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Satellite Radio

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What is satellite radio?

Satellite radio is often considered one of the biggest improvements in
broadcasting since the introduction of the FM band. Satellite radio is also
called subscription radio or pay-radio because it is only available trough
subscription to one of the satellite radio providing companies. Satellite radio
follows a concept similar to cable television by providing a very wide range of
programs which are not available in the traditional FM or AM format for a fee.

Satellite radio uses satellites to deliver radio programs to subscribers. The
radio signal is broadcasted from Earth based stations to communicational
satellites, which then redirect the signal to satellite radio receivers. The
radio signal is broadcasted by communication satellites to a much larger area
than traditional terrestrial radio antennas. For example, satellite radio is
available al across the continental area of the United States. Satellite radio
is available now in most parts of the world trough services provided by
companies like WorldSpace (in Europe, Asia and Africa), Sirius and XM Radio (in
North America). The radio signal you receive using satellite radio is digital,
which means that it is always clear and static-free, which is one of the great
advantages of satellite radio. Another great thing about satellite radio is
that it is almost completely commercial-free.

To begin listening to satellite radio you will need the actual satellite radio
(also known as tuner or receiver), a satellite radio antenna (which is often
incorporated in the satellite radio) and a subscription to the service you
choose. There are several types of satellite radio from which you can choose.
One of them is the dedicated car or home radio, which play trough your car or
home stereo. A second option is the plug-and-play radio, which can be used in
your car, as well as in your home by paying a single subscription. Your third
option is the portable radio, which has rechargeable battery, a built-in
antenna and you can listen to it wherever you go using headphones. The radio
signals offered by different satellite radio companies are proprietary, which
means that you will need different hardware for receiving, decoding and
playback, depending on your subscription. Each satellite radio receiver has its
own serial number called Radio ID. When you get your subscription, you will also
get an activation code for your receiver. Besides the actual radio programs,
satellite radio transmits metadata that contains the name of the artist, the
title of the song or program, as well as the name of the channel. This makes it
easier for you to decide which channel to listen to and which program to choose.

Satellite radio services provide the subscriber with more than 100 programs
that vary in content from rock and jazz to rap and classical music. But
satellite radio's utility reaches far beyond listening to your favorite music
without the interruption of those annoying commercials. Satellite radio also
offers exclusive sports programs, cultural and educational shows, news and
talk-shows. Some of the celebrities that have moved their shows from free radio
to satellite radio include Howard Stern, Opie and Anthony, Bob Edwards and
Martha Stewart. Unlike terrestrial radio, satellite radio is not affected by
bad weather or even calamities.

At first, many people wondered why they should pay for radio if they can get it
free. However, satellite radio attracts more and more people every year due to
its great advantages: no commercials, extensive reach, theme programs and
exceptional quality of sound.

The success of satellite radio

The entertainment industry is one of the most dynamic and attractive ones, and
satellite radio has recently captured a large share of it. Audio entertainment
products are highly popular today and there is a wide variety of choices when
it comes to having good music in your car: regular CD players, car CD players
with storage space or MP3 players. When it comes to radio however, there is an
even bigger divide -- you can listen to or go with one of the new satellite
radio offers. The popularity of satellite radio broadcasting has gone sky-high
in the past years mostly because it has some exciting benefits that commercial
FM/AM programming simply cannot offer. Analog radio stations are not able to
broadcast the full range of sounds available through digital satellite radio
and this has a noticeable impact on sound quality. Digital radio programs are
broadcast through a satellite -- this means that users don't have to switch
radio stations every time they get out of a certain geographical area, as the
signal is countrywide. Traditional to FM and AM broadcasts have different forms
of noise disturbances -- satellite radio eliminates this problem as the quality
is very close to that of the original tracks it is playing.

Technology and content

Because satellite radio uses such high tech instruments (satellites, small
portable receivers) many still perceive it as unapproachable and prefer to
stick with traditional radio. Most young people, however, can't wait to get
their hands on the latest in technological advancements, so satellite radio is
perfect for this age group. The price you had to pay for satellite radio one or
two years ago was a bit high for many who decide to enjoy traditional,
commercial radio stations instead, as they are free. Today however, for a
subscription of around $12 per month, you can receive dozens of excellent news,
sports and music radio channels. And the best thing is that they are commercial
free. In many ways, satellite radio became popular following the idea of
DirecTV's success -- the difference was made through superior broadcast
quality, excellent geographical coverage and content. This is in fact the main
issue satellite radio broadcasters and terrestrial radio stations are looking
at -- high quality content is actually the most flexible field where
subscribers or listeners can be won or lost. In order to get valuable radio
content, many satellite radio offers were made to popular media topics. MLB
broadcasts, for example, might be broadcast exclusively on satellite radio
stations. Although this is still an assumption, chances are that more and more
popular US topics will be exclusively available on different satellite radio
programs, whether they are from Sirius, XM Radio or from some new broadcasters
that will join the market.

It all comes down to what the consumer wants

And it's true -- it does come to that. Some laughed at the idea of paying for
radio -- for as long as we have known, radio programs were free. However, the
satellite radio industry only followed in the footsteps of cable TV -- although
all Americans can receive free programs with UHF and VHF antennas, over 80% are
willing to pay monthly subscription fees. With $9.95/month for XM and
$12.95/month for Sirius, accessibility to satellite radio broadcasts is high
and anyone can afford to subscribe. And the truth is that satellite radios have
proved, once again, that sometimes a consumer is ready to pay for something they
used to get for free as long as the commercials are eliminated. In many cases,
out of an hour of radio broadcasting, around 12-15 minutes are commercials --
people don't want such interruptions in their radio programs. Both Sirius and
XM Radio knew this when they launched their paid subscription services and they
were right, as each company has millions of subscribers today. The satellite
radio craze got even larger when it met the auto manufacturing industry --
today almost all major manufacturers offer satellite radio receivers as
standard or optional with each of their models.

The advantages of satellite radio

One of the great advantages of satellite radio is the fact that the programs
are not interrupted by commercials. This is because the provider's income comes
from listeners and not from advertisers. Satellite radio services offer around
70 programs of commercial fee music channels each and you have a great variety
of choices, from mainstream rock, hip-hop and dance music to folk music, opera,
blues and many more.

Another great thing about satellite radio is the absence of static. You can be
driving from the West Coast to the East Coast in the United States of America
and you will not get any static at all on the way. The satellite radio signal
is digital, which means that you will get crystal-clear sound wherever you go.

Satellite radio tuners receive, along with the actual radio programs, an influx
of metadata that consists of information regarding song title, artist, radio
program and radio channel. This means that your satellite radio receiver will
display all the necessary information about what you are listening to. For
instance, if you hear a great song and you want to know which artist sings it,
you just look at the receiver's display.

All satellite radio programs are uncensored. This is one of the reasons why
artists like Howard Stern chose to move their shows on satellite radio. You can
also listen to your favorite hip-hop songs without the interruption of those
annoying 'beep' sounds.

Satellite radio programs also offer information about local traffic and weather
conditions. The information is very detailed especially for those who live in
big cities. If there is a major national calamity and other terrestrial radio
stations will not work, you can always count on getting accurate information
from satellite radio program. You can also listen to satellite radio online on
your computer.

If you still are not convinced on why you should pay money for something that
you can get for free, think about how much time you have wasted listening to
commercials and all kinds of other boring stuff on terrestrial radio programs.
Traditional radio is not free, despite the popular belief. It is time-consuming
and irritating because you have to listen to five minutes or more of commercials
so that you can finally hear a song you like. The satellite radio subscriptions
are very affordable and, for around 13 dollars per month, you get exactly the
programs you want, which you can listen to wherever you are, at the best sound
quality.

Satellite radio is great for you especially if you travel a lot. If you are
traveling across the United States of America, for example, you can listen to
the channel or channels you want during your whole trip, without losing signal
or getting static. If you have a traditional radio, you will have to keep
changing channels every hundred miles, but if you are using satellite radio you
do not have to do that because the geographically availability of programs is
not a problem. Satellite radio subscribers will soon get the chance to watch
video programs as well. Both Sirius and XM services have announced their
intention of introducing in the near future a variety of video satellite
channels that will have some of the great advantages that are currently
available to satellite radio: commercial free programs, great quality of sound
and vast geographical availability.

How does satellite radio work?

Satellite radio is one of the biggest improvements in broadcasting since the
introduction of FM. Satellite radio signal can be broadcasted for more than
35,000 kilometers (22,000 miles) with complete clarity and high quality sound.
You will never get static interferences while listening to over 100 radio
channels. The idea behind satellite radio has appeared in 1992, when the United
States Federal Communications Commission granted a spectrum of the S band (the
2.3 GHz frequency) for Digital Audio Radio Service. The license to broadcast in
that band was allocated to Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio in
1997. Now there are three companies that provide satellite radio in the world:
Sirius and XM in Northern America and WorldSpace in Asia, Europe and Africa.

Each of these companies offer different broadcasting systems, since the radio
signal of each is proprietary. This means that you will have to buy different
hardware depending on your subscription to one of these companies. However,
there are three components common to all satellite radio services: the
satellites, the ground repeaters and the radio receivers. Different satellite
radio companies broadcast the radio signal in different ways. For instance, XM
satellite radio uses geostationary satellites which have orbits that are
synchronized with the movement of Earth. These satellites are located above the
equator. In order to allow subscribers to receive crystal-clear signal despite
obstacles such as buildings, hills or bridges, XM satellite radio service has
installed a network of repeaters antennas that receive the radio signal from
the satellites and retransmit it to the subscriber's receiver Sirius, on the
other hand, uses satellites that have unique elliptical orbits around Earth.
These kinds of orbits allow satellites to get higher in the sky than
geostationary satellites and this prevents loss of signal. This is the reason
why Sirius has fewer terrestrial repeaters than XM.

Satellite radio services have digital broadcast centers where a huge amount of
music in digital format as well as CD format is stored. Radio programmers have
the task of selecting which song has to be played at which time. There are also
a lot of studios managed by digital radio companies where artists perform live.
All songs and material are transmitted to the satellites in digital format so
that the signal contains very high quality sound. The signal is encoded by the
satellite and then retransmitted to the repeaters antennas, which then transmit
it to the radio receiver which decodes it and plays the sound. The entire
process is very quick and reliable. Satellite radio would not be possible
without digital compression. Digital compression is a technique that uses
sophisticated algorithms to compress as much material as possible on the
available bandwidth. Once you make a subscription to a satellite radio provider
you will need the appropriate radio equipment. Traditional radios cannot decode
the signal received from satellites so you will need special equipment.

The popularity of satellite radio has exploded due to many technological
advancements that enabled manufacturers to offer the receivers at very
attractive prices. The fact that satellite radio is commercial free for many of
its channels is also a major selling point.

Satellite radio quality and content

There are two important characteristics that recommend satellite radio as a
service most people would like to have in their vehicles or homes: quality and
content. When talking about quality we mostly refer to how clear the sound
output is from satellite radio when compare to terrestrial radio broadcasts.
Content, on the other hand, refers to the quality of the transited material.
This is where the two giants in the satellite radio industry -- Sirius and XM
Radio -- battle it out. The quality of the receivers and the technologies they
both use are similar, but the difference can be made when it comes to exclusive
high quality content. Let's have a look at both the satellite radio quality and
content characteristics:

Broadcasting quality

The broadcast quality is, when put in numbers, of 128kb/s 44.1khz for both
digital radio service providers. This is the equivalent of CD quality. Although
the coverage of satellite radio, which is far superior to what any terrestrial
radio station can deliver, is an important factor, the quality of the sound is
what brought Sirius and XM Radio more subscribers. There are many similarities
to the way digital television worked or how cable TV has over 80% of the US
population as subscribers, although they can receive free programming using UHF
and VHF antennas. It's the same with satellite radio -- although one can get
free terrestrial radio, satellite radio comes at an affordable price and offer
a broadcasting quality that is superior to analog radio. Also keep in mind that
satellite radio is commercial free -- and this is huge selling point.

The high analog-to-digital conversion quality means that there will be no sound
interferences, hissing sounds and other audio disturbances characteristic to FM
and AM transmissions. This is mostly obvious when listening to music on your
satellite radio system. The bass is much stronger and accurate, while the high
sound levels are crystal clear. There is also a stronger mid range of sounds
that you will consider to be more robust and accurate than what terrestrial
radio produces. Although someone with a trained ear will tell you the music
quality is not exactly as good as CD quality, it is extremely close and for the
largest majority of users this difference is not even noticeable.

Content

So now that we know how good the technological side of satellite radio really
is, let's have a look at how broadcasters are trying to improve the quality of
the content they provide. One of the most interesting approaches was to fight
for obtaining exclusivity over some transmissions. For example, negotiations
have been carried out between XM Radio and MLB in order for the satellite radio
provider to obtain exclusivity rights to broadcast all MLB games. In an
interview to WSJ, Edison Media Research's President Larry Rosin declared that
"it is probably inevitable that baseball radio broadcasts will go to a 100%
subscription model... It will happen because there's too much money in it not
to do it." Today, around 23% of XM subscribers are signed up to receive the MLB
transmissions, so there is real potential in such a venture. Of course, this
would be a terrific blow against terrestrial radio and the two sides are
engaged in combat while you are reading this. Of course, content quality can
also be increased by having the best people in the industry work with satellite
radio. Both Sirius and XM Radio know that someone who pays $300 for a receiver
and $10 -- $12 each month for a radio service wants to get the best content out
there. Surprisingly, when it comes to music channels, the difference in content
quality between satellite radio and terrestrial radio is made in one main topic
-- commercials (or rather, lack of commercials on satellite radio). Since most
of XM Radio and Sirius channels are in-house productions and only a small
percentage are retransmits of terrestrial radio, this becomes an interesting
aspect to consider.

Satellite radio Q&A

Q: Overview of satellite radio

A: Satellite radio means pay-radio or it may also be called a subscription
radio. It is a little bit like the traditional one, but it has more programs
than it. It's available in Africa, Asia and Europe due to the services provided
by WorldSpace and in North America by Sirius and XM Radio.

Q: What are the advantages of this new radio?

A: You'll have a wide variety of programs that includes music channels (rock,
modern rock, alternative, classical, pop, hip-hop, country, jazz, electronic,
Christian, Latin), weather, news, traffic, sports and entertainment channels,
no commercials included. All musical channels are commercial free.

This radio has a clean, digital signal and it has almost the quality of a CD.
It has no static and no interference.

You can get satellite radio not only in your car, but anywhere you like: in
your house, in an Rv or boat so that you can enjoy the programming variety that
this radio is offering whether you are relaxing in your sofa, if you are in a
vacation or if you are in your car on a business travel. The only thing you
must do is to properly install the equipment that you need.

Purchasing the equipment, you will also have information which will be
displayed on the radio receiver about channels, music, songs and artists.

Q: What about disadvantages?

A: Unfortunately, Alaska, Hawaii and U.S. Territories can't receive the
satellite radio's signals. There are no local stations, but you will have local
traffic and weather channels provided by XM and Sirius.

Q: What does provide XM and Sirius radio?

A: There a few differences between them. For example, the XM provides more that
150 channels and the other one more than 120 channels. The first has two Nascar
racing channels, Major League Baseball, PGA TOUR coverage, plus ACC, Big Ten,
and Pac-10 football and basketball coverage and the Sirius has Live NFL, NHL,
and NBA play-by-play, plus English Premier League soccer and college sports
game. But they have the same price $12.95/Month

Q: How do I install satellite radio?

A: There are a few things that are necessary to get satellite radio.

First you need a satellite radio antenna that picks up the signal from
communicational satellites and then delivering it to you.

Then you need a satellite radio tuner that passes the signal from the radio
antenna to the receiver. There are three basic types of radio turners. There
are the Plug-and-play satellite radio tuners that can be used in the car or at
home or with a portable boombox wherever you have satellite signal and they
only need one subscription. There are three types of Satellite radio tuners for
the car: universal tuners, "Satellite radio-ready" in-dash receivers and in-dash
receivers with a built-in satellite radio tuner. The last basic type is the Home
satellite radio tuners perfect for using them in-door.

The third item is a satellite radio receiver which helps you to select channels
and categories, to view various songs or artists information.

Last but not least is a subscription to XM or Sirius radio that must be
acquired in order to receive programming.

If you want to have the best quality sound in your car you can choose between
these three options:

1. in-dash receiver with a built-in satellite radio tuner

2. "satellite radio-ready" receiver connected to an external satellite radio
   tuner

3. Plug-and-play satellite radio tuner connected to your car stereo's auxiliary
   input.

The technology behind satellite radio

Any song you hear on satellite radio stars as a recording in a specific format
on different recording mediums. IN most cases, the recording quality has to be
maintained fairly high, usually around 384kb/s, while also being reasonably
small enough to be transported on CDs and DVDs. The music tracks used in
satellite radio are cataloged using a similar system to the MP3 cataloging
criteria, the ID3 tags. The choice for the music tracks that will be played is
made by each channel individually. The DJ selecting the tracks usually chooses
about 20-30 minutes worth of music. The DJ has to listen to the tracks to make
sure they are in proper condition and then simply lets the computer decode the
original file. The same thing is repeated once the initial 20-30 minutes are
exhausted and the music playing cycle repeats itself.

Sound encoding in satellite radio

Encoding is one of the key elements of digital radio. Each channel is handled
by a different encoder. The encoder basically takes the analog file and turns
it into a digital one. The digitalization process is made in real time and the
music files are transformed into 1's and 0's. This process is carried out by
powerful computers that analyze sound waves and frequency and break them into
binary code. The encoding process is carried out at 128kb/s, 44.1Kh which is
actually CD quality. After the song is encoded, it is transmitted to a
multiplexer where other channels are also present -- the multiplexer basically
takes all the channels of the satellite radio provider and combines them into a
single broadcast transmission. The data is then sent to a satellite modem device
which modulates the data and sends it to the broadcaster's satellites, using
unique transmission frequencies.

What happens above the Earth

Here is where the satellites are located. They receive the transmission and
transmit it to the receivers we have in our homes and cars. The satellites are
located at 23,000 miles above us -- both Sirius and XM Radio use satellites
located at this distance from the Earth. The satellites are located in
geo-sync, which means that hey orbit above the location they are designated to
service at all times. When the satellite receives the transmission encoded at
128kb/s, 44.1 khz it rebroadcasts it to the geographical area it covers. Both
Sirius and XM Radio use satellites that cover certain areas of the United
states -- mostly the East and West coasts. For example, one of XM Radio's
satellites covers the western part of USA, probably an area located roughly
from Seattle to San Diego on the West and Minneapolis to Houston on the east.
The increased sound quality is possible because the broadcasted data (music
tracks, news, sports transmission) don't get sliced up too many times in the
decoding process.

The antenna

The antenna connected to your satellite radio receiver picks up the
transmission on L-Band. The recent technological advances have allowed digital
radio broadcasters to create receivers small enough to fit mobile locations. In
the early days of satellite radio, a large parabolic dish would have to be
mounted on the car in order to receive signal. Also, before the more compact
receivers were created, the early satellite radio receivers needed electronic
movements that directed the dish towards the satellite line of sight. Modern
flat panel receivers have eliminated all the problems of their predecessors and
can be fitted almost anywhere without taking up too much space.

The receiver and the output

The receiver is the device that decodes the data, basically doing the exact
opposite of what the encoding process was like. After receiving the signal from
the antenna it amplifies it and converts it to usable sound. The car or home
audio system is then able to play the selected satellite radio channel. The
rest of the process is exactly like analog broadcasts would work, with an
amplifier and speakers outputting the sound.

Satellite radio costs

Everybody has heard about satellites. But how many people heard about satellite
radios? Satellite radio is a subscription radio service. It's somehow identical
to cable television, with the difference that it provides a wider range of
stations not available on a standard AM / FM radio. There are many questions to
be answered about satellite radios like "How does satellite radios work?", "What
kind of equipment should I purchase?" etc. but in this article I will try to
answer a question that first pops up in everybody's mind: "HOW MUCH DOES
SATELLITE RADIO COST"? This is a tricky question because the cost of a
satellite radio is divided in two: installation (or activation) costs and the
monthly subscription fee.

Activation costs

Activation costs refers to the amount of money that are to be spent on a XM or
Sirius Satellite Radio to start the service. Although you can find many
promotions that allows you to save up money, the activation costs vary, being
able to make the activation by phone or by World Wide Web. To be more precise,
if you activate your satellite by phone, you will pay $15.00 if you choose
Sirius Satellite or $14.99 by choosing XM and, as for WWW activation, the cost
of goods is somehow lower: $5 with Sirius or $9.99 with XM. As for the monthly
subscription costs we will discuss this below, but, before that, I must say
that recent media campaigns are dramatically dropping the prices for
installation and activation, both on Sirius or XM, in some cases even offering
free activation.

Typical costs for a car dedicated installation

If you want to install a satellite radio into your car you are to consider
buying a new satellite-ready car stereo if you don't have one. Although many
local dealers offer built-in car satellite radio, there is still the problem of
having a satellite radio receiver. And these, as you may notice, cost money. It
is possible though to use the existing car stereo that does not support
satellite radio. How? There are two known ways of connecting the receiver to
the available non-satellite radio car stereo. First, by using the radio inputs
(usually the CD) and installing a control unit for tuning up the satellite
radio streams. The second method consists in installing a satellite radio
receiver, which broadcasts the satellite radio signal on a FM frequency. The
place where you can install the receiver depends: under the seat, in your
trunk, etc. taking care of connecting the receiver to the satellite radio
antenna mounted on the car's exterior. So, there will be a minimum cost of
$350.00 and a maximum of $600, like below:

Receiver $75 -- $125

Radio $125 -- $250

Antenna -- $60.00

Labor -- $80.00

Activation -- $10

Costs for a dedicated home installation

If you choose this option, that means you will have to install a dedicated
stereo receiver unit, which in some cases is similar to regular AM / FM
receivers. As an additional cost, you will have to buy an antenna, which can be
found at a price of $60. Here is a short review of the approximate price of
installing a dedicated stereo receiver unit:

Receiver $150 -- $300

Antenna $60

Activation $10

Costs for a Portable Unit

Portable units gives you the ease of using you brand new satellite radio
wherever you want, but, in every room you will have to own a home kit
(antennas, output cables and power supplies). The price for this option is
around $400.

Receiver $120

Home kit $140

Boombox x2 $100

Activation $10

Subscription costs

As for the subscription costs, it depends if you own a Sirius or XM Satellite
Radio. Subscription costs for a Sirius Satellite Radio are paid monthly where
the charge is $12.95, with a low adjustment is you subscribe to a year or two.
The highest number of Sirius radios that can be activated are three for $6.99
each per month. Business subscriptions are $24.99 per month. Another
interesting thing is that for $499.99, Sirius is offering a life time
subscription.

On the other hand, if you have a XM Satellite Radio, you will have to pay a
monthly charge of $9.99. Still, some channels are to be paid separately, like
Playboy Radio, which costs an additional $2.99 per month. Commercial and
Business Subscriptions cost $24.99 per month.

Online streaming and the changes in the way satellite radio works

The recent development of satellite radio received a lot of newspaper and web
page space, as well as plenty of attention from traditional media channels.
There are a few things that are changing rapidly in satellite radio, changes
that may or may not affect the future of the XM and Sirius Satellite Radio
companies, as well as the consumers. A few major steps towards the dynamic
development of satellite radio have given consumers and financial analysts
different perspectives from which to analyze this phenomenon. With the MLB
moving away from terrestrial radio and heading for digital radio transmissions,
with a Playboy Satellite Radio channel that has over a million subscribers and
several other impressive developments, we can say that satellite radio is on an
ascending path. An abrupt one, filled with shock news and unexpected
developments, but ascending nevertheless. An interesting idea is the one that
XM and Sirius are working on a single receiver unit that can receive broadcasts
from both major satellite radio broadcasters. Another event that rocked the
satellite radio world was Howard Stern's online streaming on Sirius. His
appearance on the Sirius Satellite Radio gave a new light on the Sirius
company, as one that offers more than radios and broadcasting means -- as one
that offers genuine content.

Terrestrial versus satellite

One of the problems XM and Sirius have had is with making the satellite
receiver something desirable, cheap and effective. In the beginning the
satellite receivers were large and expensive, and performed poorly on moving
vehicles. Of course, the modern satellite receivers are much better, very small
and compact and offer excellent reception in any area. The digital quality of
the satellite radio has some amazing benefits on its own since there are no
noise disturbances that were traditional to FM and AM broadcasts. Both XM Radio
and Sirius Radio can be picked up on all the US territory and they are also
available in some parts of Canada and Mexico. Since the direct line of sight
from the satellite to the receiver may often become obstructed by landscape or
buildings, land based devices were installed in order to eliminate the lack of
direct satellite transmission The broad range of broadcast and the superior
sound quality have taken satellite radio high in the preferences of the
consumers. On the other hand, terrestrial radio has some strong points of its
own. To begin with, it's free and readily accessible to anyone. Also,
terrestrial radio is so common, widespread and easy to use that anyone can
enjoy it and most people don't find it hard to actually create their radio
stations. Many people are reluctant to move on to satellite radio, which is
more complex and complicated.

The end consumer -- the real winner

In this battle of the radios, the end consumer is the one that gets the most
benefits. And since the competition got even more fierce when satellite radio
started taking away subscribers of regular radio, things have gone one step
further. Also, the competition between XM Radio and Sirius is in the benefit of
the subscribers. An interesting aspect of the competition between the two
satellite industry giants was realized by Interoperable Technologies -- a joint
effort funded by both Sirius and XM Radio, with the intention of bringing
dual-subscription satellite radios to the general market. Analysts expect to
see even more development in this direction, with XM Radio and Sirius entangled
in a strange relationship, where they are working together on one project and
battling it out on the satellite radio broadcasters market. In order to
understand the way online streaming develops and the changes in the way
satellite radios work we have to keep an eye open to the industry giants but
also to the companies looking to obtain a license from the FCC. One thing is
certain, however -- no matter if satellite radio or terrestrial radio come up
with new ways of attracting customers, the end users are the ones who will
always come on top.

Delphi XM Roady Radio

The Delphi XM Roady Radio Receiver is the smallest radio receiver available on
the market. It's the next generation of radio, not only for being America's
most popular satellite radio service but for its power of choice, giving the
listener the pleasure of choosing what kind of songs he wants to hear --
wherever, whenever he wants. In short terms, you can listen to more than 170
digital channels, live concerts, daily news, live commentary on sports, etc.
Plus, listening to music on your radio without any commercial is like a dream
come true. The receiver is somehow smaller than SkiFi XM Receiver but it has a
sharper look. Being able to use it with no major problems. The interface is
user-friendly and the installation of additional accessories lie the Roady FM
Modulator or the power adaptor is very easy. As for the price, where you can
use it and on which system, you can take a look below:

Price: $119.95

Use: Car or Home

System: XM Satellite Radio

The features of the Delphi XM Roady Radio are plenty:

- plug and play: you can easily connect to your home kits, car or audio
  systems, whenever you want

- you can search for channel, presets or category

- seven color displays

- smallest radio available on the market, together with the smallest antenna

- optional home audio

- the possibility of saving a total of 15 songs information

When buying a full kit, you will find in the box the following: receiver,
micro-antenna, three faceplates, cigarette lighter power adaptor, cassette
adaptor, universal mounting bracket and manual. It is told that the Delphi XM
Roady is the direct competitor of Terk XM Commander, being slightly less
expensive if you buy the Commander without the FM Modulator. As for the
receiver, well.. how small can it be? It is very small. Like I said, it is the
smallest receiver you can find out there to buy. The colors are quite
brilliant, so that we could spoil our looks by watching red, green, sky blue,
orange, night blue, purple and pink. If you're really a fashion maniac, you can
combine the colors with the three colored faceplates for a dazzling look. A very
nice option on the Delphi XM Radio is the TuneSelect, where you can save a total
of 15 songs, with detailed information upon them.

As for accessories, you can buy an additional home kit (base, antenna, power
adaptor, mini-stereo to RCA output cable), Power / FM Modulator (rebroadcasting
on the following frequencies: 88.1, 88.3, 88.5, 88.7, 107.1, 107.3, 107.5,
107.7, being available on the market since December 2003), FM Modulator (which
can be found at a price of $49.99) or Mini Stereo to dual RCA Cable (with that
you can connect your Delphi XM Roady to your stereo CD, in case that you don't
have a CD player). As a conclusion, I can say that the Delphi XM Radio Receiver
is a pretty good gadget to buy, the reviews being generally positive. That
doesn't mean you can't buy something that won't work as you would expect, but,
if you choose the right place to buy (where customer service is a really
important thing to notice), you would be very pleased of the acquisition.
Overall, for its price it is an extraordinary unit.

The basics of Satellite Radio

Broadcasting digital radio via satellite is not something new and concepts of
doings this have been with us for a few years. From the early days of satellite
radio, companies like Dish Network have offered digital audio channels as part
of their programs. The breakthrough in popularity of satellite radio, however,
happened just recently, when the technology became more permissive. Satellite
radio was very rare on moving locations, such as boats or cars, mostly because
there was the need for some expensive equipment -- a tracking dish. This was a
strong deterrent which kept satellite radio quite unknown by the general
public. Today, however, one can receive digital audio satellite broadcasts by
using a small, GPS-like antenna. This greatly increased the feasibility of the
satellite radio systems and more and more vehicle owners began considering
satellite radios as a good source of music and news.

The birth of satellite radio in the United States

When the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) allocated a spectrum in
the "S" band (2.3 GHz) for the broadcasting of digital radio services in 1992
no one thought the amplitude that the system would take in the future. From the
initial Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS) things progressed until two companies
were given licenses to broadcast digital radio in 1997. These two were American
Mobile Radio (today known as XM Satellite Radio) and CD Radio (presently called
Sirius Satellite Radio). The fact that satellite radio is nationwide makes it a
very attractive media channel, both for commercial and non-profit
organizations. The two companies that initiated the development of satellite
radio saw the huge potential it had, since it wasn't confined by the
limitations of other terrestrial broadcasters.

Benefits of using satellite radio

Here are some of the most noteworthy benefits of having a satellite radio
system:

* No more geographical limitations -- since the radio program is broadcast
through a satellite you don't have to switch radio stations every time you
leave a certain coverage area.

* The digital quality of the satellite radio has some amazing benefits on its
own. There are no noise disturbances that were traditional to FM and AM
broadcasts. The transmission is crystal clear and satellite radio receives some
valuable points when broadcasting quality is concerned.

* Analog radio stations simply cannot broadcast the full range of sounds
available through digital satellite radio.

* Both XM Radio and Sirius Radio can be picked up on all the US territory and
they are also available in some parts of Canada and Mexico.

Satellite radio technology

Each of the major satellite radio services uses its own equipment to broadcast
the signal to their clients. The competition is tight and customers have to
"pick sides" in order to benefit from satellite radio broadcasting. You have to
choose your preferred company and purchase adequate receivers for that
particular company. Both XM Radio and Sirius Radio provide their clients with
different ways of receiving their services. The field where most competition
takes place is in the negotiation with the major automobile manufacturers. Both
XM Radio and Sirius Radio have deals with the auto industry giants in order to
offer their services and equipment as optional on the car models they produce.
Other partnerships were created with audio equipment manufacturers, who now
offer satellite radio transceivers and matching headsets. The most recent shock
in the satellite radio universe was caused by the production of portable MP3
player-like satellite radio receivers.

The future development of satellite radio

One of the main problems of satellite radio was addressed by the main satellite
radio broadcasters. Since you need to be in the line of sight of the satellite
to receive the transmission, different problems appeared with mobile satellite
radio receivers, especially when different landscaping objects blocked the
direct transmission. To solve this, land based devices were installed in order
to eliminate the lack of direct satellite transmission. Another interesting
aspect related to satellite radios is that they approached their service offers
from a different perspective than traditional radio broadcasters. Instead of
airing commercials they charge a subscription fee. For many people, this is
actually the best alternative, since they get an almost 100% content broadcast
(whether it's music or talk shows) without the 10-12 minutes per hour of
annoying commercials. In most cases, the monthly subscription for satellite
radio is of around $12.

The development of digital multimedia broadcasting

Satellite radio systems are actually part of a larger group of broadcasting
mediums, which specialists refer to as Digital Multimedia Broadcasting or DMB.
This digital transmission system is used in order to send data to different
receivers such as radios, television sets or mobile phones and PDAs. There are
two different ways of using digital multimedia broadcasting -- S-DMB which is
broadcasting via a satellite or T-DMB which uses terrestrial emitters. The
complexity of the entire digital multimedia broadcasting field is huge. Out of
all the features and characteristics digital broadcasting offers, satellite
radio is probably the most spectacular as it generated immense interest and
triggered an intense competition between the two main satellite radio
broadcasters, Sirius and XM Radio. The development of satellite radio and other
forms of digital broadcasting is spectacular because it offers two main
qualities that terrestrial emitters are deficient in: quality and coverage. In
the case of satellite radio, for example, the sound quality from a satellite
broadcast is much higher than AM or FM broadcasts, as the hissing noises and
transmission disturbances are eliminated.

Technical features of digital multimedia broadcasting -- overview

Whether it refers to television, satellite radio or cell phone transmissions,
digital multimedia broadcasting is based on the Eureka 147 DAB standard.
Digital television uses the T-DMB which is made for transmissions on frequency
bands III (VHF) and L (SHF). T-DMB is an ETSI standard (TS 102 427 and TS 102
428).

T-DMB uses MPEG-4 Part 10 (H264) for the video and MPEG-4 Part 3 BSAC or HE-AAC
V2 for the audio. When it comes to satellite radio, there were a few issues to
be resolved by the main satellite radio broadcasters. The satellite radio
receiver needs to be in the line of sight of the satellite to receive the
transmission -- and there is the problem of having different landscaping
objects block the direct transmission. Land based devices were installed in
order to eliminate the lack of direct satellite transmission. Since the wider
spectrum of broadcasts has to be covered, digital multimedia broadcasting uses
OFDM-4DPSK modulation and a chip of T-DMB receiver is also provided by MPEG-2
Transport Stream De-multiplexer. This helps reduce the negative effects of
shadowing and fading, present in many digital transmissions.

The future of digital multimedia broadcasting

The transfer from the analog world to the digital one is obvious in all fields
of work. Since digital multimedia broadcasting is developing so quickly, there
is a silent battle going on between the new age digital technology and the
classic analog one. OF course, many compare the transition from the analog to
the completely digital era with the way audio cassettes were replaced by CDs
and later on even DVDs. However, the development of digital multimedia
broadcasting is slower since it happens on so many levels at the same time.
Digital television is taking us into new spaces that are basically hybrids of
the features of regular TV and characteristics of the Internet. Satellite radio
is also taking huge leaps forward, with more and more programs having satellite
radio exclusivity. There are even discussion of moving events like the MLB
exclusively on satellite radio, which would provide one of the first deadly
strikes against terrestrial radio broadcasting. Digital data transmission is
fast and accurate, and so far reality proves that the satellites used in order
to facilitate broadcasting and reliable. Most digital multimedia broadcasting
companies that own satellites also have backup ones ready to go in orbit and
replace a defective one. Some other benefits of digital multimedia broadcasting
recommend it as a next step in the development of broadcasting. From the
consumer's point of view, the quality and interactivity options of digital TV
or satellite radio broadcasts are important features. Although most digital
multimedia broadcasting channels and technologies are still complex and
sometimes expensive, the evolution of digital broadcasting seems to be here to
stay.

Features of the XM Radio

XM Radio provides over 150 programs that include music, sports and
entertainment, traffic and weather channels.

The music area has the largest number of channels. Here are 68 music channels
that you can enjoy and where you can listen to your favorite music whether is
from the 60s, the 90s or it's the new released music. There are music-by-the-
decade channels that include the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s songs which 
are mostly pop/rock outlets, the Top 20 channel, Love Songs, Movie Soundtracks, 
Show Tunes, MTV, VH1, and a Global hits channel. For those you prefer new music 
there is the Unsigned channel and the XMU channel. The last one can be compared 
to a college station. If you are a jazz fan, XM offers you live music from the 
Blue Note club and the B.B. King Club in New York City.

There are entertainment shows on XM radio hosted by Tom Perry, Snoop Dog or
Quincy Jones. Comedy shows may be found on the High Voltage channel where shock
jocks Opie and Anthony do their job now uncensored. In totally, XM has three
comedy channels including a family comedy channel. Beside these, there are more
radio channels like Playboy Radio and Public Radio hosted by Bob Edwards which
includes a line of NPR shows that you can enjoy whenever you like.

If you are a sports fanatic you can choose from a good variety of channel
dedicated to sports that are provided by XM radio. This includes college
football and basketball, NASCAR and Major League Baseball. You can easily
listen to the Bowl Championship Series to find out which team is going to the
next level, the NCAA Division I football champion.

With a subscription from XM, you will have 38 channels of sports, news and talk
channels. For example, ABC News & Talk, BBC World Service, CNBC, Court TV,
C-Span, CNN, CNN Headline News, Discovery Channel, E Entertainment, two ESPN
channels, Fox News, NASCAR Racing are a few talk station to which you can
listen. Local weather and traffic channels are provided too and in totally,
they are 22 channels.

Sound clearance depends on the subscription you have. If you have satellite
radio from XM, the sound has more quality than the one from Sirius, but still
you can't say that is the same as a CD. You can say that the sound is somewhere
between the sound of a CD and AM radio. Hopefully, in the years that will come,
the sound quality will improve.

As this technology appeared so did a new line of hardware that can match
people's desires. And XM has new things to offer like the Delphi XM MyFi which
is a small receiver, actually the smallest in the world that can include up to
five yours of XM content to which you can listen anywhere you like. Another is
the Delphi SkyFi2 which has a TiVo-like 30-Minute Replay feature so, you can
rewind, push the pause button or just play it forward to hear music, news or
anything else you stored on the it. This equipments are also produced by Sony,
Alpine, Pioneer and of course others.




XM Radio Information

XM Satellite Radio Inc. is one of the major players in the satellite radio
industry, with over 2 million subscribers and spreading all over the American
territory. XM Satellite Radio Inc. deliver over 120 channels of radio to an
ever expanding customer number. Here are some of the characteristics of XM
Radio:

Corporate headquarters: Washington, D.C.

Date of launch: November 12, 2001

Satellites in service: 3

Available satellite radio channels: 150

Monthly subscription cost: $12.95

XM Satellite Radio Inc. is the owner of one of the 2 FCC approved licenses for
delivering digital radio in the United States. Since it only shares the field
of Satellite Digital Audio Radio Services (SDARS) with Sirius Radio, XM
Satellite Radio Inc. has plenty of room to develop and expand. 2001 was the
year when XM Satellite Radio Inc. began broadcasting -- progress was slow at
first, but soon after satellite radio began skyrocketing as a social and
economical phenomenon. Since it was the first national digital satellite radio
service provider, XM Satellite Radio Inc. captured an important share of the
market and started offering music programs and other types of shows and
channels like talk shows, sports, comedy, science and news. XM Satellite Radio
Inc. owns the most impressive digital radio equipment and facilities, boasting
over 82 end to end broadcasting studios. The digital radio used by XM Satellite
Radio Inc. is encoded using the complex CT-aacPlus technology which is broadcast
in 128kb/sec format -- very close to CD quality. The signal produced by using
this technology makes the transmission much clearer and more accurate than any
analog radio provider could ever offer. There are no noise disturbances that
were often present with FM and AM broadcasts and the transmission is crystal
clear. The fact that the signal is received in digital form solves many noise
disturbance problems and the output is close in fidelity to the original track.

The XM Satellite Radio Rock and Roll satellites

XM Satellite Radio uses two of the most potent commercial satellites, which are
constantly orbiting the Earth at a height of 22 300 miles. The two Boeing HS-702
satellites have some inspired names -- "Rock" and "Roll". The first of the two
satellites, Rock, was launched in orbit on March 18, 2001 and is currently
positioned at 85 degrees West Longitude. It services the western half of the
United States and complements the range and area of coverage of its younger
"brother" -- Roll. Roll was launched on May 8, 2001 and it currently positioned
at 115 degrees West Longitude, and it services the eastern part of the United
States. The combined coverage of the two satellites spreads beyond US borders
and reaches areas like Canada or Mexico. This is an interesting feature of
satellite radio, as it further points out the benefit of not having to switch
radio stations during long trips or while moving over the border. For emergency
purposes, the company has third redundant HS-702 satellite on the ground, ready
to replace Rock or Roll if any of them fails. Both satellites use different
transmission frequencies which prevents interference.

Using the XM radio transmission

The powerful broadcast signal used in satellite radio means that you only need
a small receiver in order to be able to listen to digital radio. These small
omni-directional antennas are similar to GPS devices and do not require
mechanical pointing in order to receive the signal. Some of the new features of
satellite radio refer to the extended broadcast information abilities. XM offers
information about the broadcast type, and includes the song title, artist, and
genre of music. As a recent improvement, XM radio also started broadcasting
weather related news and traffic statuses on their programs. In order to use
the XM Radio programming you need a XM Radio receiver, an antenna and a
subscription to the XM services. Different music equipment producers have
teamed up with XM Radio in order to allow adding XM broadcasting to their
already existing devices. Some vehicle manufacturers are also offering XM Radio
as a factory installed option.

The development of Satellite radio in the United States

The satellite radio industry is dominated by two major players -- Sirius
Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio. Both companies charge a monthly fee for
their services, but service payment plans often change to attract more
customers. For example, starting in 2005 Sirius offers a $500 fee that is valid
for the lifetime of the equipment. Sirius offers 65 music channels, without any
commercials and traffic and weather reports for most of the major US cities. On
the other hand, some of XM Radio's channels did contain some commercials, but in
much smaller quantities than those found on terrestrial radio channels. Today,
XM has 67 commercial-free music channels, 21 channels with detailed traffic and
weather information, 39 channels of news, entertainment and sports and an
amazing number of 23 play-by-play sports channels. XM Satellite Radio Inc. owns
the most impressive digital radio equipment and facilities, boasting over 82 end
to end broadcasting studios. Sirius Satellite Radio is located in the heart of
New York City with a huge recording studio. Sirius Satellite Radio has an
impressive library of over 2 million music tracks.

Sirius Satellite Radio

Sirius Satellite Radio is one of the two main providers of digital radio
broadcasting in the United States and it shares this important market with XM
Radio. While you would think that XM and Sirius are 100% rivals, you will be
surprised to find out that both companies are working together on a joint
program in order to develop a receiver for both of their broadcast frequencies.
Sirius uses three geosynchronous satellites that pass over the United States
territory at regular time intervals and transmit the data alternatively. The
Sirius satellite network is also located in a position that offers better line
of sight -- this means that transmission interruptions caused by trees,
mountains or any other landscape form are less likely to happen. Sirius
announced that the number of subscribers to their services goes beyond the 4
million count

XM Satellite Radio Inc

XM Satellite Radio Inc. began broadcasting in 2001 and has seen a continuous
development ever since. The digital radio used by XM Satellite Radio Inc. is
encoded using the CT-aacPlus technology which is broadcast in a 128kb/sec
format that is high in fidelity and is similar to CD quality. XM Satellite
Radio Inc uses two Boeing HS-702 satellites which are constantly orbiting the
Earth at a height of 22 300 miles. IN order to minimize transmission ad
reception loss, XM Satellite Radio installed terrestrial transmitters in most
major cities in places where loss of signal is more likely to take place
(tunnels, high building areas). XM radio claims to have an impressive number of
over 6 million subscribers.

Working with the automobile industry

Both satellite radio providers saw a huge market in the car industry, so they
began negotiating with al major car manufacturers to convince them to offer
their services and equipment as standard or optional on the vehicles they
produce. Some of the auto manufacturers that have either XM or Sirius satellite
radio installed from the factory are: BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, Chrysler, Dodge,
Mercedes-Benz, Jeep, Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Volvo, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mazda
,GM, Cadillac, Buick, GMC, Vauxhall, Saab, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan,
Infiniti, Porsche, Lexus, Scion and Audi -- to name just a few. Sirius has
managed to get exclusivity from major car manufacturers such as Audi or VW2007
through 2012. IT was a major success for Sirius as Audi and VW previously also
offered XM radio services and equipment on their vehicles. After conquering the
vehicle industry both manufacturers tried to move the success of satellite radio
into the homes of consumers by creating some trendy portable satellite radio
receivers. XM satellite radio created the XM2 line of "walkman-like"
receivers and Sirius developed a variety of portable devices, such as the
Kenwood Portable Satellite Radio Tuner, Here2Anywhere and the Sirius S50. More
attempts are being made for introducing satellite radio in the homes of
conservative media consumers.

Playboy Satellite Radio

As we can see, satellite radio is no longer a field reserved for a very small
group -- anyone with enough interest and financial power can participate in the
digital radio revolution. Playboy Satellite Radio is one of the newest and most
dynamic radio channels you can access on satellite broadcasting. Since it was
launched in March of 2006, the Playboy Satellite Radio has been a huge success.
Today, as Christie Hefner recently announced on the air, Playboy Satellite Radio
boasts a number of over one million subscribers on the Sirius network. One of
the most impressive things about this is that the Playboy Satellite Radio
channel does not come as default to Sirius subscribers and they have to select
it. This is why a one million opt-in number is something amazing, especially
since the regular opt-in rates are much smaller than this for other types of
broadcasting. In order to choose the Playboy Satellite Radio program users have
to call Sirius or opt in for it on the Sirius website.

What does the success of Playboy Satellite Radio say

Well, let's look at it this way -- if Playboy, a brand name associated by 99%
of the public with something visual, can now convince over a million people to
tune into their programs, it seems that they have discovered a very interesting
niche there. The Playboy empire was built on the visual presentations they make
and converting this "almost entirely visual" brand into something that attracts
radio users is amazing. Of course, the main Playboy brand elements are still
present in the radio broadcasting, but ensuring that their traditional symbols
stay unaltered is a much more difficult task. Many analysts believe that the
initial success of Playboy Satellite Radio is more a fad than something that
will last for years to come. That's because the Playboy name has an
irresistible attraction to many and a lot of conversions were made based on
this power of magnetism alone. Another important factor that made Playboy
Satellite Radio so popular is the fact that it was offered for free to users in
the beginning. The curiosity factor and the fact that the Playboy name is
something cool and modern made many users opt in to receive its transmissions.
Some believe that after the initial magnetic attraction will start to wear off,
the impressive one million subscriber list will gradually start to decline.

What the users think of Playboy Radio

Some of the most interesting reactions to Playboy Satellite Radio can be found
today on message boards, forums and personal blogs. Many users have come up
with interesting explanation to why Playboy Satellite Radio was such a huge
success so far and many have predictions regarding its future. One forum user
wrote that "In all honesty, if XM came out with a free optional channel I could
activate online, I would do it immediately. Even if it was a home decorating
channel or something. I'd just want to know it was there if I needed it." This
is an interesting view on the large subscription numbers and it might indicate
that many activated Playboy Satellite Radio just because they could, not
necessarily because they listen to it frequently. Another forum poster tells us
about his personal experience with Playboy Satellite Radio: "I opted in out of
curiosity. I was actually very surprised just how entertaining this channel
really is. The morning talk show is good, but Night Calls with Christy Canyon &
Ginger Lynn is awesome!" Another idea that has been spreading around the
Internet is that having a song play on Playboy Satellite Radio or appearing in
a talk show is the "audio equivalent" of appearing in the pages of the Playboy
magazine. In other words, if you are not sexy, successful or interesting enough
to appear in one of Playboy's pictorials, articles or interview, there's always
the Playboy Radio to turn to.

XM versus SIRIUS

The idea of America's biggest two satellite-radio joining forces has been up in
the air for almost four years. Although XM had a year's start, Sirius came back
on the market, eventually with both companies sharing the market in half. So,
what's to choose? XM or Sirius?

First thing's first. XM and Sirius are based on the same principle, each of
them providing music, news, sports, etc. on their channels, but, every service
has its ups and downs so we will try to discuss it in this present article. A
careful analysis shows that XM Satellite Radio provides a total of 136 streams,
where two are premium channels (Playboy and High Voltage), twenty-one are
traffic and weather based channels and nine are sport-dedicated ones. On the
other hand, Sirius offers a total of 119 streams, the premium streams not being
available. Let's take a closer look now on two -- music and news -- of the
categories that the two major satellites are battling.

Music streams comparison

The number of music streams that both services offer is pretty much the same:
65 on Sirius and 68 on XM Satellite Radio but the difference is not in the
number, but in the music genres that the radios offer.

Music -- Decades

XM is the absolute champion in providing the music by decades because you can
listen to the 40's music, service not available on Sirius. Still, you can
listen to the 90's hits together with the current hits on Sirius Satellite
Radio, which is an interesting feature.

Music -- Country

"Ride' em cowboy!". Even if you're not a cowboy, you can listen to
country-related songs on both Satellites. Classic country or country hits are
to be heard as well as alternative country or country mixes, the last two
features being available only on Sirius Satellite Radio. Regarding the number
of streams that both Satellites offer, XM offers a total of five streams and
Sirius offers four, the champion in this category being XM due to the quality
and the quantity of music being played.

Music -- Rock

If you are looking for sex, drogs, and rock and roll, Sirius and XM Satellite
Radios can only offer you rock and roll, on a number of 14 streams on XM and 15
streams on Sirius. The rock subgenres are to be found in a large number on the
stations, overall each service being very strong in this category.

Music -- Dance and Latin

If you want to boogie, you can do that on both Satellites, listening to one of
the six streams provided by Sirius or four streams provided by XM. Be careful
though, because you can become a clubber maniac! And if you're strong enough,
the Latin pop stream, Mexicana and tropical music streams can really drive you
crazy. XM Satellite Radio as well as Sirius Satellite Radio offer three streams.

Music -- Other genres

Regarding other genres, both satellites really look up to their prestige,
offering hours of hours of music, from Classical to Jazz, even Urban (Sirius
feature). Both stations offer high quality tunes, making it worth all the money.

News Streams Comparison

Let's skip to another interesting topic, news. CNN, FOX, CNBC, Bloomberg, MSNBC
and many more news stations are being offered for listening in different
languages. The number of streams is again near-by, XM offering a number of 11
news streams, not like Sirius, which offers 13.

Bottom line

It's pretty hard to say which station is better, XM and Sirius being tied
musically but in news and sports, Sirius holding the edge. To make a little
joke, if you are a fan of Stern go with Sirius, if you like Q&A go XM. Anyway,
it's hard to say which one is better, but, what can I say is that both
Satellites are worth paying for.

Sirius and XM Satellite Radios

There are two major companies that offer satellite radio in America: Sirius and
XM.

XM was the first company that offered satellite radio. It has two satellites
named Rock and Roll and it has its studios in Washington D.C. Sirius Radio has
three satellites and has its studios in New York As the XM was first, it has
3,2 hundred thousand, but Sirius brings competition with 1,1 hundred thousand
subscribers in the present time.

Satellite radio is by far the best radio ever, making the AM/FM radios look old
and dying even. This new era of radio has a lot of advantages that will please
you at the maximum.

As the income comes from the subscribers not from advertisements, there are no
commercials, no one is saying what to buy, no one is promoting their channel
and no one is interrupting you from listening to what you want, where you want.
There a lot of choices in want to listen to as both XM and Sirius have a big
programming variety that includes music channels of world music(pop, rock,
classical, rap, hip-hop, opera, country, western, jazz, dance, blues, Latin),
weather, news, traffic, sports and entertainment channels. Local weather and
traffic channels are available only for major cities in the U.S.A. provided by
the two companies and every five minutes you can hear updates. The best thing
in all channels is that there are uncensored. So, you can listen to uncensored
stand-up comedy and hip-hop channels, at least for now.

The satellite radio has a very good sound quality, no static and no
interference, a quality that may be compared with the one of a CD. The radio is
based on a go/no-go system based on the strength of the signal. So, weak signal
may cause dropouts.

You can easily get information about songs and artists right on you satellite
radio receiver that can also help you select channels and categories. This
makes it easier for you to choose the exact channel or song you want to hear.
So, whenever you are wondering what song or channel you are listening to just
read the information that the receiver shows.

Now you can get satellite radio wherever you like, eventough at first it was
design only for car use. With the right equipment you can easily have radio,
but it depends on you whether you subscribe at XM or Sirius. Unfortunately, you
can't use a satellite radio turner for both XM and Sirius. There are three types
of turners depending on where you want to listen to satellite radio. The
Plug-and-play turner can be used out-door wherever you like as long as you have
a portable boombox that can receive the signal. There are turners especially
made for using them in cars and the home satellite radio turners for using them
at home.

Both companies want now to offer a video service. This is planned to happen in
the second half of the year 2006 and will include at first two video programs
designed for children. Satellite radios' prices start at about $75.A
subscription costs 12.95 per month wherever you want to subscribe as both XM
and Sirius radio charges the same. There a couple of discounts like you can get
satellite radio for a year at $9.95/month or Sirius is offering a subscription
for a lifetime at $500.

Sirius Radio specifications

Sirius Satellite Radio has more than 150 channels available with the
subscription that they provide. This includes 65 commercial-free music channels
and 56 sports, news, talk, entertainment, local traffic and weather channels.

Music channels seem to be numberless, but unfortunately they aren't even tough
there are plenty of music stations that please every person no matter what
gender of songs he or she likes. So, there are country music channels that
include New Country, Classic Country, Alternative Country and Bluegrass. For
hip-hop lovers, Sirius satellite radio has 4 channels: Hip-Hop Nation, Shade
45, Wax and Back Spin and not to mention the other streams where you're ears
will be delighted with house, club mixes, electronic a, disco, R&B, reggae and
not to forget rock(classic, alternative, mellow, metal, blues) music. For
classical tastes, there are three channels: classical pops, chamber music and
classical voices. But if you are a jazz type of person you can relax by turning
the radio on one of the six-channels of non-stop jazz.

There a lot of music programs that are hosted by international and national
artist like Eminem, David Johansen Steve Van Zant, the Rolling Stone's producer
who can be listen on the Underground Garage channel.

Sirius has a beautiful collection of uncensored comedy that is available to
you. You only have to tune into Sirius's stream Raw Dog where you can listen to
George Carlin, Margaret Cho, Cheech and Chong, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock

In the sports area, Sirius Radio has a terrific collection of channels and only
enumerating those takes a lot of time. But here is a sum-up: the NBA, the NFL
and the NHL. And besides this, Sirius wants to bring to you tournaments of
men's basketball games, the lineup of 27 college hoops programs and the
Division I Men's Basketball Championship and for the ones who love cars, in
2007 they will have the possibility to listen to all NASCAR Nextel Cup Series,
NASCAR Busch Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races.

Besides entertainment, Sirius has a series of news and talk channels: ABC News
& Talk, BBC World Service, BBC Mundo, Bloomberg, CNBC, Court TV, C-Span, CNN
Headline News, Discovery Channel, E Entertainment, two ESPN channels, Fox News,
Hispanic Talk, Radio Disney, Sirius Trucking Network, the Weather Channel, the
liberal network Air America and more. Besides this, it also includes a
gay/lesbian news and talk station.

It seems that Sirius tries to satisfy as many demands they can, judging by the
wide variety of programs. And having all of these advantages, Sirius is a
really determined challenger for the XM.

In comparison with the XM, the Sirius satellite radio has less quality in sound
and the XM's stereo separation is wider. So, we all hope for improvement.

In terms of gadgets, XM has more technology than Sirius radio. There are no
MyFi's, but instead Sirius has the XACT XTR1 that is a limited portable version
of the MyFi. And Sirius has no turners with TiVo-like features as the equipments
provided by XM. There are companies like Alpine, Audiovox, Blaupunkt, Clarion,
Delphi, Jensen, JVC, Kenwood, Sanyo, and Tivoli that produce Sirius hardware.

Interoperable Satellite Radios

The satellite radio world is divided among the two major broadcasters, XM Radio
and Sirius. Since they work on different frequencies and need specific equipment
to broadcast, Sirius and XM Radio have divided the market into two groups. While
some are fans of the Sirius channels others prefer XM Radio, and the debate
regarding which of the two is the best could go on forever. Some however are
subscribers to both services, since they love some of the Sirius programs but
also enjoy XM Radio broadcasting. For them and for more people interested in
satellite radio, there are some potential good news. Interoperable satellite
radios are one of the things most of the major players in the satellite radio
industry are talking about. What are they? Basically they are receivers that
can work both with Sirius and XM Radio and everything is enclosed in a single
unit.

Interoperable Technologies -- when Sirius and XM work together

Interoperable Technologies is the name of a joint effort funded by both Sirius
and XM Radio, with the declared purpose of bringing dual-subscription satellite
radios to the general market. Founded in 2003, Interoperable Technologies has
started developing the dual-mode satellite radios ever since and progress is
being made with each passing month. Interoperable Technologies gets help from
consultants from both XM and Sirius and their 2005 success of developing a
singe unit that can receive both transmissions was a notable one. Today,
Interoperable Technologies ha a deadline of bringing the developed receiver
unit to the market. The monthly subscription price is estimated to be around
$26 -- for which you get over 300 channels from the combined broadcasting list
of the two satellite radio operators.

What the people say:

The news of the interoperable satellite radio development has triggered
interesting responses among XM and Sirius satellite radio subscribers. Here are
some of the things people left on forums and discussion boards regarding this
development:

"$26/month? A hell of a lot cheaper than cable TV." Says one of the forum
posters. He is right, but, of course, many will question the need to pay $26
for over 300 radio channels out of which 80% will probably never get listened
to.

"Oh man! As a dual subscriber, this would be SO cool to have. Where do I sign
up?" -- on the other hand, of course, there are those people that don't mind
spending a little extra when they can get so much more.

"Cool idea if it ever comes to pass. Even though I only subscribe to Sirius, I
would consider buying this with an eye on the future..." -- for people such as
this forum poster, the interoperable satellite radio system is the natural
evolutionary step forward, so it is definitely worth looking into.

Implications of the interoperable satellite radio system

As you can see from the response of the potential customers, the interoperable
satellite radio system is an interesting development. While Sirius and XM are
lucky enough to be the only major players in this field, for now, it seems they
are also ready to work together in order to consolidate their future. Of course,
offering twice the programs on a single unit is a major step forward, and from
the early stages it seems that the target audience is ready to receive the
single receiver unit with applause. On the other hand, is this an initial
enthusiastic response or is it genuine interest? Won't 300+ channels become too
much and won't people start to feel like they are paying for something they are
rarely using? There will also be some interesting things to follow as far as
exclusivity rights go, because each of the two broadcasters have their own
original approaches to common things. Another interesting aspect to follow will
be how the sales for individual Sirius and XM units will go after the dual
receiver hits the market. For many, the combined efforts of Sirius and XM tend
to look like a first step towards a large scale joint venture that will lead to
an absolute monopoly of the satellite radio market.

XM Radio Categories

Here are the main music categories that you can find on XM satellite radio
broadcasts:

The Decades -- songs from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s

Country -- classic country hits are at home here, but you will also get a good
share of new pop country and blue grass country.

Hits -- this is for all hit lovers out there. Packed with Top 20 on Channel 20,
the hits XM Radio channels also include some FM channels: KISS FM in LA or
Houston's Pop FM station, KMIX. You also get MTV and VH1 stations and if you're
in the mood for some popular love songs you can tune into The Heart and Lite
channel. Another interesting channel is Cinemagic, where you will be able to
listen to all your favorite movie soundtracks without being bothered by
commercials. There are also two Christian rock channels and a classic
alternative channel.

Rock -- XM Radio features 10 commercial free channels dedicated to rock:

* Deep Tracks: classic and contemporary hits

* Bone Yard and XM Liquid Metal: the first channel goes with classic hard rock
  while the XM Liquid Metal plays hardcore metal.

* Fred: there is a lot of classic alternative music, some 80s alternative rock
  and punk music

* Top Tracks: classic rock tracks

* Unsigned: unsigned bands

* XMU, XM Cafe, the Loft, XM Music Lab: soft rock, eclectic rock and any other
  rock type that doesn't fit anywhere else

Urban -- rap and hip hop, both modern and from the 80s.

Jazz & Blues -- 6 channels altogether out of which four are commercial free

Dance -- techno and trance music rules here, but you also get some disco music
Latin -- 5 commercial free channels of Latin, Spanish and Mexican hits.

International Music -- 5 channels of music from around the world. You might
find these five channels a welcomed break from all the music you are used to.
Fresh music from around the world is presented daily.

Classical -- classical music from both famous and less renown classical
musicians. You get the XM Pops, XM Classics, Vox and Fine Tuning. As you would
expect, all 4 channels are commercial free. Kids -- Radio Disney and XM for
Kids. Excellent programs that will keep your kid busy and happy for a long time.

News -- you will get Fox News, CNN Headline News plus other TV related news
channels. They feature XM commercials.

Sports -- you will get channels like ESPN Radio, ESPN News, Fox Sports Radio,
Sporting News, NASCAR Radio. These channels cover most of the important
sporting events in the United States but you can also get international sports
news here.

Comedy -- both family oriented comedy stiles and uncensored comedy bits. These
channels are commercial free, which is really enjoyable.

Talk & Variety -- there are different talk channels and shows that are really
engaging, such as E! Entertainment Radio, ABC News and Talk, Buzz XM, Ask
channel, The Power and Family Talk. However, these channels have plenty of
commercial time which is a bit of a disappointment from a paid subscription
service.

Variation and content

These are the things both XM Radio and Sirius are after. With over 100
channels, each provider is able to identify and target all the important age
and social groups in the United States. When it comes to music, there are
extremely specialized channels on XM Radio, so the consumer knows exactly what
kind of music they will run into on that particular channel. The kids channels
are pretty good and the sports channels are also ok. If you like to get your
news TV style, XM Radio's choice of channels is also interesting. The fact that
commercials are present is not that bothering, as they are only allowed to play
6 minutes of commercials per hour. However, some of the music channels are kept
100% commercial free, which is good news for music fans who do not want their
audition to be interrupted by intrusive commercials.

MLB to Disappear from Terrestrial Radio?

The changes that took place in the way MLB games were broadcast on television
made many think that the same will happen to radio soon enough. Today, local
television stations only broadcast 23% of the MLB games. Also, 7 of the major
league team games are only available on cable, an exclusivity factor that seems
to work well for them. In an interview to WSJ, Edison Media Research's President
Larry Rosin declared that "it is probably inevitable that baseball radio
broadcasts will go to a 100% subscription model... It will happen because
there's too much money in it not to do it." This is an interesting perspective
for the two main digital satellite radio providers, XM Satellite Radio and
Sirius. This potential development sounds excellent for XM especially, as they
would hold the exclusive rights to all major-league baseball games. Of course,
that would be an important step forward for XM, as the MLB generates huge
interest in the US, and it would mean that another building block has been
added to the development of satellite radio.

MLB Radio and XM Radio

MLB also has its own subscription paid online radio channel, and if the same
thing happens to radio as it did to television they would definitely enjoy the
situation. Since experts in the communication field consider that satellite
radio is still in its infancy, the trend of moving broadcasts of such games to
a subscription paid environment would take digital radio broadcasting to the
next level of development. The earnings from XM Radio and MLB Radio are split
between the 30 MLB teams, but they are divided equally. This means that the MLB
team's interests would be high and the economical and financial factors could
speed up the process of making MLB games exclusive to satellite radio. The
statistics we have today tell an interesting story: presently around 23% of XM
subscribers have signed up to receive the MLB transmission, so there is a lot
of potential for growth. Terrestrial radio can already start to feel the danger
of loosing MLB broadcasts to satellite radio as this revenue driven model is
more attractive for the MLB teams.

Implications of such a transfer

As with anything that reaches such a controversial topic, the opinions are
shared among experts and the general public. Some people are convinced that
this whole movement is nothing more than a bubble of soap. Baseball is mostly a
TV favorite and although there is still a lot of interest in MLB radio
broadcasts, most people will not feel the transfer to digital radio as a major
change. Although radio was the initial growing medium for baseball, television
is king today, and they say that the transfer from terrestrial radio to
satellite radio is not something that will have a significant impact. Other
opinions say that "MLB would loose more audience then it would gain from the
exclusive fees". Since the format of the terrestrial radio stations is more
flexible it also allows them to broadcast more games than broadcast TV. The
same people say that "the MLB would alienate a lot of local fans if they took
baseball off AM radio". For other people, there is another comparison to be
made -- that between the impact this would have on MLB and the impact it had on
NFL, where a similar process has already started. The Sirius NFL broadcasts
brought the company some new listeners, but the changes were not extreme and
since NFL is more popular than MLB, some expect the same trend to be followed
in MLBs case as well. Of course, there are voices that say this change would
have a significant impact on the way baseball is perceived. Since watching a
game on TV can take away a few hours, many prefer to listen to the game on
radio while they are doing something else. This is especially true during
summer months, when many prefer to spend time in the yard or on the porch, not
inside the room in front of a TV set. Of course, comparisons between the
various major sport types in the US can be made from many perspectives, but
most will agree that baseball is a game that can be followed on radio. For now,
al the signs point at a transfer of broadcasts from terrestrial radio towards
satellite radio, but this may change depending on the response companies and
MLB receive from the public.

Sirius Satellite Radio overview

Together with XM Radio, Sirius Satellite Radio is one of the two main providers
of digital radio broadcasting in the United States. Sirius Satellite Radio
currently broadcasts on over 120 channels with a variety of broadcasts
including music, talk shows, news broadcasts and different other forms of audio
entertainment. Sirius Satellite Radio covers the entire US territory. The high
quality of the broadcasting signal produced by using the most advanced digital
encoding technology makes the transmission clear and accurate. The fidelity of
the sound transmitted digitally is much better than any analog radio provider
can offer. The noise disturbances often associated to FM and AM broadcasts are
now eliminated and the transmission is clear and almost identical in quality
with the original track. Sirius Satellite Radio holds one of the two FCC
approved licenses for delivering digital radio in the United States. The
digital radio broadcaster only shares the field of Satellite Digital Audio
Radio Services (SDARS) with Sirius XM Satellite Radio Inc. Here is some more
information on the Sirius company:

Corporate headquarters: New York City, New York

Date of launch: July 1, 2002

Satellites in service: 3

Available satellite radio channels:120

Monthly subscription cost:$12.95

Sirius Satellite Radio is truly an impressive corporation. Located in the heart
of New York City with a huge recording studio situated in the Rockefeller
Center, Sirius Satellite Radio has a huge library of over 2 million music
tracks. The quality of the transmission is very high as it is in the 128kb/sec
format -- which is similar to CD audio quality. The company uses digitized
signals through the PAC encoding technology, providing high fidelity broadcasts
all over the United States.

The Sirius satellite

The three Loral SS/L-1300 commercial satellites used by Sirius deliver constant
digital radio broadcasting to Sirius' subscribers. As with most commercial
satellites, the Loral SS/L-1300s orbit above the Earth at 22 300 miles. Very
similar to XMs satellites, the Loral SS/L-1300 commercial satellites have a
more inclined orbit which allows them to cover an even more extended area. The
elevation angle of 60 degrees is more generous than the regular 45 degrees used
by geostationary satellites. Since one of the most problematic aspects of
satellite radio broadcasting is the line of sight -- which can be easily
interrupted by landscape or buildings -- the Loral SS/L-1300 commercial
satellites have a slight advantage over their competitors, since they have a
clearer line of sight. The three satellites used for broadcasting slowly orbit
around the Earth and only two of them are functional at any time. This is
because Sirius only has two transmission frequencies and by alternating
satellite transmission they can eliminate interferences while also having a
spare satellite to put to use in case something goes wrong with one of the
others. The 3 satelites take turns broadcasting -- when one of them leaves the
footprint of the continental U.S. another picks up the broadcasting
transmission. Since the more inclined orbit provides better coverage, Canada
and Mexico are also well covered by the digital broadcasting. This is an
interesting feature of the Sirius satellite radio, as it enhances the benefit
of not having to switch radio stations during long trips or while traveling
outside US borders. Sirius has also announced a collaboration with the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation and Standard Radio Inc. This would allow anyone in
Canada to benefit from Sirius' services while using any of the Canadian English
and French channels.

Sirius broadcasting

Because the broadcast signal used in satellite radio transmission is so strong,
you only need a small receiver in order to be able to listen to it. By using
small omni-directional antennas you can take your digital radio programs
wherever you are -- either on the road or at home. The technology used is
similar to GPS devices and the receivers don't require pointing. Some of the
new features of satellite radio refer to the extended broadcast information
abilities, and the transmission can supply information on artist, music title
or genre. One of the developments Sirius is working on is streaming video
broadcasting -- something that will probably become available to the general
public soon after the technology and broadcasting methods become secure enough.

Canadian satellite radio

While the United States initiated the satellite radio evolution, Canada is now
hot on their trails. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications
Commission (CRTC) began hearings in 2004 for applicants ready to develop
Canada's first satellite radio broadcasting. The Canadian satellite radio
industry received quite a lot of interest and in the end three main
applications were filed: XM filed one in partnership with Canadian Satellite
Radio and Sirius filed an application with Standard Broadcasting and the CBC.
The third application belongs to CHUM Limited and Astral Media and to many came
as a surprise. That was mostly because CHUM Limited and Astral Media came up
with a different solution that that proposed by Sirius and XM Radio. CHUM
applied for a subscription radio service that is to be delivered through the
already existing terrestrial DAB transmitters. In other words, the transmitters
would be the ones receiving the satellite transmission, from where they would
continue the broadcast to consumer owned receivers. While the CHUM Limited and
Astral Media proposal offers an entirely Canadian approach, the first two bring
in a blend of US based technology and Canadian broadcasting channels. XM Radio
and Sirius had a slight advantage in the fact that the coverage area of their
satellites already existed in parts of Canada, so a small audience was already
using their services.

Three satellite radio services for Canada

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved
all three applications in June 2005, but with a series of conditions imposed to
the three solicitants. Here they are as required by the CRTC:

*  A minimum of 8 channels must be produced in Canada and for each Canadian
channel 9 foreign channels can be broadcast.

*  At least 85% of the content on the Canadian-produced channels (whether
musical or spoken word) must be Canadian.

*  At least 25% of the Canadian channels must be French-language stations.

*  At least 25% of the music aired on the Canadian channels must be new
Canadian music.

*  At least 25% of the music played on the Canadian channels must be from
up-and-coming Canadian artists.

The three companies had to accept these conditions as they are part of the
Canadian broadcasting regulations. The US companies and their Canadian partners
began negotiations for tilting the rules in their favor. One of the main offers
of both the Sirius and XM Radio partnerships was that they would play 50%
French content as opposed to the 25% required by the CRTC. AS a results of the
negotiations, XM Radio received 5 channels of National Hockey League
Play-by-Play in addition to the channels they already had -- XMs part of the
deal was to cover the Canadian National Hockey League games. The fact that the
US satellite industry giants were both allowed to broadcast on Canadian
territory determined CHUM to appeal the decision. They motivated their action
by saying that the two US companies would simply "suffocate" CHUM with their
presence in Canada, not allowing any room for development for the all-Canadian
company. CHUM also complained about the deals that were cut with the two US
companies. As a response, Canadian Satellite Radio and Sirius Canada said that
CHUM is in fact trying to obtain monopoly over the Canadian satellite radio
market for themselves.

Today's Canadian satellite radio

One of the main complaints of the people of Canada was that the CRTC decision
did not require sufficient Canadian content. This made the broadcasters come
out with promises of additional French and Canadian content. The Canadian
Federal Cabinet accepted the CRTC decision on September 10, 2005. XM satellite
radio was launched on the 29th of November 2005 and Sirius was next on December
1. Monthly subscription rates are $12.99 for XM with a one time activation fee
of $19.99 and $14.99 for Sirius, without any activation fees. Both companies
are expecting rapid increases in the numbers o subscribers, although, in spite
of the extra Canadian content they added to their air time, there are still
quite a few voices protesting against the potential monopoly the two companies
may get to in the near future.

SONY portable receiver

Welcome to the world of Sony! In this article we will try to discuss the
features of the Sony portable XM receiver, which, by the way, was the first
plug-and-play model sold on the market. The gadget is the ideal receiver for
people who need a compact and totally portable communications receiver.
Although the user interface is pretty out-of-date and the receiver lacks a
numeric keypad, the Sony portable receiver is a great radio. Imagine yourself
in a James Bond movie, or imagine the good old days, the 1950's, imagine a
spaceship with its fine curves, well.. the Sony receiver has it all: the
futuristic looks of a spaceship, its utility like any Bond gadget and its
state-of-art like the science fiction of the 50's movies. The XM Satellite
Radio is an adventure! Although the portable receiver is no longer listed on
the market, it is still available in the channel. Below, I will try to discuss
the features of three Sony portable receiver models, the ICFSW7600G.2CE7, the
ICFSW11S.CE7 and the ICFSW12S.CE7.

ICFSW7600G.2CE7 Sony Portable Receiver

The price of this model varies at around $200, its frequencies being 150 kHz 
-30Mhz (LW/MW/SW), 76-108 Mhz (FM). It has 100 memory presets, an audio output
of 380 mW, size of 190x118.8x35 mm and the weight of 608 g.

The nice thing about this model is that it provides LCD read-out in 1 kHz
steps, can be electronically tuned and the frequency can be adjusted on the
keyboard. For its modes (AM, SSB, FM) you can listen to stations from all
around the world. As additional features, you can use the receiver as a clock
or alarm.

ICFSW11S.CE7

For $40, this model is a bargain. It has a led tuning indicator, frequencies
between 153-279 kHz (LW), 530-1602 kHz (MW), 76-108 Mhz (FM), audio output of
100mW, size of 155x90x33 mm and it weights 340 g. As a drawback on this model
is that you can listen to FM stereo only throughout the headphones.

ICFSW12S.CE7

Last but not least, Sony is offering a world receiver that is a handy companion
for people who travel a lot. It has twin digital clock display and clock
controls, telescopic whip, and the unit closes itself when not in use.
Regarding technical details, the ICFSW12S.CE7 portable receiver cathes
frequencies between 530-1605 kHz (MW), 4750-21750 Mhz (SW), 87-108 Mhz (FM), it
has dial tunning, Led tunning indicator, an audio output of 100 mW, size of
111x30.5x80.3 mm and weighs 233 g. The average price is $100.

As for car kits and accessories, home kits are available at an average price of
$130, the package containing a home dock, a power supply, an antenna, and an
adaptor between mini-stereo to twin RCA. If you want to purchase a car kit, you
can found one at a price of $129.99. Although it's hard to find one, you can
purchase a FM Modulator, if you don't have a car radio with a cassette player.
Also, for $64.99 you can buy 50 ft. cable extension, which connects to your
home antenna, providing more cable, thus, more space.


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