how's reception in Canada?

[Boston Blackie]

I don't think either XM or Sirius are licensed to serve our frozen
neighbors to the north, but does anyone have any actual experience
receiving their signals up there?

tnx

One Nation, under Canada...

[Mark S.]

"Boston Blackie" <bbblackie@mail.com> wrote in message
news:bbblackie-4F6BAC.13464610112004@library.airnews.net...
>I don't think either XM or Sirius are licensed to serve our frozen
> neighbors to the north, but does anyone have any actual experience
> receiving their signals up there?

No, neither are licenced yet however there is a pretty decent grey market
subscriber base currently. Both have filed for a licence, along with CHUM
whose application for a terrestrial based digital subscriber radio service
is there solely to prevent the two US sat companies from getting a licence.
It is anticipated that all three will be approved, and if this is the case
CHUM's licence will fade away into the history books and they'll never come
to materialize as the competition would crush them. CHUM is hoping that
their promise of huge amounts of Canadian content will persuade the
government to licence them instead of XM or Sirius who would only provide
10% CanCon over time. However, CHUM can only promise that they will
eventually cover 75% of the Canadian population, being limited to
metropolitan areas.

Both XM and Sirius work in Canada, but there are no repeaters here so
downtown reception can be difficult. XM works worse the further north you
go as they get lower and lower on the horizon. Sirius' sats actually spend
a good part of their orbit over central Canada so they provide Canada with
the best continuous coverage. I'm in one of those areas (Newfoundland) that
XM doesn't cover very well but Sirius works perfect. XM is 9 degrees above
the horizon here so you can only get them at home provided you can see that
low on the horizon in the correct direction. Their other satellite is
higher above the horizon but we are too far out of the footprint for it to
be received on most radios. Perhaps a good quality home antenna would fair
better than my Sony sharkfin.

[RideRT]

I'm an XM subscriber and am in the Toronto area. I travel extensively across
the province (as far North as Sudbury) and into Quebec - the reception is
great everywhere, except in the downtown areas - as the antenna needs an
unobstructed view of the southern skies.

I in fact have 2 radios : SkiFI and a Roady for my motorcycle. I use the
SkiFI in my home office when I am in, I have the antenna inside a windows
aimed towards the south.

I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys music.

On the road at night I often listen to the CNN and CNBC TV feeds and enjoy
it very much.

When I need some excitement I listen to one the comedy channels for some
entertainment.

I am a big fan of Watercolors, a jazz station and The Blend, comtemporary
hits.


DS

"Boston Blackie" <bbblackie@mail.com> wrote in message
news:bbblackie-4F6BAC.13464610112004@library.airnews.net...
>I don't think either XM or Sirius are licensed to serve our frozen
> neighbors to the north, but does anyone have any actual experience
> receiving their signals up there?
>
> tnx
>
> One Nation, under Canada...


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[Alan Smithee]

I purchased an XM Radio in Seattle this past summer and have been using
it all over the Vancouver area since then.

Mountainous, true... tall buildings in town, true... but overall it's
quite amazing and rarely loses signal.

Canada's CBC Radio Network has joined the Sirius side of things and
will be launching soon at which point the battle lines will be drawn.

I chose XM over Sirius solely because of content and haven't been
disappointed.

In article <bbblackie-4F6BAC.13464610112004@library.airnews.net>,
Boston Blackie <bbblackie@mail.com> wrote:

> I don't think either XM or Sirius are licensed to serve our frozen
> neighbors to the north, but does anyone have any actual experience
> receiving their signals up there?
>
> tnx
>
> One Nation, under Canada...

[Dyna]

The FCC has not licenced for reception anywhere outside the contiguous US.
However, after being at the callcenter for over a year I can safely say I
have heard customers getting reception on their boats in the bering
straight, parts of the Yukon territory, and all over Alaska. The customers
just call to activate and give a fake address in the usa.

As far as south, I have heard Bahamas, Jamaica and ecuador, although I have
no idea how spotty the signal is.

The only problem is that, like said before, outside of an area with a clean
line of sight to the sky (in a large city, like Toronto or Montreal) you
might not get good signal.

-Ex Sirius Callcenter Senior Support Representative.

[NW_Guy]

>
> -Ex Sirius Callcenter Senior Support Representative.

....and if I may ask, where do you work now? Did you move up the ladder?