BurnR8

does anyone know if a EuroComman unit can work with a car that is wired for SIRIUS? thanks....I have been banging my head against the wall trying to figure this out before I go and buy a EuroCommand unit....thanks

benzmodz

I heard it was one or the other. But then I also heard of one installation where the sat radio was channeled through the TV tuner via AUX in.

Moviela

The US SAT button on the Becker made Euro COMAND is a TV button. At this time SAT radio is not available outside the US for political reasons. The TV button in the Becker unit has firmware that plays nice with the TV tuner, but does not work with the Delphi SDARS receiver sold by Mercedes.

It would be possible to connect an aftermarket SAT receiver to a Becker COMAND, but you would need to use the AUX input, or go through the TV tuner as referenced above by Benzmodz.

The advantage of the Delphi receiver is that it displays the station in the little screen in the dash, and the softkeys on the US COMAND (Really an Alpine MCS2) allow control of the SAT stations. The buttons on the steering wheel also work with the Delphi. The audio signal is transported to the HU/AGW on fiber optic cables, which some claim to be better.

After market receivers do allow a choice of service providers between XM and Sirius, but you must find a place to park the receiver so you can change channels. You don't get the seamless integration with the displays and controls in the car. The signal must be fed to the HU/AGW (Head Unit/Audio Gate Way) on wire cables, which are susceptable to noise, and the antenna needs a home.

As for the COMAND itself, I found that the Euro model allows you to remove the navigation disk after you have set the destination. To my ear both the US and Euro versions sound the same.

BurnR8

thank you soooooo much! That pushed me off the fence...I am keeping my original command, saving the $1k and digging the SAT... Margaritville on SIRIUS keeps road rage to a minimum.....we can not lose that! Moviela...thanks a ton cuz you saved me some dough and some heart ache post install...

benzmodz

Im inclined to think that the reason I dont have it in Australia is that all of the satellites over Australia have a linear polarity and wisely all of the useful ones over the USA have a helical polarity.

This means two things. In Australia I have to use a $1000 digital meter to point a dish and in the USA the same signal can be pointed by 'uncle freddy' in his PJ's on a Saturday morning. It also means it cant be done whilst moving unless the gimble is mega accurate.

Campervans use satellite in Australia all the time and have the selection of over 100 radio stations. Just not whilst moving.

The margin for error in setup and direction is less than 0.1 inches for every 5dB.

Moviela

By political, I mean that other countries do not allow US broadcasters to beam signals directly to other countries. Just as the US prohibits almost all such broadcasts to the USA. People in Mexico and Canada have to sneak over the boarder to buy SAT service. Now if they would just remember to sneak back!

I beleave the SAT service in OZ is a locally produced product, and broadcast by an OZ company.

Sirius birds do fly over OZ (or at least near) because they are in low orbit, and therefore not stationary like most direct broadcast services. There are three birds, and they orbit different paths to enable one to be insight of North America at all times.

You are right about aiming a SAT dish in the US, at least in the south you need all the precision of a hand grenade. Directv offers mobile service that can be received whilst moving in your aircraft or car. The car antenna is huge and expensive. The aircraft receiver is frightful. You must, however, sign a contract that you will not use the receivers outside the United States.

benzmodz

If you are saying that Sirius has global relay then the service should work in Australia with a USA registered setup shipped in a crate and running here.

For kicks anyone who is willing to give it a shot can confirm the possibility and also find out if Guam has it. Otherwise it is a network that functions within the line of sight of the USA mainland.

pa28pilot

I suppose the bigger problem is that Worldspace's AsiaSat doesn't seem to include you in the footprint, though it looks like the Northwestern coast might be in the fringe area.

If I recall correctly they're using larger receive antennas than the SDARS services in the U.S., but still smaller than my Inmarsat M phone's briefcase top.

pa28pilot

Are you certain of this? My impression is that the Sirius satellites are in a Molniya or (HEO) orbit, which while not geosynchronous, would keep them over the U.S. most of the time.

Moviela

'tis true they are in HEO, but my spies at Loral tell me they are three different orbits, and unlike most Russian Molniya (lightning) birds with 12 hour orbits, Sirius birds take 24 hours. This gives them 16 hour daily "hang time" over 96 W.

They also report that reception would be difficult because the uplink is in New Jersey, and when uplink is lost, the transmitters turn off to conserve power, and to avoid sending signal where reception is not authorized by governments or content providers.

SUNILP

The EUro COmand cannot work with a factory SIRIUS tuner. Only USA comand can do that. However, you can use the aux input for a clean signal.

GATLEEVA

Are you sure about this? I can change my EURO COMAND to a US COMAND by going thru the SERV, MUTE, PHONE button sequence. Once I do that, the VIDEO button then pulls up a Satellite screen. But since I don't have a satellite radio hooked up yet, I cannot confirm that it would work.

MBenzNL

that DOES work like that HOWEVER - if one has the UHI/MHI phone installed, the comand requires a software version that is NEWER then the software that YOUR US/ECE switcheable comand has and once that newer software has been uploaded one looses the possibility to switch from US to ECE and back

greetingz,