XM Outage Update
Tuesday, May 22, 2007 at 6:18 AM
Tags: 2, XM
XM issued an email update with the geeky subject line "Service Degradation Alert" that gave the following info:
"You may be experiencing temporary degraded performance with your XM reception at the present time. XM is aware of the issue and working diligently to resolve it as soon as possible. We anticipate full signal strength will be restored by early Tuesday morning."
At the time of posting, I still don't have signal here in Connecticut.
As far as I know, XM-3 (Rhythm) was experiencing performance issues and needed a software update to fix. As part of the process of updating, the satellite needed to go offline while it was being readjusted. (If any XM engineers have a more detailed description, I'd love to know.)
David Cavossa, of the Satellite Industry Association, said it perfectly. "These are very complex machines," he said. "Once they're launched we can't just send the Maytag repairman up there."
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DC, 2.5 miles from XM, 6.45AM:
In the car driving from Potomac to DC, spotty reception. In the office, my Helix says:
Sat 1 BER % 100
Sat 2 BER % 2.5
TERR BER % 100
Sat 1 C/N 3.0
Sat 2 C/N 6.25
Somehow, with my corner office in the alley, I get Sat 2.
Posted by: iband | May 22, 2007 6:49 AM
Still getting just the west satellite here... no repeater or east satellite. Fortunately, the west satellite is the only signal source I could receive at work too, so I won't have any problems there either. My only dropouts on the way to work will be going under the bridges; thank god for a short, north-south commute!
Posted by: MikeV ? | May 22, 2007 6:59 AM
Got an update here possible,
"We do expect to return to normal service levels this evening," Patterson said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSN2136807020070522?feedType=RSS&rpc=22
As the story was released at 1:30AM EDT, "this evening" would mean the night of May 22, 2007.
Posted by: Ken | May 22, 2007 8:00 AM
Drove to work at about 7:00 this morning, tried to turn on my Roady XT, but audio was basically unlistenable. Satellite signal strength was all over the map, but generally nonexistent, and no terrestrial signal at all. This is in the Philadelphia area.
I'm on XM online at work. Things better be back up to full speed again for the drive home.
Posted by: Jim | May 22, 2007 8:01 AM
My guess is that Sat 1 feeds the east coast repeaters -- no Sat 1, no repeater signal.
8.06am - no changes since previous post. So much for "early" Tuesday morning, unless they meant PST!!
I have not received the XM email, either.
Posted by: iband | May 22, 2007 8:07 AM
I never had these issues with Sirius. This seems to happen at least once a year for XM.
Posted by: Philmore | May 22, 2007 8:21 AM
Philmore -- No, it does not happen once a year to XM. Get your facts straight. If you want to play the game "which service has the best signal", do your research. You will lose. Just ask the vast majority of Sirius listeners who listen at home. Enjoy playing "let's move the antenna now" -- it's a fun game and great for your cardio.
Posted by: iband | May 22, 2007 8:36 AM
Confirming Ken's report. My morning commute takes me up I-476 from the northwestern Philadelphia suburbs to Allentown PA. My impression is that this morning the signal was somewhat better than evening drive time on 5/21 (which was totally useless) but still not really what I would call listenable.
Oddly enough, around 11pm et last night (5/21) I had a stable three-bar signal in my driveway.
--
Margaret Stephanie Leber CCP, SCJP, SCWCD
http://voicenet.com/~maggie
AOPA 925383 - Amateur Radio Station K3XS - ARRL 39280 - AMSAT 32844
"The art of progress is to preserve order amid change
and to preserve change amid order."-A.N.Whitehead
Posted by: Maggie Leber | May 22, 2007 9:01 AM
"This seems to happen at least once a year for XM."
You seem to be talking out of your ass.
Posted by: MeatFarley ? | May 22, 2007 9:31 AM
Just tried calling XM customer service to see if there are any updates (my radio in the office is still saying no signal), and I keep getting a recording "all circuits are busy - please try your call again later"
Posted by: cjred685 | May 22, 2007 9:34 AM
New update on XMradio.com:
http://www.xmradio.com/notices/signaldeg.xmc
"As many of you know, XM customers have experienced service outages or significantly degraded service since Monday mid-morning, May 21.
We quickly identified the problem and are working hard to return to our normal levels of service. The problem occurred during the loading of software to a critical component of our satellite broadcast system, which resulted in a loss of one of our satellites. We expect normal service to resume midday today (eastern daylight time).
XM apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused. For updates, please go to www.xmradio.com
In the meantime, you can enjoy many of our music channels on XM Radio Online (xmro.xmradio.com) if you are close to computer.
Again, we regret any inconvenience for not having your XM Radio service fully available."
Posted by: syphix ? | May 22, 2007 9:44 AM
"This happens at least once a year..."
Horse crap. I've had XM since October '01. This has never happened.
One thing I have noticed is how much of a difference it makes in error correction when you don't have the redundant signal. Every underpass I go through is two dropouts (like Sirius does for both relatives that have it). Shows the value of the forward error correction that XM was smart enough to use.
Posted by: TVGenius ? | May 22, 2007 10:00 AM
Posted by: Philmore >>
Liar.
Posted by: sternfan73 | May 22, 2007 10:09 AM
AFAIK, there've been two major satellite outages in the industry. XM's current one and one on a Sunday morning back in May(?) of '04.
Further, Sirius' constellation results in far less disruption due to satellite loss than does XM's.
First, Sirius' repeaters aren't fed by the satellites, but are instead fed by Ku-band broadcasts from commercial commsats (probably a side effect of moving satellites), so losing a Sirius satellite would have zero effect on the repeaters.
Further, for 8 or so hours a day, there would be no issue at all, since the dead satellite wouldn't be transmitting.
During the other 16 or so hours, dropouts would increase and hit a maximum point (possibly with total loss of service, depending on time of day) for up to eight hours and then service would return to normal levels.
Posted by: leviramsey ? | May 22, 2007 10:13 AM
Checked my Inno diagnostics screen this morning on the bus ride into NYC and my numbers were very similar to iband's. 100% bit error rate on both SAT 1 and TERR. As long as I was facing south, which was only a short part of the time, I could listen live, but for the most part I was listening to my pre-recorded content.
And I've been an XM sub since Dec 2004 and I've never experienced ANYTHING like this before. I can really appreciate having the repeater network now (especially with a portable in NYC).
Posted by: theicepik ? | May 22, 2007 10:17 AM
Yeah this is the first time this has ever happened for me (3 year XM subscriber) and it SUCKS. Repeaters are down here and satellite signal is very spotty. It is unlistenable.
I tried to listen to some terrestrial stations today for the first time in a while. Ugh. This just highlights how much I need XM.
Posted by: PhilR8 | May 22, 2007 10:21 AM
"Shows the value of the forward error correction that XM was smart enough to use."
TVGenius: The forward error correction is more helpful in recovering errors inside a packet, but doesn't help much once the packets disappear (as when you go through a tunnel).
XM's two satellites actually transmit the same broadcast signal, but one is slightly delayed from the other. The buffered advance stream can be used to fill in gaps from the other satellite when it drops out. The DSP in your receiver automatically does the work of filling in the missing gaps when one of the streams cuts out momentarily. If a repeater is available, that's used as well.
Posted by: chikoz ? | May 22, 2007 10:28 AM
My terrestrial signal is back here in Albany, NY
Posted by: xzi ? | May 22, 2007 11:32 AM
This is XM's shining moment, suck, then suck more, then suck harder, then suck til you BLOW!! what the hell does that mean... Sorry, I need my O&A fix...
Posted by: hard harry hardon | May 22, 2007 7:08 PM
I have been having problems with the XM signal since the first week in July (I live in the Harrisburg, PA area). Since then I have been calling XM with the problem. They refer me to the car dealer. The car dealer finds no problems with the unit. So I have been "throw" back and forth from the dealer to XM with no resolution to the problem. I just called today and cancelled my account. I think XM knows they are having trouble with their signal and they are keeping it quiet to avoid tons of customers complaining. XM SUCKS!
Posted by: Juan | August 24, 2007 5:19 PM