Aloha from Hawaii

Anyone with any inside scoops on when (if ever) XM will be available in HI? Car sales people have been promising "anytime now", but I wouldn't expect anything less from them.

Hoping we may have an employee or two on this board or if anyone has a link to any XM boards out there.

Thanks

 

Ichi-San, Howzit ---- so far, 808 can't get XM. There is one site called XMFan and get one forum on it. Oh and BTW, welcome to the forum......

 

I used to live in Hawaii (actually, I originally lived in Makaha, then moved to Makakilo, both on the southwestern side of Oahu), and I remember how long it took some things to make it from the mainland. It was VERY annoying! I swear, I used to wonder if we were considered part of the third-world. It's one of the few things I DON'T miss about Hawaii. (I always remember how you could ship a package overnight to CHINA, but not to California... what the...?)

Anyhoo... I feel for ya, bruddah. Hopefully, you get it soon.

 

The whole business side of it is really hard to overcome. Probably not enough potential subscribers to justify additional satellites. In fact, after searching the XMFan forum recommended above, it appears that XM is having a hard time maintaining the transmission quality it already has w/o even considering expanding.

I would love the opportunity to pay a premium for access but even that is not a possibility. Makes me want to call a Congressman or Senator to lean on somebody, but could they even be bothered. There should be a law about not shafting Hawaii & Alaska in regards to utility services offered to the rest of the Nation. Blah, blah, blah ....til I'm blue in the face.

They call stuff like this, "paradise tax". Lucky you live Hawaii!!

Aloha

 

Xmradio currently has two satellites, appropriately named "Rock" and "Roll", which are positioned over the East and West Coasts in geostationary orbits, as well as approximately 800 terrestrial repeaters located throughout the continental United States.


If, if Xmradio intends to expand their market, I guess Canada would get XM before two "A" (Aloha and Alaska) get it...

 

To all of you Satellite Electronics Experts, is there any way for the XM people to piggy back a signal to one the communication satellites that already service the islands? Sort of like leasing bandwidth on an existing satellite vs having to finance and position a new unit. Maybe reducing programming to only the most popular channels. Would allow a company to get their foot in the door, create a client base and then expand from there.

Anyone who knows Hawaii knows that we love our electronics as much if not more than other mainland populations. Someone told me that per capita, we have one the highest cellular phone usage in the nation.

First company in gets a definite advantage, really hope its XM rather than Sirius. Better yet, satellite radio should get together w/ satellite TV and co-op to service the islands.

Alright, done ranting....

 

I am just basing the comments of the top of my head on some readings i did a while ago, long before i had my new TL and XM was a new concept. I am of the idea that the reception of the sattelite signal comes from southern skies, since the satellites are not exactly on top of Northern America. With that said, Zatoichi are you saying that you cannot subscribe to XM because they will not accept a Hawaiian address or because there is no coverage their at all (or maybe both). Since some people in Canada do get reception to XM but they cannot subscribe because XM requires a US address to activate the radio or so. If latter is the case and you do get reception over there, you might just get XM by pulling a few strings. I mean it is as simple as you telling me your radio ID and i can add a new radio ID in my account to see if it works. Hell lets just try that for kicks... LOL but that might constitue fraud... so i ....

 

More than likely, XM and/or Sirius would simply install high-power boosters or repeaters at elevated locations as they currently do in large metropolitan areas where fading from buildings is more problematic.

My guess is that repeaters on Oahu, Hawaii and perhaps one or two more on the smaller resort islands like Maui would be sufficient. The SDARS service has been granted broad discretionary power by the FCC (and much to the chagrin of the National Association of Broadcasters) to install these terrestrial repeaters without going through complicated surveys and FCC filings. They own that portion of the spectrum and given their financial backing, nobody is going to push them around.