XM Radio Problem: Fortunately, this is an intermittent problem, so I can still use the radio when it decides to work. It's a SiriusXM Onyx, and I use it in my car. A couple of years...

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Fortunately, this is an intermittent problem, so I can still use the radio when it decides to work. It's a SiriusXM Onyx, and I use it in my car. A couple of years ago, it started losing the antenna signal. I tried several different antennas and several different cradles, yet the problem persists. It is totally random, and nothing I do gets it working again. XM radios are cheap enough to buy, but this one has a lifetime subscription, so if I dump it, I would have to pay the monthly fee, something I'm not going to do. I was allowed to transfer the warranty only once, and I already did that. I'm betting it's an internal fault in the radio that causes it to lose the antenna connection. One "solution" on YouTube involves playing around with the antenna connections on the radio and the cradle, but that isn't the problem.

I was wondering if any of you have had this "no antenna" problem.

Manglesphoto Loc: 70 miles south of St.Louis

jerryc41 wrote:

Fortunately, this is an intermittent problem, so I... (show quote)

I did the Srius radio a few years ago
can't remember the fee now
but it doubled the next year and I dumped it. It was nice but I do enjoy the sound of silence when driving. Never missed it!!!

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Manglesphoto wrote:

I did the Srius radio a few years ago
can't remember the fee now
but it doubled the next year and I dumped it

Their billing system is awful. When they offered Lifetime, it was not listed on their site. I had to phone them, and it took forever (almost) to get it. Now Lifetime is gone. Even trying to find the monthly rate can be a challenge because there are so many variables. They used to offer listening on the computer when you had a subscription, but now they charge extra for that. I use Pandora, instead.

Jim Plogger Loc: East Tennessee

I have had XM for 10 years. I have never paid the full subscription rate. I never knew about any lifetime plan. Three years ago when renewal time came around the rate was $185. The representative I talked with refused to budge on the rate so I dropped it. Less than two months later I got an email asking me to "come back" with a special rate of $49. I took them up on that. The next year the renewal was $191 so I called and ended up with 50% off of that rate for another year.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

It may not be the antenna. You live in the northern portion of the United States and are receiving a broadcast signal from a satellite over the equator. That makes the satellite's signal have a relatively low angle of incidence in your area. So, the loss of signal is likely to be because mountains, tall buildings and areas with dense foliage of trees between you and the satellite can, in certain spots, attenuate the signal from the satellite enough that your radio cannot pick it up. If your XM signal returns when you move to an area where there is less terrain blockage, this confirms the diagnosis.

kerry12 Loc: Harrisburg, Pa.

I've had Sirius/XM for 13 years. Never paid more than $105.00 per year. Every year they send a bill for $212.00 and I tell them I'm going to canael. After some negotiating, I'm back to $105.00 per year. The only time I lose signal is if I am out of the satellites line of sight.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

ecblackiii wrote:

It may not be the antenna. You live in the norther... (show quote)

There are only two small spots here where I lost the signal, so it's not a signal problem. When it fails, I could be driving anywhere. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't. The radio is only three years old, but it failed after the warranty period.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

kerry12 wrote:

I've had Sirius/XM for 13 years. Never paid more than $105.00 per year. Every year they send a bill for $212.00 and I tell them I'm going to canael. After some negotiating, I'm back to $105.00 per year. The only time I lose signal is if I am out of the satellites line of sight.

They keep reducing what they offer. The offerings on my current plan - Music Only, I think - keep getting reduced, but I could pay more to get back what they remove.

This is what I found about their current pricing.
https://www.siriusxm.com/ourmostpopularpackages?intcmp=GN_HEADER_NEW_Subscriptions_SubscribeNow_ComparePackages#

Unfortunately, "58 Channels" tell you nothing about what those channels offer. It took a long time on Chat, but I got the list.
http://www.siriusxm.com/channellineup/xmmostlymusic

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

An antenna is simply a piece of wire. It does not "fail". As you just said, it happens when driving. Since the satellite broadcast signal is at constant power level, the problem has to be either the location of the radio at the time, an intermittent loose connection where the antenna is connected to the radio, or a weak and failing amplifier in the radio.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

ecblackiii wrote:

An antenna is simply a piece of wire. It does not "fail". As you just said, it happens when driving. Since the satellite broadcast signal is at constant power level, the problem has to be either the location of the radio at the time, an intermittent loose connection where the antenna is connected to the radio, or a weak and failing amplifier in the radio.

It doesn't matter where I am or what antenna is connected, so it must be an internal radio problem. There's no sense in my taking it apart because I'm sure there's nothing obvious I would see in there.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

So what was the point of your original post in the first place?

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

ecblackiii wrote:

So what was the point of your original post in the first place?

"I was wondering if any of you have had this "no antenna" problem.

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

If you had done a simple search on the internet, you would have found hundreds of people commenting on it. So, please don't waste people's time when you don't want an answer to the problem.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

ecblackiii wrote:

If you had done a simple search on the internet, you would have found hundreds of people commenting on it. So, please don't waste people's time when you don't want an answer to the problem.

I've looked online before. Today, I see several references to the antenna out of the 3.9 million articles Google found. The contact point between the radio and the dock is not the problem, and my antenna solder is fine. The other suggestion - replacing the antenna - would be a waste of time and money. This seems to be a very common problem with XM radios, so I certainly wouldn't buy another. At least I got a couple of years out of it, and it still works when it wants to. Whatever the problem is, it's somewhere on that circuit board. Maybe most XM radios have antenna connection problems for different reasons, and these people found a solution that works for them.

I think this is best comment on the topic. "No one knows what's wrong with it."

ecblackiii Loc: Maryland

I've had a total of 7 XM/Sirius radios installed in vehicles and had no problems with any of them since 2007. You must have gotten a lemon