Pioneer GEX-P10XMT Satellite Radio Receiver

So you want to try XM radio? Well I had heard all of the hype. Being the electronic nut that I am...and a few other reasons that I invented to justify spending money (like a long drive to work) XM was on the way. I made a round of phone calls and web site visits to find out what I would need to implement XM radio in my 00' Maxima.

Brief Explanation of XM
Most FM signals can only travel 40 miles at the most. By beaming a signal from a satellite or sat repeater, distance could be almost limitless. 3 companies; XM, Sirius, and WorldSpace were cleared by the FCC to do this. XM launched its two Satellites "Rock" and "Roll" and began service 09/25/2001 in the US. By beaming a digital signal, a station could duplicate digital sound like on a CD to reproduce exactly what was beamed to a radio. Though XM claims they are serving limited areas, you can virtually drive cross country listening to the same things with only mere seconds of dropout. The service costs $9.99 per month.


Option 1: Ideal setup would involve buying a new Head unit ($300-$1000), Tuner $150-300, and Antenna $70
Option 2: Buy a portable XM tuner ($250-$300) and listen to XM in your car via tape deck adapter, need adapter and antenna
Option 3: Choose a tuner which uses an FM modulator to allow you to use the tuner and listen on FM chan 89.1, need antenna

I chose option 3 and purchased the Pioneer GEX-P900XM. The unit consists of the small tuner face (looks like CD changer toggle), the tuner box, and the Terk Sr-2 Antenna.

To install the unit is fairly simply, you must mount the antenna either on the roof (which means you gotta get a wire from the roof to the tuner box) or on the backseat shelf under back window. Wires must travel from Antenna--Tuner Box---Tuner Face--FM Head Unit. Not a big deal. Just keep in mind that the Tuner face (the thing with the buttons) will need to stick somewhere. personally I put it to the right of the steering wheel (so no one would play with it).

The Interface consists of 6 "favorites" buttons that store 18 channels. The navigation through the over 100 channels can be accomplished by Category or Channel. The good news is that the display will typically reveal all of the following about whatever is playing: Channel Number, Channel Name, Artist/ Host, Show/ Song Name (kinda neat). The band news is that you must navigate through the channels and categories one by one, there is no scan/seek functionality. It works like this, if the display is on category instead on channel there is a D-pad type of configuration forward and back toggle category, and up and down for channel (w/in the category). for navigation by channel you'd just go up and down to channel itself.

XM's Performance is pretty good. I have driven cross state lines in rain and hail without dropout. That said, my equipment has failed for days at a time. The wiring and antenna are very sensitive and I must tell you that the support process is inadequate at best. If you call customer service you talk to a message taker, who has a technician contact you within 48 hours. In my case this simply did not happen until I pushed for them to attend to my account. This backward support process shakes my confidence in the company's survival. Unfortunately, with the FM modulated unit, you will not get digital sound quality. You would need a new head unit with input for XM (XM Ready) for this to work, and in my case that meant sacrificing a tape deck and cd player and paying more.

XM's programming is vastly superior to FM and AM for music for sure, and depending on your taste also for news and talk radio. I myself listen to talk radio and wasn't crazy about XM's line up. So I sent them my feedback -- and low and behold they responded that day, and picked up some of my favorites the very next week. As for talk and News they have about 20 stations that span the Globe. Some of the talk stations just pick up local shows from other FM markets. For instance Phil Hendrie show is picked up from Atlanta. Because of this they often air old news. On the other hand, they play real-time feeds of TV stations (i.e. Fox News) which I really enjoy. It is great to have the ability to listen to the end of the morning TV shows on the way to work. They have EVERY kind of music you can imagine.

Some of my favorites:
*Rhyme (Old School Rap)
*Joint (Reggae)
*Luna (Latin Jazz)
*Caliente (Latin Beats)
*Beyond Jazz (Modern Jazz)

I should mention that XM started out with a vision to build a network consisting of a certain number of ground repeaters (these are probably what beams your signal) and fell short of that goal, I should also mention that XM is doing battle with local stations that claim they are illegal using technology that can result in pirate radio stations. I also wish to make clear that most stations on XM have commercials...many commercials (most for other XM Stations????).


How does this tuner stack up to Sony's? This one is cheaper, but lacks the option to take it from the car to your house (with conversion kit). I also believe this one is much better looking cosmetically.


So is XM for you? Personally I think it is overpriced for equipment that enables you to receive the service at a charge, but I am hooked. So ask yourself, do you mind spending $400 -$1200 for XM radio and then paying $10/ per month? The price will go down if the company survives. Unfortunately, many large media companies have not signed off on the idea of XM yet. Nevertheless, it kicks the crap out of FM and AM in terms of variety. But it has a long way to go before it realizes its full capability.