Sirius XM Radio Xact XTR2 Satellite
- Usage: Car Home
- Design: Compact
- FM Transmitter: Variable frequency with 0.2 MHz step
- Service: SIRIUS
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A perfectly serviceable radio, but not the smartest design.
Pros
Excellent FM transmitter(!), relatively generous display, relatively small size, 18 memories, physically sturdy.
Cons
High power consumption, potentially self-destructively high operating temperature, not-the-smartest keypad layout/assignments.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
Good radio, but avoid hot air, dirt/dust, and keep power at 12 VDC (slightly power hungry and hot). Use inline volume controls with headphones.
The XAct XTR2 is a small satellite radio manufactured by XAct Communications Inc. which receives programming broadcast by Sirius Satellite Radio, Inc. The radio was introduced in late 2005/early 2006 by XAct as the "XTR2" and "XAct Stream Jockey II", following and improving on the similar "XTR1" radio released a year before. As originally sold, the XTR2 comes with a suction-cup and articulated arm window mount kit for automotive use, a 1-inch square Sirius SDARS-band antenna, an infrared remote control, two AAA batteries for the remote, an owners manual, and a cigarette-lighter plug for power. Additional accessories are available from XAct Communications to allow power from AC mains, more sensitive "home kit" antennas and mounts, motorcycle mount kits, and a "boom box" providing battery and speaker facilities. The radio's implemented design is nearly identical but improved from the the XTR1 and very similar to the Sirius Orbiter and current Sportster line (in 2007-and 2008). The XTR line has been extended since the XTR2 into the different XTR3 through XTR8 designs (in early 2008).
"Why did you buy this product?"
I bought several mobile radios for Sirius before the XTR1 and XTR2 and bought this radio for it's full display (for Sirius radios of this generation), relatively small size and relative portability, and general facility as a Sirius-to-FM translator. The previous units I bought were also good, but had single-line displays and weaker FM transmitter facilites. Also, the XAct units were physically sturdier radios among the Sirius offerings. I bought both the XTR1 and XTR2 as near-portables. Both had mutual advantages (the XTR1 had better volume and interfacing, the XTR2 had better functional durability and a great FM transmitter).
"What do you love about this product?"
I love the small size and relative portability. But there's much to like!
(a) (Relatively) generous display -- Like the Orbiter and Sportster series, the XTR1 and XTR2 have six-line by 20-column amber-on-black LCD display. The musical selections are double-size dot-matrix-block text scrolling right to left in two large lines. Clock and signal strength display are continuous, and brightness is highly adjustable (with a not-very-meaningful contrast adjustment also available). In bright, direct sunlight the display washes out to white text on a dark background. At full brightness the display remains color-correct in sunlight, while at night (in a dark car or room) full-brightness is similar to a household night-light's brightness.
(b) Strong reception of satellite signals -- this is highly antenna-dependent, but reception strength is on-par with other Sirius units anywhere. The XTR2 (unlike the XTR1) is connector-compatible with most other Sirius radios, meaning other Sirius radio antennas can be attached to the XTR2.
(c) Strong full-US/North American band FM stereo transmitter -- intended to transmit to a car radio, the built-in transmitter can also clearly transmit up to 30 to 70 feet omnidirectionally inside most houses using the power cord as an (inefficient) transmit antenna to typical consumer-grade radios with (inefficient) FM receive antennas. Outside range can be as high as 100+ feet or so with some half-hearted optimizations and probably several hundred feet with good receivers and better antenna engineering. The transmitter can be set to any frequency on the band (from 88.1 to 108.0 MHz). The FM transmitter can also be powered on and off from the radio's configuration menu.
(d) Sturdy build -- XAct radios are physically solid, tough little radios.
(e) 12V operation -- It works with car lighter jacks and other 12VDC sources. (Notable though, 12VDC is fine, 11VDC probably isn't fine.)
(f) 18 memories -- three memories in six banks. (Caveat, a bit cumbersome, but with practice usage is completely serviceable.)
(g) IR remote control -- All the functions available from the front panel are also available on the remote. Works nicely with IR extenders in a house or when in the field when the FM transmitter is feeding nearby FM radios. (The IR remote also works in the car if you're out of the car with the stereo blasting away.)
"What do you hate?"
I don't really hate anything about it, but I do note a few irritations. (Some others writing their opinions seemed very unhappy with it while others seemed pleased--I'm personally a technical type--I seldom curse anything, preferring instead to understand it's nature and purposes above emotional consumerism.) Among the irritations (all of them minor) are:
(a) thermal and electrical behavior -- High current consumption and high heat output, in some cases very warm-air can cause the radio to gradually to quickly self-destruct!
(a1) Thermal: All Sirius radios of this generation and design theory have common demodulating and processing components which consume relatively high amounts of current and cause the radio to operate somewhere around 100 to 115 fahrenheit in 70 degree air and possibly self-fatally hot in 100+ F air. In cool weather this is functionally tolerable, but in warm air all of these radios (XTR1, XTR2, Orbiter, and similar) can overheat and have some of the firmware's real-time processes fail. In a car in summer, the XTR2 needs to have a cool-air source beyond convection, otherwise it will overheat and fail (temporarily many times, then finally permanently). Also, high-dust environments can put a layer of insulating dust inside the radio, increasing the potential for overheats.
(a2) Electrical: Also given the power consumption, practical-life batteries are around 10 to 20 Ah lead-acid or similar unit (300 Ah lead-acid jump starter units work wonderfully in this role--they can easily power the XTR2 all day). They don't consume enough power in a day to drain a healthy car battery below crank potential, but in a day can possibly drain a motorcycle battery below crank potential. Also, (as noted below) some XTR2 radios will have problems with less-than 11 VDC operation.
(b) Not the best button assignment layout -- The keypad on the face of the XTR1 and XTR2 has a sub-optimal assignment layout which deeply begs for intellectual improvements. The use of the keys could be massively improved with a straight numeric arrangement with a shift/2nd key (like a calculator or cell phone). The keys are usable and easily learnable, but the layout ignores critical functionality (audio volume and muting, for example), diminishes important functionality (memory for example) while highlighting seldom-used functionality (display brightness (the "DISP" key) for example).
(c) Audio volume is not fully adjustable and cumbersome to access -- The earphone/headphone jack is exactly the line-level output on other units, and in most cases is too loud for headphone use. The audio "volume" adjustments range from too loud to much too loud. The XTR1 has a nice, side-mounted volume control that is conspicuously missing from the XTR2. To safely use this radio with headphones, the headphones must have a high impedence, have in-line volume controls somewhere, or have several headphones fanned out with a 2- or 3-way splitter. (The implicit upside here is that the radio will drive several headphones and recorder inputs when using a splitter).
(d) Sluggish LCD (very minor very temporary nuisance). At temperatures below around 70 F (startup in a normal-temperature), the LCD itself is momentarily sluggish. At 90 F operating temperature (after warmup), operation is fine. At around 30 to 50 F (cold-air startup), any moving or changing graphics on the display is a vague blur.
(e) Some voltage sensitivity. If running slightly under voltage, below 11 volts, some XTR2 radios will lock-up, go into repeating resets (perpetually flash the "Sirius" logo every couple seconds), and generally glitch out (particularly after warm up or if already hot). The warmer the radio at undervoltage, the more probable the malfunctions. 12 to 15 volts is tolerable, though although higher voltages render slightly higher heat output.
Conclusion:
I could write *a lot* more, but I'm running long already. This is very good little radio. It's a little user-quirky and some thought has to go into avoiding overheating and undervoltage. It's also sturdy, but that doesn't means it can be abused forever. All in all, I'm very happy with the little radio!
"Why did you buy this product?"
I bought several mobile radios for Sirius before the XTR1 and XTR2 and bought this radio for it's full display (for Sirius radios of this generation), relatively small size and relative portability, and general facility as a Sirius-to-FM translator. The previous units I bought were also good, but had single-line displays and weaker FM transmitter facilites. Also, the XAct units were physically sturdier radios among the Sirius offerings. I bought both the XTR1 and XTR2 as near-portables. Both had mutual advantages (the XTR1 had better volume and interfacing, the XTR2 had better functional durability and a great FM transmitter).
"What do you love about this product?"
I love the small size and relative portability. But there's much to like!
(a) (Relatively) generous display -- Like the Orbiter and Sportster series, the XTR1 and XTR2 have six-line by 20-column amber-on-black LCD display. The musical selections are double-size dot-matrix-block text scrolling right to left in two large lines. Clock and signal strength display are continuous, and brightness is highly adjustable (with a not-very-meaningful contrast adjustment also available). In bright, direct sunlight the display washes out to white text on a dark background. At full brightness the display remains color-correct in sunlight, while at night (in a dark car or room) full-brightness is similar to a household night-light's brightness.
(b) Strong reception of satellite signals -- this is highly antenna-dependent, but reception strength is on-par with other Sirius units anywhere. The XTR2 (unlike the XTR1) is connector-compatible with most other Sirius radios, meaning other Sirius radio antennas can be attached to the XTR2.
(c) Strong full-US/North American band FM stereo transmitter -- intended to transmit to a car radio, the built-in transmitter can also clearly transmit up to 30 to 70 feet omnidirectionally inside most houses using the power cord as an (inefficient) transmit antenna to typical consumer-grade radios with (inefficient) FM receive antennas. Outside range can be as high as 100+ feet or so with some half-hearted optimizations and probably several hundred feet with good receivers and better antenna engineering. The transmitter can be set to any frequency on the band (from 88.1 to 108.0 MHz). The FM transmitter can also be powered on and off from the radio's configuration menu.
(d) Sturdy build -- XAct radios are physically solid, tough little radios.
(e) 12V operation -- It works with car lighter jacks and other 12VDC sources. (Notable though, 12VDC is fine, 11VDC probably isn't fine.)
(f) 18 memories -- three memories in six banks. (Caveat, a bit cumbersome, but with practice usage is completely serviceable.)
(g) IR remote control -- All the functions available from the front panel are also available on the remote. Works nicely with IR extenders in a house or when in the field when the FM transmitter is feeding nearby FM radios. (The IR remote also works in the car if you're out of the car with the stereo blasting away.)
"What do you hate?"
I don't really hate anything about it, but I do note a few irritations. (Some others writing their opinions seemed very unhappy with it while others seemed pleased--I'm personally a technical type--I seldom curse anything, preferring instead to understand it's nature and purposes above emotional consumerism.) Among the irritations (all of them minor) are:
(a) thermal and electrical behavior -- High current consumption and high heat output, in some cases very warm-air can cause the radio to gradually to quickly self-destruct!
(a1) Thermal: All Sirius radios of this generation and design theory have common demodulating and processing components which consume relatively high amounts of current and cause the radio to operate somewhere around 100 to 115 fahrenheit in 70 degree air and possibly self-fatally hot in 100+ F air. In cool weather this is functionally tolerable, but in warm air all of these radios (XTR1, XTR2, Orbiter, and similar) can overheat and have some of the firmware's real-time processes fail. In a car in summer, the XTR2 needs to have a cool-air source beyond convection, otherwise it will overheat and fail (temporarily many times, then finally permanently). Also, high-dust environments can put a layer of insulating dust inside the radio, increasing the potential for overheats.
(a2) Electrical: Also given the power consumption, practical-life batteries are around 10 to 20 Ah lead-acid or similar unit (300 Ah lead-acid jump starter units work wonderfully in this role--they can easily power the XTR2 all day). They don't consume enough power in a day to drain a healthy car battery below crank potential, but in a day can possibly drain a motorcycle battery below crank potential. Also, (as noted below) some XTR2 radios will have problems with less-than 11 VDC operation.
(b) Not the best button assignment layout -- The keypad on the face of the XTR1 and XTR2 has a sub-optimal assignment layout which deeply begs for intellectual improvements. The use of the keys could be massively improved with a straight numeric arrangement with a shift/2nd key (like a calculator or cell phone). The keys are usable and easily learnable, but the layout ignores critical functionality (audio volume and muting, for example), diminishes important functionality (memory for example) while highlighting seldom-used functionality (display brightness (the "DISP" key) for example).
(c) Audio volume is not fully adjustable and cumbersome to access -- The earphone/headphone jack is exactly the line-level output on other units, and in most cases is too loud for headphone use. The audio "volume" adjustments range from too loud to much too loud. The XTR1 has a nice, side-mounted volume control that is conspicuously missing from the XTR2. To safely use this radio with headphones, the headphones must have a high impedence, have in-line volume controls somewhere, or have several headphones fanned out with a 2- or 3-way splitter. (The implicit upside here is that the radio will drive several headphones and recorder inputs when using a splitter).
(d) Sluggish LCD (very minor very temporary nuisance). At temperatures below around 70 F (startup in a normal-temperature), the LCD itself is momentarily sluggish. At 90 F operating temperature (after warmup), operation is fine. At around 30 to 50 F (cold-air startup), any moving or changing graphics on the display is a vague blur.
(e) Some voltage sensitivity. If running slightly under voltage, below 11 volts, some XTR2 radios will lock-up, go into repeating resets (perpetually flash the "Sirius" logo every couple seconds), and generally glitch out (particularly after warm up or if already hot). The warmer the radio at undervoltage, the more probable the malfunctions. 12 to 15 volts is tolerable, though although higher voltages render slightly higher heat output.
Conclusion:
I could write *a lot* more, but I'm running long already. This is very good little radio. It's a little user-quirky and some thought has to go into avoiding overheating and undervoltage. It's also sturdy, but that doesn't means it can be abused forever. All in all, I'm very happy with the little radio!
