sirius radio ??

[SnoKing]

I have been having a lot of issue's with losing signal in wide open places, no towers in sight
as a fact I was driving across western PA< going east on RT 80, and I totally LOST sirius, so much to the point the option on the screen went bye bye, , just lost signal, then lost all signs of me even having it on my touch screen, I called them while driving on there 800 number, they ran a test and NOTHING< they then said I needed to pull over, shut truck off, and OPEN a door for 2 minutes while they reset things LOL
and that worked, but I still loose signal for as far as I can tell NO reason, in so many places I never lost signal in my 06 or 04 dodge 2500

so, honestly NOT happy, but I am told NOTHING can be done so??
sad when tech goes backwards and cost us more to have??

Were you in extreme weather when this happened?

And again, you did not loose Sirius receiption, you lost XM reception. Different sats. Forest tress next the the road on the South side will knock out XM signals.

SNOKING

 

[mrbb]

NO crystal clear sky's and 80+ degree's at about 11 pm at night was also the only vehicle on the road
felt like a moron, siting on the side of a exit ramp with my door open to get my radio back up and working LOL
IT did work, what ever they did, but signal is NOTHING like what was in my older trucks
can be in the middle of a open road and loose signal
and yes, been to dealer and NOTHING can be done I am told
its a cheaper quality signal they offer to these trucks now as to in the past

NOW I have full leaves on tree's and its even worse than this past winter when there wasn't any leave's on the tree's
a shame, as this truck wasn't cheap, and again my older trucks were WAY better on signal, was RARE to ever loose it
I called SIrius, not XM so??

 

[SnoKing]

NO crystal clear sky's and 80+ degree's at about 11 pm at night was also the only vehicle on the road
felt like a moron, siting on the side of a exit ramp with my door open to get my radio back up and working LOL
IT did work, what ever they did, but signal is NOTHING like what was in my older trucks
can be in the middle of a open road and loose signal
and yes, been to dealer and NOTHING can be done I am told
its a cheaper quality signal they offer to these trucks now as to in the past

NOW I have full leaves on tree's and its even worse than this past winter when there wasn't any leave's on the tree's
a shame, as this truck wasn't cheap, and again my older trucks were WAY better on signal, was RARE to ever loose it
I called SIrius, not XM so??

Sirius and XM merged, However they still run on separate sats. I believe Dogpatch pointed out the the XM sats are lower in the sky, and get more interference. The service the new trucks get is now from the XM sats, while the older ones came from the Sirius sats.

SNOKING

 

[w6pea]

I think is more to do with the fact that the newer trucks has XM sat radios vs the older ones that Sirius as Dogpatch pointed out! SNOKING

I don't know if this was discussed in this thread yet but I have some info. Evidently T Mobile cell towers are interfering with Sirius radio systems. The problem will only happen when you are very close to a T mobile cell tower. They are battling out who needs to pay for a fix. I drive 40 miles round trip to and from work. In that commute I loose Sirius 4 or five times in the same spots every day. So I started looking around for cell towers. Sure enough there is a tower within a stone throw of every spot I loose signal. When I drive through the mountains out of the city and cell towers I go for hundreds of miles and never loose the signal.

well I drove down the same road the same day I got my truck, old truck had signal, new one didn't, or lost of off and on as I traveled same road
so to me, I feel its more with the truck than the sat
or the antenna or what ever its called that gets the signal
as its a different size and shape of my old one??

BUT OK, its NOT just me then LOL

Sirius and XM merged, However they still run on separate sats. I believe Dogpatch pointed out the the XM sats are lower in the sky, and get more interference. The service the new trucks get is now from the XM sats, while the older ones came from the Sirius sats.

SNOKING

Okay that's possible, but my portable XM Radio receiver has only one or two places that I loose the Sirius/XM signal. The Sirius/Xm in my 2016 Ram looses signal all over.

 

[mrbb]

yeah I been told this same thing, MY whole point is, I just feel like DODGE took a step backwards in what there offering to us, a step backwards that shouldn't be, when things cost more?

is what it is, ?? still better than regular radio ?

 

[SnoKing]

Okay that's possible, but my portable XM Radio receiver has only one or two places that I loose the Sirius/XM signal. The Sirius/Xm in my 2016 Ram looses signal all over.

So does the XM radio in my 2015.

 

[w6pea]

There is a spot on I-15 when you go into Riverside County from San Diego County that you loose all signal from Sirius/Xm portable unit and or the unit in my 2016 Ram. It's an area about 2 miles, you get off I-15 on any side street and you get the signal back. Sirius really screwed up the XM when the forced merger, happened. JMO

 

[Dogpatch]

NO crystal clear sky's and 80+ degree's at about 11 pm at night was also the only vehicle on the road
felt like a moron, siting on the side of a exit ramp with my door open to get my radio back up and working LOL
IT did work, what ever they did, but signal is NOTHING like what was in my older trucks
can be in the middle of a open road and loose signal
and yes, been to dealer and NOTHING can be done I am told
its a cheaper quality signal they offer to these trucks now as to in the past

NOW I have full leaves on tree's and its even worse than this past winter when there wasn't any leave's on the tree's
a shame, as this truck wasn't cheap, and again my older trucks were WAY better on signal, was RARE to ever loose it
I called SIrius, not XM so??

A few years ago Sirius bought XM. Thus the name "Sirius/XM".

The issue is, that XM Satellites hang low in the sky as they are situated in the lower hemisphere. Great if you live in Arizona, however, due to the curvature of the earth, the satellites do not produce an unobstructed signal if you live in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, the radio is always searching for a signal.
If I'm not mistaken, I think this changed when our trucks started being produced in Mexico.
Previous truck radios were installed using the Sirius model radio. The satellites for this model are situated in the northern hemisphere and are therefor higher in the sky and produce a clear unobstructed signal.

Trucks being shipped north should never have had the XM model radio put in them. Big mistake on Rams part as it renders the satellite radio useless.
like I said, in a slight breeze, a falling leaf will cause signal loss.

Right now, I am still on free satellite radio. Once it's up, I will cancel my "useless" subscription and use my Sirius "Starmate" portable and just tune my radio to 88.1 and pick up Sirius satellite radio. What a pain in the ***, especially when the truck is equipped with its own albeit "useless" system.

I live in Canada and even through the mountains, Sirius is clear.

Did I say XM satellite sucks???

 

[SnoKing]

Could be related to the fact that the did a combined cellular and XM antenna in one roof unit! Our Buick Rainier SUV has separate cellular and XM antenna's one on each front corner of the roof.

The combined antenna would play into the T-Mobile thing. However it is maybe not the towers but the vehicle antenna. w6pea as a ham you should understand these things.

Snoking

 

[kthaxton]

If I'm not mistaken, I think this changed when our trucks started being produced in Mexico.

Dodge trucks have been made in Mexico for some time. Both my 86, and my 2000 were made in Mexico. Plus, I'm reasonably sure that all (or most) testing and development takes place in the US.....more so in Michigan. I doubt Mexican manufacturing has anything to do with it.

 

[mrbb]

doesn't matter to me what the cause, its still a let down as to what they had before, a backwards move on there part?
I used to work for company that was a partner with sirus of sorts, we were offered it when it first came out at a discounted price and I have had it ever since
this latest version I have in this truck in the worst since it came out
as I said, a backwards move, lack of for sight or??
a shame for what the price tags are on these trucks IMO

 

[Dogpatch]

Dodge trucks have been made in Mexico for some time. Both my 86, and my 2000 were made in Mexico.

Then it's just simply that Dodge/Ram has screwed us in their choice of satellite radios for our trucks!

 

[wyosteve]

You guys just confirmed my decision not to continue with Sirius/XM when my 1 yr. free trial ends.

 

[mrbb]

You guys just confirmed my decision not to continue with Sirius/XM when my 1 yr. free trial ends.

I don';t think I would do that, it works WAY more than it doesn't, just NOT as good as it used to, that;s all
I travel a lot and HATE looking for stations, its still way worth the costs to me

 

[TCollier]

Our XM radio on the boat started working this last trip while the antenna was facing north. First time for this. The antenna always had to be moved to face south by southwest to work over the last four years with no exceptions. This antenna is in the wheelhouse on the window seal so whenever we changed heading enough we had to move the antenna. But somehow it stayed working facing north for several days. I'm thinking that they may have started transmitting the XM signal from the Sirius satellite too or maybe they've finally fully merged the systems. The XM satellites are geosynchronous directly above the equator. I'm pretty sure the Sirius birds are directly above the Midwest somewhere. We're in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

[Newsa]

A few years ago Sirius bought XM. Thus the name "Sirius/XM".

The issue is, that XM Satellites hang low in the sky as they are situated in the lower hemisphere. Great if you live in Arizona, however, due to the cirvature of the earth, the satellites do not produce an unobstructed signal if you live in the northern hemisphere. Therefore, the radio is always searching for a signal.
If I'm not mistaken, I think this changed when our trucks started being produced in Mexico.
Previous truck radios were installed using the Sirius model radio. The satellites for this model are situated in the northern hemisphere and are therefor higher in the sky and produce a clear unobstructed signal.

Trucks being shipped north should never have had the XM model radio put in them. Big mistake on Rams part as it renders the satellite radio useless.
like I said, in a slight breeze, a falling leaf will cause signal loss.

Right now, I am still on free satellite radio. Once it's up, I will cancel my "useless" subscription and use my Sirius "Starmate" portable and just tune my radio to 88.1 and pick up Sirius satellite radio. What a pain in the ***, especially when the truck is equipped with its own albeit "useless" system.

I live in Canada and even through the mountains, Sirius is clear.

Did I say XM satellite sucks???

This must be why I'm getting great reception in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, & North Carolina? Even when I go for an entire day without cell phone reception, my satellite radio has only had a few (minor, rare, and sporadic) disruptions even in the Cherokee, Pisgah, and Smokie Mountains.