMT, "R J Carpenter" wrote:


"Steve Stone" wrote in message
...
I'm sure satellite radio is great for tunes on the road but once locked
into
Sirius or equiv how are you warned
that the road ahead is blocked by an overturned sewerage sludge carrier ?
Listen to channel 19 on the old CB radio ??? lol

CB Chan 19 is probably the best solution. Broadcast traffic reports hardly
ever helped me.

On 2 Jan 2004 17:41:53 GMT, David wrote:

I listen to Metro Traffic, 455.95 mHz on my Beartrackers.

Hmm. As I recall scanners are illegal in cars in many states, several
surrounding New York. We know you wouldn't want to commit a crime, so
you'll remove it, I'm sure.

If you have a Ham license, you're exempted.

I'm not sure why you'd do that since it's available on nearly every
station in the city.

Rich

Who wants to listen to those crappy stations?

XM and Sirius are both launching traffic reports next month.

I am in the media. No one has ever questioned the appropriateness of
me having a mobile receiver. In fact, I can easily justify it with
any peace officer by telling the story of a deputy who bled to death
when his gun went off by accident and he severed a leg artery. His
partner did not know the groin pressure point and the man bled to
death.

Had a scanner user with first aid training been nearby that deputy
would still be alive.

On 3 Jan 2004 17:21:49 GMT, Rich Wood wrote:

On 2 Jan 2004 17:41:53 GMT, David wrote:

I listen to Metro Traffic, 455.95 mHz on my Beartrackers.

Hmm. As I recall scanners are illegal in cars in many states, several
surrounding New York. We know you wouldn't want to commit a crime, so
you'll remove it, I'm sure.

If you have a Ham license, you're exempted.

I'm not sure why you'd do that since it's available on nearly every
station in the city.

Rich

On 8 Jan 2004 15:21:45 GMT, David wrote:

I am in the media. No one has ever questioned the appropriateness of
me having a mobile receiver. In fact, I can easily justify it with
any peace officer by telling the story of a deputy who bled to death
when his gun went off by accident and he severed a leg artery. His
partner did not know the groin pressure point and the man bled to
death.

Had a scanner user with first aid training been nearby that deputy
would still be alive.

I think such laws are stupid. However, they were lobbied for by law
enforcement who believed criminals were tracking their movements and
knew when they were about to arrive. They were also concerend that the
media would monitor and interfere with their operation or expose
something that shouldn't happen.

A "peace officer" doesn't make the rules. If he sees a receiver
capable of receiving police and fire frequencies, he's supposed to
take action in those states that forbid scanners in cars. The same is
true for states that ban radar detectors.

With the no-code ham license an exemption is easy to get. Just show
the cop your license and you're free to go. The next time a cop shoots
himself, you'll be there to help.

There was a case in Cranford, NJ where a ham offered to help the
police track down someone who was causing malicious interference to
public safety services. They ended up charging him with doing it in
spite of the fact that it continued while he was in custody. Charges
were dropped after the ARRL assigned a lawyer (John Norton) to
represent him.

In my experience in the NY/NJ area it's been the "peace officer" who
is most against scanners. I wouldn't appeal to his "save my comrade"
sensibilities.

Rich