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The
elusive issue for many boaters is just how far the coverage blanket extends.
Fortunately, a fellow named Peter Gruol is working hard to find out. Gruol
is president of Radio-at-Sea, and he aims to maximize the virtues of satellite
radios for boats.
As we
go to press, Gruol is shipping his first sets of custom high-gain marine
antennas and Audiovox XM receivers to test boats in Alaska, the Caribbean,
and other “marginal” reception areas. So far the XM signal
is exceeding its power and range goals, and the company is now predicting
signal locks up to 300 miles off the U.S. coasts. Unlike satellite TV
transmissions, the new 2.3-GHz radio waves are unaffected by rain showers.
They can, however, be blocked by buildings and mountains, which has obliged
both XM and Sirius to build numerous terrestrial repeaters. Boats, of
course, will rarely experience these problems.
To understand
the possible margins of satellite radio reception, you need to visualize
the system architectures. XM’s two satellites, “Rock”
and “Roll,” are in geostationary orbit over the equator at
85 degrees and 105 degrees longitude, respectively, with their antennas
focused due north in cone patterns. The eastern Caribbean may be outside
the cone, and the coast of Alaska may be too far away. Sirius has three
satellites moving in overlapping figure-eight orbits such that one will
always be over the United States. Gruol says the company has so far been
unwilling to detail its broadcast footprint, but he and his dealer network
will have their own test results as soon as possible.
Several
consumer-electronics companies are building XM receivers, but Gruol’s
decision to market the Audiovox unit appears wise on a couple of counts.
First is installation flexibility. It has an FM demodulator to feed the
satellite channels via an antenna splitter into a standard automobile-style
radio; in addition, it has RCA plugs for simpler and cleaner input to
the better stereo systems. The Audiovox also sports a four-line LCD on
its control head, taking full advantage of digital XM’s ability
to broadcast a song’s artist and title with the sound. That’s
a nice feature when you hear a tune you might want to own, plus it means
that the DJs don’t need to read long song lists.
Radio-at-Sea
sells a marinized version of the Audiovox along with its marine antenna
for $595. No doubt you could shop around and get most any of the available
satellite radios to work on your boat, but I don’t see a compelling
reason to do so, with the possible exception of Sony’s portable
offering. Using home and auto docking stations, this unit lets you carry
your electronically locked $9.95-per-month XM subscription around with
you.
Some
are skeptical about the long-term reliability and economic viability of
satellite radio, but not me. I know that both XM and Sirius have spare
satellites ready to launch, and, if there is a business failure, I’ll
bet the service will survive the way Iridium did—with a “lower
cost structure” (investors beware). These 100 channels are just
too good to go away.
Radio-at-Sea
Phone: (781) 274-0002. Fax: (781) 274-6010. www.radio-at-sea.com.
Ben
Ellison has been a delivery captain and navigation instructor for nearly
30 years and was recently editor of Reed’s Nautical Almanacs.
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