Delphi XM Signal Repeater by Delphi Products
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List Price: Our Price: $169.89 You Save: $0.10 (0%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $106.52 (click here) Category: CE See more digital camera details and other models |
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Digital camera reviews of Delphi XM Signal Repeater
Digital camera Review: It Worked
Summary: 5 Stars
Satalite radio is what it is, lately it,s been disapointing.
That is until I purchased this repeter. I bought the cheepest
'factory reconditioned' item I could find and it worked.
I live in a metal roofer brick building in the sticks,
no cell phone service, no local tv, and ONLY SOUTH FACING WINDOWS.
The reciver needs to be on the northern side of the building
with this repeter on the window side of the building
I have an excellent signal! Happy Listening is mine.
Digital camera Review: Know what you need...
Summary: 5 Stars
This product works well as designed. I work in a cube where i have to look up sunlight on the internet to remind myself. At my desk, I get no XM signal as you'd imagine.
There are 2 parts to this product, a signal amplifier, and a signal receiver (which is also sold separately). Simply connect an antenna (not included) to the amp, then the receiver connects to the antenna port of the radio at my desk.
I use a portable pioneer innio, and used the home docking station at my desk with the receiver plugged into that, and the amp is in a nearby conference room with the antenna from my home kit connected to it and propped in a window.
My co-workers could get the receiver part only and connect to my amp with no setup at all as long as they were in range.
Digital camera Review: Limited Range - Don't waste your money
Summary: 1 Stars
What a disappointment. The range is only 4-5 feet. I don't see how others got such good performance, but I certainly didn't. I am returning mine.Digital camera Review: Makes XM mobile in the home - but not portable
Summary: 5 Stars
XM reception inside buildings can be frustrating - especially for those of us living outside the range of the terrestial repeaters in many large cities. This repeater setup gives us mobility in an apartment or modest house (even two stories).
It is important to understand that this system repeats the XM digital signal on a different (900 MHz) frequency than that used by the satellites and the urban ground stations mentioned above. This means that the XM radio can't pick up the repeater signal directly. Each radio will need its own attached 900 MHz antenna, and will need to be in a dock to use it. This set includes one such antenna - more can be bought seperately. One repeater can drive any number of XM radios, so equiped, within its range (a few rooms).
I use mine with a Pioneer Inno, mounted on a Delphi SA10221 XM Portable Satellite Radio Boombox. The 900 MHz antenna mounts on the back of the boombox, in a provided slot, held by a screw. So, the repeater doesn't noticably effect the portabality of the boombox, which we move from room to room, plugging into AC power, but not using batteries. It should work with batteries, but at what cost to battery life I don't know.
A TIP: It can be hard to find a good inside location for the satellite antenna, an issue this repeater fixes, if ANY single good location can be found for the repeater transmitter and its attached satellite antenna. Our trouble was that no CONVENIENT location could be found. The ultimate solution is an outside antenna, perhaps with an in-line amplifier, driving this repeater system. My son in rural WY needed such a set-up to get reliable reception in the winter. But, like me, you may get away with a simple trick.
Attach the satellite antenna directly to your XM radio (suitably docked or boomboxed), and select the signal strength display from the radio's menu. Use this to move the antenna to likely receiving locations, looking for a convenient place with room nearby and power for the repeater transmitter, where a strong signal is displayed. If you find such a spot, leave the antenna positioned and swap its cable from the radio to the transmitter. If you CAN'T find a good signal, here is the trick: Locate the antenna in a likely convenient location (2nd floor, southern wall, etc) where you'd expect the best signal and move & aim the antenna while watching the signal strength. THEN TRY PLACING A METAL PLATE OR PAN, or similar size metal decorative object a few inches away. Slowly reposition the antenna and the metal object. Even a fraction of an inch can be significant. If your preferred location has any signal at all, you may find a precise arrangement that yields a strong signal. Then, swap the antenna plug from the radio to the transmitter and as long as you don't disturb the magic setup you should get good reception, which then gets passed through the repeater to your radio(s).
Final caviat: older 900 MHz wireless phones will disrupt the repeater signal, even from several rooms away, but only when they are in use (talking/ringing). This could be a problem in an apartment or closely spaced houses if a neighbor has one. The newer 2.1 GHz and 5.4 GHz phones (and WiFi Internet routers) don't seem to interfere though.
Digital camera Review: Nearly flawless!
Summary: 4 Stars
The Delphi XM repeater system is great. I use it in my office in Staten Island, NY and have had a very good experience with it. My office only has one set of south facing windows and they're nowhere near my desk, so therefore the antenna extension was not an option. So I looked into this Delphi system and it works great! It's also nice because we only need one antenna in the window and a co-worker and I can share the same signal. The distance claims are pretty accurate. The window I'm using is about 50 feet away and there is a room with lots of computers in it along the way and I generally get a clear signal. I will say that when people walk by or stand between me and the repeater, it does drop out sometimes. I also noticed some drop outs when a co-worker left his umbrella open to dry near the repeater. But 99% of the time, it works as described and allows me to get all the goodness of XM where I normally wouldn't be able to. This product is ideal for anyone in an office situation like mine where windows are scarce, or even at home where you have only one south facing window, but want to be able to use your XM receiver anywhere. Also keep in mind that it will work with multiple receivers with the purchase of the additional antennas, which can be found at a very affordable price right here on Amazon. It's a great product and I highly recommend it.