TSS-Radio

As usual, things have been going great here at TSS-Radio. The weather is great and its the time of year for installing that new SIRIUS system in your car or truck!
I have been taking pictures to help everyone out with their install. We have added detail pictures to all of the antennas so that you can now see what the connectors on each one are like. Hopefully this will clear up any confusion about which antenna you need for your receiver. As you may or may not know, there are 2 types of antenna connector. The first type is the Fakra connector which is a square plastic connector and only found on much older receivers like the Kenwood and some OEM SIRIUS car receivers (i.e. Infinity). The other type is a regular SMB which is what the majority of receivers and docking stations have. The SMB can be straight or right angle. I have also added photos to the Truck antenna to make it easier to see what the mounting hardware is like.

In other TSS news, we will be getting the much sought after Home Antenna back in stock. The Home Antenna can be mounted on the outside of your house for a clearer view of the sky. We have also just added a part that will help you get a cleaner looking vehicle Installation is the 12v Power Hardwire Cable. This cable will allow you to have the power for your 12v receiver hardwired to your cars power, NO MORE CIGARETTE LIGHTER ADAPTER!
While we are on the subject of antennas and installation, we would love to see your Sirius Installation! If you live in the Chicago area and have a great Sirius Installation in your vehicle, email me at ross@tss-radio.com. Have a great 4th!

Ross

Good things have been happening here at TSS-Radio. We are finally settling in to our new digs here in the Windy City and things are really falling in to place! Our new space is great and all is well. Hopefully all is well with you also.
There have been a number of new and old items that have been generating many questions. I am going to try to answer the most asked questions right here… Our favorite new item is the new Sportster 4 Receiver, but many have been asking about the release dates for a boombox and homekit. We believe that the home kit will be here in July and the boombox will be here in August. These are only guesstimates, so don’t take our word on this one.

Another frequently asked question is “when will the GM Sirius Connect be released?” This is a part that will allow you to convert your XM ready GM stock headunit to a SIRIUS Satellite receiver. This was supposed to be released last year, and Howard Stern has mentioned that it is available on air a few times recently, but unfortunatelyHoward is wrong and it is has not been released. The release date that we have gotten from SIRIUS is August, but we will keep you informed of any news with this unit.

The other big question is “When will the Outdoor Home Antenna be back in stock?” and we have good news on this one! It will be back in stock next Friday, June 30th!!! Stay tuned for this fabled parts return…

In another step in the right direction BMW Canada and SIRIUS Canada announced that they have inked an exclusive long term deal to include SIRIUS Satellite Radio options in the Fall of 2006 in some BMW models. By 2007 BMW plans to offer all models SIRIUS Satellite Radio ready. This is a good sign for SIRIUS in Canada, were growth in subscriptions has been trending similar to the US. Sirius Canada has also added some US content such as Howard Stern, Backspin, and Fox News. SIRIUS world domination is only around the corner.

The Boston Herald recently published an article entitled Stern Sirius-ly annoys MIT radios listeners about how some radio listeners are accidentally getting snippets of SIRIUS programming, primarily Stern’s show when they are driving next to cars that are listening to SIRIUS.

The reason why that is happening is that the most common way for people to install SIRIUS into their car is with a Portable, or Plug N Play, SIRUS Radio.

SIRIUS wanted to make their basic radios easy to install, so they included a little FM transmitter in each of the basic radios. The user then sets the SIRIUS radio to broadcast on an unused frequency (in the article they mention that many people have tuned to 88.1) and then tunes their car stereo to that same station. The problem in this case is that the little FM transmitters seem to be a bit too powerful, and the signal reaches outside of the car and into someone else’s car.

There are several important issues that this story highlights:

1. in the same way that the signal that your SIRIUS radio is broadcasting can interfere with other peoples’ signals, their signals, or the much more powerful signals transmitted by the radio stations, can interfere with your signal, reducing the quality of your SIRIUS listening experience. The best way to improve your SIRIUS sound quality is to install a Wired FM Modulator Relay ($19.99) or an Auxiliary Input Adapter ($50-$100). If you need help figuring out which one is right for you, email us at sales@tss-radio.com

2. Newspapers (and people) tend to unfairly scapegoat Stern. Just as many people have gotten interference from other SIRIUS stations, like Martha Stewart, and no newspaper picked up that story. Please guys, give Stern a break, he has a really entertaining show that many of us enjoy listening to. We don’t complain about your listening choices.

3. Many modern electronics devices run on old-fashioned radio waves- cordless telephones, cellular telephones, Wireless internet, etc. As devices proliferate there will be more conflicts. One way to alleviate the conflicts is to use the radio waves to transmit digital signals, like SIRIUS does. If FM radio used modern digital technology many more signals would be able to be broadcast on the same amount of radio spectrum and we would all be better off.

TeleClick in Canada just published an article entitled XM Radio Canada Reports 60% Growth, but Falls Behind Sirius.

Apparently SIRIUS added 100,000 subscribers in Canada from Jan1-May30 while XM added only 75,000. This is exactly the same pattern as in the US. The fact that SIRIUS is gaining in a market where Stern was not initialy as popular and the NFL has a limited fan-base shows just how deep SIRIUS’ content advantage is. Unless you are interested only in music, SIRIUS has a much wider selection of interesting programming than anyone else.

Also, these numbers are almost certainly understated, since many Canadian SIRIUS subscribers actually sign themselves up for the US programming, since it is better. They buy their radio from a SIRIUS vendor that ships to Canada and then either activate it using a friend or relative’s address in the US, or they buy a Pre-paid SIRIUS subscription card.

We really enjoy our Canadian customers and are pleased to ship any product that we sell to Canada.

So things are looking good for our favorite Satellite radio provider SIRIUS. They have just announced that they have signed up with Loral Space & Communications Ltd. who built the 3 currently orbitting satellites and the 1 backup satellite, to build 1 more satellite that will be unleashed into space in 2008. That means far better reception for all in the SIRIUS universe!

On another note, Howard Stern fans may have heard a conversation today on the show pertaining to the GM SIRIUS connect (SIR-GM1). Stern and the gang mentioned that they had the unit and that a friend had purchased one at a store. We just wanted to set the record straight by saying that SIRIUS GM Connect is still NOT available. After speaking to the Directed Electronics rep today, the release date has been pushed back again to July. We think that it will really be released closer to August due to the fact that it is not even production yet. In the mean time, we have our own fix for those who cannot wait . Check it out here TSS-RADIO. It is more expensive than the GM SIRIUS Connect, but it will work with some models.