SAguirre

I have not seen this on a previous thread on this matter and I don’t want to repeat things, but if you like SIRIUS and don’t want to be bothered with paying for it every month or once a year there is a life membership available.

I bought my car the last week of August and the dealer had agreed to install Sat. radio for me at no charge. (I also did not want a hole drilled on my trunk lid and then have the ugly black plastic painted to match the paint so they did a great job putting the antenna inside the rear window shelf. Works great except when I have an electric cooler in the trunk (it causes the radio to intermittently loose signal for some reason). I will be getting to the bottom of this problem, but I have not had time or desire to find the interference yet.

So anyway here is what happened. Part of the installation is one year fee service (worth about $144). When I called SIRIUS because my home address was wrong, the customer service person mentioned that I could upgrade my account to lifetime* member. It costs $499 and then you never have to pay again. I immediately thought this was a good deal since I keep cars for a long time and I really use and love the SAT radio.

I got SIRIUS to prorate and credit my one year free that was included in the installation and I got the lifetime membership for about $350. They way I see it is now I have one less thing to worry about paying for. I wish I could also do this with TELE-AID. I am going to keep it only because of the remote unlock feature.

SIRIUS really screwed up my account and billed me an extra $75 because they cancelled my old subscription (that incurred the $75 cancellation fee) to activate my lifetime membership. It also took 4 phone calls to get all this fixed and get my money back, so they credited me an extra $40 for my time and hassle. They really screwed up, but also wanted to fix their mistakes. That is all one can ask for I guess. I also own stock in SIRIUS, they made so many little mistakes and it took so long to get them all fixed that I thought I should sell it, so I put a sell order for when it hits $4.50.

*Lifetime membership is only on that car and on that receiver; they said that if it got damaged and I had to pay for it, then I would have to pay again for the membership. If I did not have to pay for the replacement then the lifetime membership would transfer over to the new receiver. Lets also hope they turn a profit and don't go bankrupt.

Just a long-winded FYI,

Steve Aguirre

vitaman

I had the antenna put in the rear window shelf too, but had them move it near the Teleaid on the roof. Sirius has come out with a mini antenna that is hardly noticeable. The reception went from pretty good to excellent. I loved not seeing the antenna at all but I like better reception even more.

konigstiger

Steve,

I wouldn’t sell just yet. Remember, Howard Stern (HS) will air in 06 and he opened the door for many other artists to follow. The hype has cooled somewhat but rest assured it will be resurrected substantially come 06. Sure, it’s going to fluctuate up and down marginally in the mean tine and SIRIUS has a way to go to rid company debt, nonetheless given such an inexpensive entry cost IMHO I recommend to hold.

HS – whether you’re pro or con concerning his show content or style the fact remains that he will drastically increase SIRIUS subscriptions and stockholder profit. Also, 20% of his annual income throughout his contract will be generated from SIRIUS stock. Do the math.

SAguirre

First on the antena, I have not had any reception problems. Except when I had the electric cooler on. Otherwise it has been perfect. I drive in mountain canyons and other tree filled areas and never have loss of signal. I am curious however what your antenna looks like. Can you post a picture?

About the stock, I got it really really low. I also think that it will go up and HS will help it. I don't care for him too much, but he should be able to do his thing. I will talk to my broker again, but I think that 100% return is OK anyday. Sometimes it is better to take it and run than to wait and go broke. However, I think that I will look at the sell order again and make sure it is a good idea.

Steve

interpol

OK, I admit it, I'm a Howard Stern fan... and while I was never really intersted in SIRIUS before, I now want to get it installed before Howard switches by the end of next year. I don't like the idea of the trunk mounted antenna... anyone have any pics of the rear deck mounted one? How much to install?

SAguirre

I'll post a picture (hopefully by the end of next weekend). My Camera is loaned out. If you are a Stern fan you can also get SIRIUS on Dish Network at home. BUT, only the first 100 channels, so I don't know if H. Stern is going to be on a higher channel. They are between 6000 and 6099 on dish.

Steve

paulhu

I got Sirius with the low profile Terk Xmicro antenna mounted on rooftop. I get my first year FREE subscription, then I will go for the lifetime subscription. The programs are so good, I hardly listen to my local radio stations anymore.

jcma2ra

Here is a good look at the antenna.
I have the antenna supplied with the sirius system i had put in and this looks very much like it.
http://www.fotoconnection.com/vi-8658____.html

SAguirre

The antenna looks good. The only reason that I suggested getting the credit for the first year free membership (that technically isn't free since it is paid out of the expensive installation) is that then your lifetime membership costs only about $350 and then would be paid for in 2.5 years. Otherwise, if you wait a year, the cost will be $499 and then it will be paid for in 3.5 years. It's not that much money, but think about it, the life membership will be $144 cheaper if you get it sooner rather than later. I only got it right away because the dealer actually installed SIRIUS free of charge to me, so I figured I could pay for the lifetime membership and forget about it.

I also love the programs and choices of music. The other thing is that there is no good reception in the mountains here. It is great to get the same broadcast of news or music station during a long trip no matter where you are. Since CNN, and all the other news networks are on it it was great to listen to the presidential debates while in the middle of nowhere in Nebraska. Now I am spoiled.

When I go under tunnels, it can almost make it throught he whole tunnel before the buffer runs out (these are the tunnels in clear creek canyon on CO 6). I am very happy with the rear window ledge mounting of the antenna.

Steve Aguirre