XM Satellite Radio for boats

[ted_reshetiloff]

I have XM in my home and car and love it. I have it on the boat but I really want a better stereo setup. I have it hooked up to the stereo below but I need to go below to change the channel on the XM reciever or to adjust volume or fader. A friend has a stereo on his boat which is mounted below decks but has a remote wired up to the pedestal. He can control the whole thing from the helm and change stations without having to go below, but I don't believe it is XM ready. I am looking for a stereo with this feature but I want it to have the XM built in or at least be XM ready so I can fully control it from the helm. I have seen a few stereos on West Marine's site but the only satellite radio options I saw was serius, which I am not a big fan of. Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[Guy Stevens]

Just get some good car audio equiptment.

Crutchfield is good, often the best prices around on this stuff. I have found no value in going with the marine units, more money, less features, and nat any more waterproof.

I just did a great setup with a Panasonic, an infinity amp, four infinity speakers, an infinity 10" sub, and two polk atrium speakers for the cockpit. The wireless remote would work from any normal cockpit setup, I will have to get an extender for mine.

Guy

 

[oceandreams89]

Except that Sirius has Radio Margaritaville! Nothing like listening to a live Jimmy Buffett concert in a quiet harbor, on the hook, under the stars.

 

[Chris Miller]

XM weather

A friend of mine just got his new boat outfitted with the XM Weather info that runs straight into his chartplotter- complete with current winds, current radar etc... Nice that they are including things for us "non-motorists"
Chris

 

[lbertran]

XM 2 Go

I just bought the new Delphi XM MyFy which is portable and is about the size of an Ipod. You can use it like an Ipod with the earbuds or it can wirelessly send a signal to any FM Stereo, so you can have XM in the car, at home, and on the boat.
I haven't received it or tried it yet but reports from otheres who have this are promising.
Laura Bertran
Footloose, 1985 E35-3

 

[Guy Stevens]

Aux is a bit better

If you can get a deck that has an AUX in you can feed the portable units into the deck that way too, the sound is quite a bit better with the AUX in than through the RF converter.

Haven't heard about the weather thing, that sounds interesting.

Guy

 

[Chris Miller]

Weather link...

http://www.xmradio.com/weather/marine.html

He has the Garmin 3006C with it on... Really nice feature.
Chris

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

I already have the xm hooked up to the stereo now. The thing I want to be able to do is control everything from the cockpit including the XM. What I am looking for is a stereo that is XM ready, or has the XM receiver built in, that also has a remote control that will work from the cockpit. Not likely that the wireless remotes will function through bulkheads. I agree with Guy on not bothering with the "marine" units as they dont last any longer than the car versions, the only benefit I have seen with the marine units is some offer a remote you can mount in the cockpit or on your pedestal.

 

[lbertran]

Car Stereo

I bought a Sony car stereo at Best Buy last spring for the boat. The unit I bought can be controlled by a remote, but I didn't get the remote. What I forgot to mention in my post about the Delphi XM MyFiT is that it comes with a remote control.
Laura

 

[ted_reshetiloff]

Will the remote work from the cockpit? Can you control the volume from it as well? My Delphi Skyfi has a remote as well but I have not tried it on the boat and it only controls the XM reciever not the stereo.

 

[lbertran]

Still Waiting for UPS

to deliver my new Delphi unit. I'll let you know about the remote as soon as I get it and play with it. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving.
Laura

 

[Steve J]

This Clarion unit looks like what I want. I have last year's automotive replacement Clarion unit with in infar-red remote that works, but poorly. It must be line of site and fairly close to the receiver to work. I can barely reach it to change volume from the cockpit. The old unit is not very
user friendly as it has too many buttons that are labeled very poorly.
Finding the scan to new FM channels is difficult.

I wish I had bought this one for the $232, list $450
Clarion CMD4 Marine AM/FM CD Player

I like the wired remote feature for $114. I have not seen another
unit with a waterproof remote.

Clarion CMRC1-SB Marine Remote Control w/ LCD for CMD4

Also available is an Ipod interface.

http://www.techronics.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_id=2059&aff=45847

These new robust technologies are great. Isn't it a grand time to be alive.

Steve Jones
Edgewalker
Olson 34, Hull No 1.
Longview, WA

 

[Mike Thomas]

I just got the Audiovox (XR9) XM receiver for Christmas and it comes with a remote. Since the cradle has the FM modulator built in I should be able to mount the unit somewhere where I have line of sight from the cockpit and should be able to use the remote no problem. The remote has volume, channel and preset controls so other than playing a CD I should be good. That's the plan at least. If the FM reception is bad, Audiovox makes an external FM modulator that plugs directly into the FM antenna socket on the stereo.

I would think that most manufacturers of XM receivers offer the same.

Mike T
E-29