Best Place to buy Sirius Radio for your Truck?

Discussion in 'Trucking Electronics, Gadgets and Software Forum' started by RTR, Jan 1, 2015.

  1. RTR

    RTR Light Load Member

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    Looking for advice and suggestions on the best place to buy a Sirius Radio for my Truck. I have the port on the front of my Radio to plug into it, just not sure where and what type would be the best for me to buy. THANKS!:biggrin_25514:
     
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  3. crzyjarmans

    crzyjarmans Road Train Member

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    Online you can usually get better prices, just google "siriusxm"
     
  4. Bucky

    Bucky Light Load Member

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    Ebay is usually cheaper than Sirius/XM. Perhaps it's just me, but I think all the offerings of today are as cheaply made as possible. The wiring for today's models is so thin it's absurd. I can't tell you which is the exact best unit, but to check out what is the latest greatest from the XM site may help. There is likely a better warranty at XM than ebay, so perhaps that is worth factoring too.

    There used to be a fairly robust aftermarket for XM / Sirius radios with features aplenty. Not so much anymore. My best guess would be that XM priced the licensing too high for other radio makers in order to capture the entire radio unit market. Not sure, but it seems a plausible guess.

    I can tell you that a warranty claim to XM / Sirius is a half hour of speaking to folks with very little English in their speech. All pieces of the warrantied radio must be returned, regardless of what is wrong. Broken power cable? ALL the pieces must go back. Been there. Done that. Painful process of saying "What?" X 413. Don't want to go back.

    When the OEM skimpy little antenna wire breaks, I would suggest one of these
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Sirius-...8346?pt=US_Radio_Antennas&hash=item256f2a3a3a
    Wire tie it to a spring type clamp, and you're back in business. The unit lays flat or at an angle. MUCH more durable than the OEM car kit antenna.

    Clamp style. A 2 inch or similar will grip the mirror tubes.
    http://www.harborfreight.com/media/...b33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_20427.jpg

    I have a hard time believing the $50 truck stop antennas outperform the $10 indoor outdoor antennas, but I couldn't tell you for sure, but if the system is line of sight to the satellite, then the $10 should be almost the same. I'm too cheap to buy the $50 unit, so that's a big part of it too.

    Just a thought - instead of a $50 antenna, perhaps the way to go is to buy spare parts and stash them in the truck, like the power cord and an extra antenna from ebay. They sure are over priced if you need one on the road, and ebay takes a week if you will, to deliver replacements. Just sayin'
     
    Last edited: Jan 1, 2015
    dog-c Thanks this.
  5. Wolfyinc

    Wolfyinc Road Train Member

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    Dont buy the over priced stuff at the truck stops.

    I got my onyx plus at Bestbuy over a year ago and im even still using the magnet antenna that comes with it and everything still works perfectly fine. A lot of these trucks dont have much metal so I used a 15 lb rated 3m velcro strips and stuck it above the marker lights on the roof.
    Also if you do decide to get a mushroom type antenna then order online since they will be a lot cheaper than the truck stop, just those magnet antennas are over $30 at a truck stop but you can get them online for like $15.
     
  6. striker

    striker Road Train Member

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    tss radio is an authorized SXM reseller, they have a bunch of radios on sale now with rebates on a few of them, making the price lower.
     
  7. blairandgretchen

    blairandgretchen Road Train Member

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    Mobile spec $50 mushroom I bought, no longer worked within 4 months.

    Magnet mount with a home made setup is much better.
     
  8. Justin Sane

    Justin Sane Light Load Member

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    xm-radio-satellite.com is a good site. I take my radio out of the truck nightly; I line haul ltl. While we do not slip seat where I work, if I'm not working and they need a truck mine will get used and it 'bugs' me if someone uses my stuff.

    I've found these radios are pretty cheaply made and the antenna connection gets worn out on either the radio or the antenna from my (carefully) removing/ reinstalling the antenna daily.

    I bought my last radio at Radio Shack and purchased the additional warranty; 1 yr; in case the connection fails.
     
    blairandgretchen Thanks this.
  9. tmb0507

    tmb0507 Medium Load Member

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    I just got mine at hess/wilco for $50 works good so far want to get a mirror mount antenna eventually but so far no problems
     
  10. dog-c

    dog-c Road Train Member

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    made in China - costs 3 bucks to make but T/a can sell it for 69.99$

    glad you guys are saving money
     
  11. RTR

    RTR Light Load Member

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    Nov 29, 2011
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