Special Sirius units only available in Truck Stops?

I just upgraded to a Stratus 5 Sirius Satellite receiver. As a new subscriber you can get it from Sirius for $19.00 + 3 month subscription. Same receiver at Wal-Mart is $49 or 59. Don't remember which. As far as antenna the one that comes with it you mentioned works just fine for me.

 

I have mine on my stainless steel visor. Never a problem with reception or with it staying in place.

 

I just put the antenna on the roof of the truck I'm driving. Never had a problem with it staying in place. Depending on the truck though I may have to stick it on the mirror bracket, then I wrap electrical tape over it to hold it in place.

 

Just go to Walmart and get one. They have them as low as $30 and they have everything you need. I bought an XM XpressEZ Plug N Play Satellite Radio Receiver with Car Kit for $29. They still have it on their website for that price, I just checked. The companies merged, so you are pretty much getting the same channels anyway. When I first got it, I was using a cassette adapter, which didn't come with the radio, and lo and behold, last week my tape deck went out on me. No problem. I fished the box the radio came in and in there i found a cable to add to your antenna so you can pipe it through your FM radio. Not a bad deal for $30. They have the same radio without the FM radio thingamajig for $129 at the Flying Hook. Buying that crap at a truckstop is a waste of money.

 

What is better, XM or Sirius???

 

Personally, I prefer XM. Since the merger, the music channels and just about everything else is identical. XM has baseball and hockey, Sirius has NFL and Nascar. Sirius has Howard Stern, XM has Opie and Anthony. But if you pay an extra $4 a month you get all the stuff from the other service, you get everything. I prefer XM though because they have a deal with Clear Channel for some of their talk shows. Glenn Beck is one of them. Also they have a deal with WLW out of Cincinnati. Having grown up 30 minutes north of Cincinnati, I really like that. They don't have that a Sirius.

 

A lot of trucks have aluminum cabs like mine (Cascadia) and the magnets won't stick. They still have the big antenna's that clamp onto the mirrors, I saw one at a TA the other day but didn't catch how much it cost. I have mine on the windshield for now right above the pre pass. I loose signal everytime I turn around. I'm gonna get me one of those antennas as soon as I can figure out a place to mount it. I hate the plastic mirrors on these new trucks.