Neil Enns
09-06-2004, 05:00 PM
<img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_headunit.jpg" /><br /><br /><b>Product Category:</b> Audio<br /><b>Manufacturer:</b> <a href="http://www.delphi.com/">Delphi</a><br /><b>Service Provider:</b> <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/">XM Radio</a><br /><b>Where to Buy:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009RTBT//jasondunn-20">Amazon.com</a><br /><b>Price:</b> $99.86 USD for the SkyFi, $69.95 for car kit, $9.95 activation fee, and $9.95/month for service<br /><b>System Requirements:</b> An additional home or car kit (or both), and subscription to XM satellite radio service<br /><br /><b>Pros:</b><li>122 channels of commercial-free radio;<br /><li>Multi-line display makes it easy to scroll through the long list of stations;<br /><li>Most buttons are easy to use while driving.<b>Cons:</b><li>Screen can be hard to see in direct sunlight;<br /><li>Useful radio functions like seek and power-on with the car are missing;<br /><li>It’s really big in the cradle.<b>Summary:</b><br />Seattle has no shortage of radio stations (there are more than 20 FM stations alone), but after listening to the same songs over and over again on my five favourite channels I figured it was time for a change. Last month I made the jump to satellite radio with the Delphi SkyFi XM satellite radio receiver. Want to know if the XM service is worth the monthly fee? Curious about whether the SkyFi unit works well in the car? Read on to find out!<!><br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Overview</b></span><br />Satellite radio promises of hundreds of CD-quality commercial-free radio stations from anywhere in the contiguous states. This is made possible by, as you might have guessed, satellites. Instead of beaming content from local ground-based antennas the content is beamed to you from several satellites parked in orbit above North America. For the privilege of commercial-free radio with a wider range of music you get to pay a monthly fee that hovers around $10.<br /><br /><span><b>XM or Sirius: A Serious Decision</b></span><br />If you want to make the jump to satellite radio you have two choices for service providers: <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/">XM Radio</a> and <a href="http://www.sirius.com/">Sirius</a>. Both have comparable pricing, and all stations on both are commercial-free, so the decision comes down to channel lineup and the available receivers. Selecting a provider isn’t something to take lightly: once you make your choice you’re stuck with it unless you want to shell out money for a new receiver. Receivers cannot be transferred between service providers!<br /><br />After reading on the web, I decided to go with XM Radio. Sirius has the edge on news radio and sports, but I was after music and much preferred the look of the XM receivers to any that were available on Sirius.<br /><br /><span><b>One Receiver With Many Uses</b></span><br />My hunt for a receiver lead me to the Delphi SkyFi. My intent was to replace FM radio in my car, so a receiver that was easy to use while driving was my top priority. The SkyFi unit was the only one that I could find that had a big screen and easy-to-access controls, and as an added bonus its colour beautifully matched my car interior.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_parts.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 1: The SkyFi receiver and in-box accessories</i><br /><br />The SkyFi comes in a box with remote, a battery, and an instruction manual. Unlike other XM units that are all-in-one the SkyFi is a component of a larger system. In order to use it you have to buy a docking station, such as the <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/skyfi/ontheroad.jsp">car kit</a> ($69.99), the <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/skyfi/inthehome.jsp">home kit</a> ($69.99), or the <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/skyfi/onthego.jsp">boombox</a> ($99.99). While I don’t have plans to use the SkyFi anywhere but my car it’s neat that you can just by an additional kit to use it in your house too.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_carkit.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 2: The SkyFi car kit</i><br /><br />The car kit comes with an antenna, a docking cradle, a cigarette lighter power adaptor, a mounting bracket, and a cassette tape adapter to get the audio into your car stereo. Unfortunately, my car only has a CD player so I had to purchase an additional <a href="http://www.xmradio.com/catalog/product_detail.jsp?id=31131&type=Accessory">FM adapter</a> for another $29.99.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>Installation: As Complex As You Want It To Be</b></span><br />Once I had all the parts, getting the radio working in the car to test it out was easy. I simply attached the antenna, power, and audio out to the car cradle and then docked the receiver. I turned the unit on and instantly had the XM preview channel up and playing through my speakers.<br /><br />For a more permanent installation I highly recommend having the car kit installed at the place of purchase, particularly for the antenna. For optimum performance the antenna must be mounted on the roof or trunk of the car, and unless you’re handy and don’t mind taking your car apart routing the antenna wire can be a challenge. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of getting the antenna outside of the car on the roof or trunk: satellite radio is line-of-sight to the south, and an improperly placed antenna can lead to audio drop-outs when driving on heavily-treed roads (many major metropolitan areas have repeaters installed so this isn’t an issue around tall buildings).<br /><br />Finding a good place for the SkyFi receiver in a car can be a challenge. The receiver is big to begin with, and grows in height by another 50% when it’s in the cradle. It’s also not the standard DIN size, so an in-dash installation is pretty much out of the question. The easiest solution is to use the mounting bracket that comes with the car kit to attach the receiver to your dash. Here’s an example of a typical install:<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_dashmount.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 3: A common mounting location</i><br /><br />In my case I decided to go all out and install it in my dash. I don’t recommend this for the faint of heart :) It took me over three hours with a Dremel to get it to fit, and as you can see I still haven’t found a way to hide the circuit board that was in the car cradle. I also installed an adapter for my car that adds an AUX input to the stereo, since the audio quality from the FM transmitter I originally purchased was quite poor.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_indash.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 4: My mounting location</i><br /><br />After connecting everything you have to activate your unit and give your credit card information for the monthly billing. You can either do this over the web for a $9.95 fee or via phone for $14.95. I chose to activate via the web.<br /><br />Activation via the web was, unfortunately, plagued by problems. I was trying to activate on a Sunday evening and simply couldn't get it to work. The first page, for basic account information, worked fine but I was unable to get any farther. I was either shown a barebones error page about the Siebel Web Engine, errors that the username existed already, or that the password was incorrect. I tried with three different e-mail addresses, all with the same result. A call to XM Radio's activation center didn't help either: they closed at 8PM ET and I was an hour late. I wound up having to wait until Monday morning for a person in their activation center to able to help me out. At least they only charged me for the $9.95 web activation!<br /><br /><span><b>Not Just a Good Looking Unit</b></span><br />The SkyFi itself works well. The display is big and easy to see while driving, although it does wash out somewhat in direct sunlight. You can easily see the station name, current artist, and current song. You can select from several different "now playing" screens, including one that scrolls the information across the screen in a large-font that is useful when the receiver is cradled in a boombox.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_britney.jpg" /><br /><i>Figure 5: The current song screen</i><br /><br />The controls on the SkyFi are straightforward. To select a different channel you roll the big wheel. As with regular radios there are preset buttons across the bottom; with two groups of ten presets you’ll have plenty of room for all your favourite stations, or one set for you and one for your significant other.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_channel_list.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 6: The channel list</i><br /><br />Because there are so many different channels available the SkyFi unit also supports browsing by channel type. Using the buttons above the wheel you can see what’s playing by category: hits, country, news, dance, etc. This is very handy when you want to jump quickly from one music style to another. You can also set the channel list to show the channel name, current artist, or current song title. I find that showing the current artist is the best for browsing through the channels.<br /><br />The included remote is surprisingly useful, even for a car installation. Flipping through channels while you’re driving with it is very comfortable. I often put my arm on the armrest and flip around, just like I’m lazing on the couch in my living room :) My wife can also use it to drive the radio from the passenger seat without having to reach across the dash.<br /><PAGEBREAK><br /><span><b>More Variety Than a Quickie Mart</b></span><br />Once you have satellite radio you’ll find yourself amazed at how many new and different songs you hear. My awesome wife and I are constantly saying "wow, we haven’t heard that one in a while!" or "hey, that was pretty good! We’ll have to go check the album out". To help you remember what songs you heard the receiver has a handy memory button. When you press it while a song is playing the SkyFi will store the artist and title information so you can recall it later. For example, below is the memory recall for Gordito Tracks, a very strange but cool Spanish-language song we heard last week.<br /><br /><img src="http://www.digitalmediathoughts.com/media/users/303/neile_jul25_skyfi_recall.jpg" /> <br /><i>Figure 7: The memory recall screen</i><br /><br /><span><b>Almost Perfect</b></span><br />While I do love my SkyFi it does have some niggling problems that prevent it from being a truly fantastic radio. For example, the way the channel wheel works isn’t very smart. After a few seconds it automatically selects the channel you stopped on, even if you don’t press the middle enter button. This is very frustrating when you’re just flipping around for something better to listen to. If you don’t find anything you like you have to make sure to scroll all the way back around to your current channel. This is a pain to do while driving, and really is unnecessary since there’s such an easy to hit enter button. A better design would be to revert back to the current station if enter isn’t pressed. In fact, this is how the up/down controls on the remote works!<br /><br />I also wish that the SkyFi unit had a scan button like on regular radios. It would be nice to have some sort of button that would stop on each station for 5-10 seconds and then move on, so you could hunt around for something different to listen to without having to keep your hands on the receiver controls.<br /><br />One other issue is that the receiver doesn’t automatically turn on when it detects power from its adapter. Even with it hardwired into the car I have to manually press the power button after I turn my car on. There should be some sort of "always-on" mode available.<br /><br /><span><b>Conclusions</b></span><br />After using the SkyFi and XM Radio for three weeks I have no regrets. I love the variety of music that XM Radio offers, and the big display on the SkyFi makes it easy to find something to listen to while driving. Be aware though that the unit is not designed for an in-dash install and that it is quite large when in the car cradle. However, even with the size and lack of a few features, this is a nice receiver that I’d recommend to anyone looking to get started with satellite radio.