Not quite computer HW, but ? for gadget freaks...sat radio

R

randycat99

Veteran
Is there a good way to assess signal strength in an office building w/o actually having to buy the satellite radio equipment, subscribe to a service, etc.? I would like to evaluate the likelihood of getting viable satellite radio reception (Sirius, to be specific) w/o committing to equipment and then finding out it won't work after the fact. I am not particularly near a window, let alone a south facing window, so setting up a window antenna isn't particularly likely. Is this just a no-show, or is there the slightest possibility that signal penetration could be adequate to actually enjoy satellite radio at work, in my cubicle at work? For all its foibles, it's hard to not think, "good ole FM", for at least being flexible when it comes to reception.
 
Sirus (or XM or both, I forget for sure) comes with all the normal programing but online for free... So if you have a computer and the internet you could do that...
 
Yeah, I was sure to try that out, but then I thought what are the chances the company security has blocked the ports for streaming radio? I know they already block some websites. I guess I should just register for a demo period and just test out if I can get a streaming Sirius channel...

I'm sure it isn't free, though. It's only "free" if you already have a paid subscription for regular satellite reception.
 
You need a dish with direct line of sight, as the power delivered is extremely low.
 
if you have a nice amount of music on your home PC that will satisfy you why not get a decent MP3 player? Or if earbuds/phones are out for work, just plug it into an FM transmitter and listen to your music off a radio next to you.

Just a suggestion.
 
Yes, it does seem the "Tivo" manuever may be the only realistic solution for my situation. It's all to get prepared for Howard Stern in January, so it kinda sucks to not be able to listen to today's show, "today".
 
Rise topic, rise from the dead!!!

I just wanted to give an update. I have finally gotten my Sirius radio up and running. It's the S50. It's got a LOT of peculiarities about it, but I think I can get it to work out. Believe it or not, I can actually get satellite reception from inside my home! (???) I tried numerous places for the antenna. The best place isn't even near a window. It's literally dead smack in the middle of my small apartment (along an internal wall of the bedroom). Bizarre, I tell you! I don't know how that is even possible with 2.3 GHz satellite frequencies. My left field theory is that perhaps satellite frequencies can penetrate wooden structures (despite the popular line of sight motif), but not through "wooden" trees (perhaps due to the water content which really blocks the wavelengths). I'm not just talking about a marginal signal strength, either- it's actually a decent magnitude as indicated with the built in scale. On a good read, it will hang out at 66% and sometimes even 100% on the bar graph. During a weak satellite position moment, it will fall to 33%, but amazingly I can still get uninterrupted radio service.

The gameplan is to record Howard Stern east coast feed in the wee hours of the morning (which would be Pacific time for me). The show should be within minutes of completion by time I am ready to step out the door to go to work. So I snag the media player part of the S50 and can listen offline at work. No need to worry about in-office reception. If I miss out on the show, I can catch it again later that day at 6:00 pm (which right about matches when I walk through my front door). I guess this would be the first time where I am actually grateful for a 3 hr timezone difference. :D
 
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