Sirius XM Radio Inc. is getting ready for the launch of the Sirius FM-5 satellite, the latest bird in the satellite radio's roster meant to improve the signal of the service.
The launch of the Sirius FM-5 satellite is scheduled for June 29th, 2009 and will be inserted into 96 degree W. L. orbital location.
Remember, Sirius FM-5 will be the first geostationary satellite added to the satcaster's stable of satellites. The addition of this geostationary satellite will augment Sirius' constellation (a plan that was announced nearly 3 years ago), and will add to Sirius' existing three satellites currently operating in a highly elliptical geosynchronous orbit.
In laymen's speak: Sirius' current three satellites are in constant motion over North America, while this new satellite will remain in a fixed position.
Aside from its position, the Sirius FM-5 will also pack 30% more punch than its previous satellites, adding an additional 1.35 Mb/s throughput.
Sirius XM recently filed an application with the FCC "to use the S- and X-band antennas on its Ellenwood, Georgia earth station" for in-orbit testing of the new satellite.
[FCC Application (PDF) via Satellite Radio TechWorld]
Remember, Sirius FM-5 will be the first geostationary satellite added to the satcaster's stable of satellites. The addition of this geostationary satellite will augment Sirius' constellation (a plan that was announced nearly 3 years ago), and will add to Sirius' existing three satellites currently operating in a highly elliptical geosynchronous orbit.
In laymen's speak: Sirius' current three satellites are in constant motion over North America, while this new satellite will remain in a fixed position.
Aside from its position, the Sirius FM-5 will also pack 30% more punch than its previous satellites, adding an additional 1.35 Mb/s throughput.
Sirius XM recently filed an application with the FCC "to use the S- and X-band antennas on its Ellenwood, Georgia earth station" for in-orbit testing of the new satellite.
[FCC Application (PDF) via Satellite Radio TechWorld]
Appropriately named , FM .
well, that's not a waste of money
Is anybody at Orbitcast doing any investigating into the issue of online streaming bitrate for subscribers that extended their membership prior to the March 11th upgrade???
That image seems awful phallic, but as Freud might say...sometimes a satellite is just a satellite.
Will the extra throughput create any additional channel capacity? Or will it merely provide better Forward Error Correction (and therefore a more robust signal)?
BTW, as someone who would like to use Sirius at home, I'm looking forward to this launch, as I get perfect reception of XM, but putting a Sirius antenna in a similar location results in reception that comes and goes. Even with a Sirius antenna installed on the outside of my house, aimed straight up (which is per sirius.com instructions for my area) - I still have some brief gaps in signal when a satellite is passing me by.
the sirius drop out once or twice a day is typical for me in WI
i get a good sig the rest of the day
Just out of curousoty, if you are home, why not just use your internet connection. No reception problems there.
Anyway, I read a report on Direct TV about how they have like 12 satellites now and more HD channels than anyone else. I was thinking, that could be the future of SIRI XM (not HD channles per se) but just superior signal and service capabilities. I am not sure what they would do with the extra bandwidth (if that's the right term) but I bet they have some good ideas.
I think it will open up bandwidth for more channels and will probaly be one the first sats that can broadcast the xm stream to siri radio's.
Cool!!! Sirius spends Millions and i get the service for free ! Gotta love that !
Why do you believe tha this will improve your reception?
I don't get it. The only purpose that I can guess here is that this somehow is a hot spare for the Sirius constellation. Of course that is very important. I don't see how this could possibly result in any radio improvement. Perhaps this can be somehow used for backseat TV.
rocket launch! I think there is more to this story...
will this satellite have deep play lists?
The satellites do not "pass by you." They are in geosynchronous orbit which means they sit still in the sky relative to your position. Your loss of signal is more than likely due to some combination of environmental conditions and/or poor signal strength.
Could this additional throughput be used to expand mobile video capability?
OMG - now that's funny!
Their debt ratio just went up again by 333 Million as the wireless cellular internet on the ground keeps expanding and will eventually out grow their US/CA range.
They have it backwards.
What the???
Didn't these idiot's just merge with the other idiot's in the name of "savings"? Didn't the other idiot's have a system of 3? 4? geostationary satellites? So Mel and his current group of management idiot's are cutting the balls off talent, content, quality, and programming in the name of "savings", are BILLIONS and BILLIONS in debt, have a HUGE churn rate away from them, and yet still plan to continue to maintain 2 separate systems of satellites and all the needed ground systems to control them?
Good thinking idiot's NOT!
Good thing I kept all of my Sirius equipment. I wonder if the overlay modulation will be compatible with current equipment. And, if it is -- will they finally improve sound quality on the Sirius side? I could only hope! This would be excellent; a 30% improvement in sound quality would push me from my XM equipment to my Sirius equipment.
Of course... they could opt to use it all on video...
Right now, I stuck with XM because I preferred the sound quality over Sirius.
I seriously can't believe the attitude of some of you people. If you aren't bitching about the programming or the prices, its the brief periods where your radio cuts out. I get the fact that you are frustrated but SIRIUS does something like this to increase signal strength for people who probably otherwise could only have weak or no signal at all.
I just can't understand for the life of me why everyone needs to bitch about everything. Do you people just sit around your house all day and bitch and moan about a service that costs about as much a month as coffee a couple times a month? Move on, at least something is being done.
Oh I also forgot the obligatory "F U Mel LOLOLOL YOU DUMMIE, I COULD RUN THIS COMPANY BETTERER THEN YOU, HURRR"
hopefully this will improve dropouts, my wife and I joke since getting our OEM Sirius in our new vehicle that during a dropout a bird must have flown by. Never have such issues with our XM radios (even with an XM antenna mounted on a dashboard).
To answer some questions I guess there are a lot of clueless people out there. This will help home users keep a signal, because it doesn't move, so therefore you can place an antenna in its direction, and get reception without a dropout. As far as not listening on the internet you can't recieve every channel online ass hole that is why people don't listen to everything online.
Uh, didja even read the article, Pinball Wizard? Hot spare? Like they could leave it up there and it would move itself from a geosynchronous orbit around the equator to an orbit that goes way far north and south?
Why don't you negative nellies get your head out of your asses and realize what a great tech this is. Let this company move forward and build a great business. What are you people afraid of? My god, i can't believe theres still idiots out there that can't see this. Except for the NAB of course. That satellite probably has alot more tech than you and i can imagine. GIVE THIS BUSINESS A CHANCE!!!! Thank You, Charles Scott, mikemscott@hotmail.com
You forgot the mandatory 0.0, Howard Rules, O&A Rules, Baba Booey, etc.
It would be foolish for Sirius to just let this satellite sit on the ground - they started planning on this sat several years ago, and have already paid a large amount of money on it - might as well send it up and benefit from the work they did rather than have it rot in a warehouse somewhere.
Besides, there's always the chance it'll cartwheel horribly and the insurance company will pay them back for the entire satellite and launch, they could use the money :D
Sirius is the best radio in the world. With the Iphone and internet subscription sirius will rock the world. All yo bashing shit heads can eat a big phat dick. Sirius is the best and will be the biggest and best ever radio until the ages of ages amen! Up again today and the stock is going up punk bitches. The most hated will be the most loved!
As an FYI it take 3-4 years to construct / launch a satellite. This satellite has been in construction well before a merger was announced. If SIRIUS terminated their agreement they would have lost a significant amount of money. The choices were probably lose money with nothing - or spend more but have additional coverage / capacity.
Lastly, the satellites that were acquired through XM are not new and have had some issues. Satellites do not have an infinite life span and the service will need to add newer birds to the fleet at certain intervals.
Great Tech lives within the internet and consumer devices like the iPhone and not the pie in the sky.
Satellites were cool 10 years ago. It's time think global.
Not bitchin just saying... And I know slightly off topic. How is it that I briefly drop signal when I go under a single bridge but not in a tunnel or parking garage?
Bman, the tunnel or parking garage is probably in an area served by a terrestrial repeater, while the bridge may not be.
I would imagine one of the hopes for the new satellite is that it could broadcast to both XM and Sirius radios. Up to this point, Sirius satellites have, as the original article said, in motion relative to the earth's position, while XM's have been geostationary. The XM way has shown itself to be superior technically.
This company could go a long way toward greater profitability by serving both radio services from the same satellite, and I'm sure that's in the plan for this one.
I am starting to realize that for the most part the anonymous posters don't give a shit about what they are writing. They are people that are having fun stiring the pot so that everyone can start ripping into each other once they said someting obnoxious. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the anonymous posters are people who sign in at other times. Maybe even people directly involved with Orbitcast or Sirius XM. Everyone should be required to sign in before posting a comment.
the sirius sats move in an orbit - the xm sats are geo stationary
Hey,
I'm not the anon that you replied to however; I do work at SIRIUS hence why I want to keep my job. I'm the guy who told everyone to grow up like 10 posts up, I'm not hiding from anything besides the fact that I'm not into the idea of losing a job I actually enjoy just because you don't think its cool for me to post without a name.
I agree.
It's the old story of the "telephone tough guy." Some will say all kinds of reckless, irresponsible things, use profanity, make threats, etc., if they can do so behind what they perceive as a wall of anonymity. Yet, in person, they couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag.
I'm sorry that there is so much confusion about this satellite. Perhaps my comments can help.
It is extremely important to have a spare satellite that can be quickly activated in the event of a problem with the primary satellites. XM has two half power satellites in orbit and ready to go. The Sirius system has only had what we call a ground spare. Unfortunately it takes weeks at best to put a ground spare in service. FM-5 will be parked in the middle of the continent and be available to be quickly switched on. At this position it can provide service instead of any one of the other 3 Sirius satellites with only a little deterioration in signal.
The extra power in the FM-5 transponders is necessary to make up for the position that is approximately 7 thousand miles higher and far to the south of the active portion of the orbits of the other Sirius satellites.
I hope this helps.
I can understand not using your name if you're a Sirius XM employee, but this fact makes your participation here highly valuable.
As such, I think you can see that there are, indeed, some cranks that are going to gripe about anything the company does. You're going to get that on most forums of this type, because the dissatisfied are more likely to be vocal than the satisfied.
But I think there are also some legitimate concerns, such as channel changes with no notice and major changes in programming philosophy for those who had XM. I'm not suggesting that you personally have the power to fix these things, but it would be useful, I think, for someone in the company to note these listener's concerns and consider addressing at least some of them. I think there are too many good customers who are displeased with the direction the service has taken to simply write it all off.
xcountry,
I count my lucky stars that there are dissenters like you ( and NJRonbo) and others too numerous to mention that have the moxie to tell it like it is. The last thing we need is for Sirius/XM to become even more complacent and aloof. They need their cage rattled, otherwise they will continue to treat the subscribers as an afterthought. If and when they ever adopt the philosophy that the customer is always right, it is then and only then that this company will finally have a chance to assert itself. They need to embrace the subscribers, instead of treating them like second class citizens. An amazing thing happens when you are nice to people - THEY ARE NICE BACK TO YOU!!! This basic, fundamental truth is completely lost on the management, and it is killing satellite radio. This is a service that we are paying for, and it's about time they started to live up to their end of the bargain, namely..... to SERVE US!
Thanks, Steve. Yes, for reasons we've discussed before, the actions of Sirius XM's management do seem to show a disdain for customers, especially those of us who came from XM. Customers can be unreasonable, too, but when you have lots of people on internet forums, in news media articles and in personal conversations saying the same kinds of things, it needs to be considered.
Ok, so since you like your job, I should accept the poor manner in which your company treats subscribers like me. You are telling people to "grow up" because you don't want your company's cage rattled. Tough Shit! The “customer is always right” is a foreign concept to Sirius. As long as I am a paying customer, I'll speak how I feel. If Opie and Anthony were no longer on, I'd go in a second. As long as they are still on and I am paying for the service, I'll demand what I was accustomed to when XM existed. Just accepting things as they are doesn't inspire change and that is not me.
I don't care if people sign in or not. Half the people who sign in aren't signing in with their real name. I don't think that XCOUNTY had his name legally changed to a now defunct XM channel. I just think that it far too easy to post anonymously when all you have to do is put in a fake name and email address as opposed to signing in under a real email account. I just don't see the point someone anonymously referring to another poster as a “cunt”, “asshole” or telling someone they should die because they disagree with them. Honestly I think most of the profanity laden posts that appear on Orbitcast are coming from those who are bored and get a kick out of seeing people’s reactions to over the top offensive posts. At the end of the day it doesn't matter either way. I just think that if people have to sign in, their comments would be a little more constructive and on topic.
Posters like XCOUNTY, Steve O, and NJ Ronbo are leaving comments that are filled with passion and disappointment. They are not posting immature attacks on others because they disagree with them. There are plenty of people who post that have positive things to say about the service and they have every right to voice that opinion. I just think that a site like this works better when there is diversity; where the comments are balanced. If there was nothing but “everything is wonderful” posts on this board, it would be a tremendous bore to read. I would have to say the majority of people who are asking for changes are doing so because they enjoy the medium and want to enjoy as much as they used to. With every merger, companies change and it takes time for them to get back on their feet. Sirius is no different. Problem is that if no one complains, everything will be considered fine and nothing will change. I’d be willing to bet that if the changes were made that most of us are clamoring for, those who are content now wouldn’t even notice. Only difference would be that a lot more subscribers would be singing Sirius’ praises. That day still may come, that is why I am still here, just in case it does.
You guys are so confused.
Sirius satellites move geosynchronous, but NOT geostationary.
They MOVE relative to you. This means if you stand in one place you will lose the signal two times per day. They make a figure eight pattern in the sky. There are three, but only two of them broadcast at any one time as the third rounds southern South America.
The new bird will be geostationary at around 95-degrees longitude. The reason Sirius did not originally use geostationary is because they thought the satellite will be too low in the sky. XM gets around this by having two birds at opposite sides of the sky.
None of this will add any new bandwidth. It is intended for stationary radios to get reliable signals. It also means that, like XM, Sirius can feed their receivers using the new Sirius bird instead of renting space on another company's satellite like they do now for the repeater network.
Since this sat will be geo-synchronus it will follow earths rotation. Staying in the same spot above as the earth orbits. It could be that there is a lapse in signal between the other two Sats as they trade off their broadcasting daily. The geo-synch could keep the signal going to the repeaters while the trade off is completed. Disadvantage of a geo-sat orbit is a lower resolution if used for weather etc. Instead of communication.