I was lucky I found the skyfi 2 this past weekend at a local store.The Skyfi 2 is an improvement in the Skyfi 1 in many ways.The Skyfi 2 has better sound and can be played in your existing car and home boombox cradle.From the beginning you will notice the sound is louder on this one than it is on the skyfi 1.I don't have to cut the volume up as loud now on my boombox as I did with my skyfi 1.The Skyfi 2 also comes with a brighter light for viewing during sunny weather.I can actually see this now when the sun is bright in my car I can still read it.The skyfi 2 has a choice of 2 colors.Black on White which is recommended when driving in bright sunlight or White On Black which looks kind of blue and not as bright but you can still adjust the brightness on both colors in the menu screen.This thing is really bright at night unless you lower the brightness.The Skyfi 2 also has a sport and stock ticker.You can see sports scores or stocks scrolling under the artist and song info.I'm hoping Delphi will add weather as well to this.The skyfi 2 is the first reciever to feature extended titles.If you have the scroll on which is in the menu the song will start out at 16 characters but go to 30 something depending on song.Note the scroll for extended titles isn't the same thing as having the artist and song scroll across in big letters.The scroll for extended titles is in the menu you can cut it on or off it just scrolls the longer titles to extended ones.The song artist big letter scroll is in the display mode you can pick between this and other ways to see the song artist info.This makes the reciever look better similar to Sirius reciever.The skyfi 2 also has a unique feature.It has an Fm modulator inside the unit.When you put it in your car cradle it will turn on.You can cut it off in the menu if you want to but this thing has over 6-12 frequencies.It features the lower frequencies 88-89 and the higher ones 106-107.This thing sounds much better than my wired mod in my car.Also this unit features a record feature.You do nothing it automatically records from the time you cut it on.This is a first for an xmreciever.Also you could put 20 favorite stations in the skyfi 1 you can put 30 in this one.Here is a summery of this unit.Also you can view info 4 ways on the reciever.You can still activate it to scroll in big letters if your at a distance.You can have just the song and artist like the skyfi 1 featured,You can have artist,song and stocks or you can choose artist,song and sports.
Pro's
Extended Titles-This is the only xm reciever to feature this but it will eventually be available in newer models too.XM is just starting to get into listing more than 16 characters for artist and song.
Brighter Light for viewing in bright sunlight.It doesn't get washed out.
Stock Tickers and Sports Scores Note you must go into the menu and pick your favorite stocks and sports teams.
Better Sound
Built In Fm Modulator and it lets you choose over 6 frequencies.Also although xm recommends you buy the new car cradle it works fine with the old car cradle.
30 Presets features A,B and C were you can put at least 10 channels on each.
Pause and Record Feature-The Skyfi 2 automatically starts to record when you cut it on.You don't have to do anything not even pause.If you want to hear a song again that you liked real good or missed when you was away from the reciever you can just hit the reverse arrow.It can hold up to 30 minutes of songs.You can also go foward by hitting the foward arrow.If you want to hear live programming what is playing now just hold the foward arrow it will then beep and display live on the top.Note once you cut it off all memory will be lost.When you cut it back on it starts to record again from the first song.This is a great feature to have if your reciever is in the house and you have to go outside for something.When you come back in you can just push the back arrow and go back to the songs.And the recorded songs sound live you can't tell a difference in sound quality.You can also pause the music if you want to.
The Skyfi 2 features a clock.You can either view it in 12 or 24 hr time.
The Skyfi 2 can also alert you when your favorite artist or song is on.For example if your favorite artist on Sunny channel 24 is Percy Faith if your on another channel you will hear a beep when they play Percy Faith.You can put at least 10 favorite artist or songs in.
The Skyfi 2 is lighter than the Skyfi 1.Even thou their the same size the Skyfi 2 isn't as heavy as the Skyfi 1.
The Skyfi 2 comes with a remote.Note the skyfi 1's remote will also work on the skyfi 2 if you want to cut up or down the volume,change channel or put in numbers.The sky 2's remote has additionel keys and different batteries.
Cons
It doesn't feature a variety of colors for your mood like the roady 2 does.
Even thou it says you can pick it up on any Fm radio inside the house you can't.The Fm mod only works on the car cradle.It's not in the menu when it's on the boombox.
The sky 2 remote is heavier and takes 2 aa battaries instead of a long life lithium like the sky 1 remote.Also the sky 2 remote is slightley larger than the sky 1.
The skyfi 2 is worth the extra money.I highley recommend it.
I also recommend the protective satellite radio reciever case which is cheap to keep this in.It will protect the lcd screen from scratches.
Also Xm has an emergency channel on 247 which monitors tornadoes,hurricanes,volcanos,floods,blizzards etc.It came in handy this past summer with the Florida Hurricanes and this Fall with the eruption of Mount Saint Helens.They give evacuation routes,watches,warnings,school and business closings and other info.This is yet another reason to get xm.
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Well what can I say, XM has done it again! If you're looking for a receiver which gives you the abilit to pause play, rewind or go forward (all up to 30 minutes) then this is the player for you! You know when you're listening to that one part of a song or news that's important and someone starts talking or the phone rings? Well with this receiver you'll never miss one second as you just hit the pause button and it'll pause the program until you return (just like TiVo or Recorder Box), and you can skip by the commercials (few there are) in playback until you get to the LIVE feed again.
The screen gives you two colors, black letters on white or white letters on black background. My opinion is that I liked the original SkyFi Amber color better than the Black/white or white/black. However many had a problem seeing it in the daylight (I personally did not).
There is a "ticker" at the bottom of the screen. Meaning you can program the receiver to scroll across the bottom of the screen current stock quotes, or sports scores and game times for all major teams and college. Even Golf!
There is clock in the upper right corner which allows regular or military time. All you do is set it to your time zone (Eastern, West, etc.) and if your area follows daylight savings, and then XM Satellites do the rest in adjusting the time! You'll always have the current time beamed down to your radio!
You can set it to broadcast to a nearby FM radio. Meaning you can have this receiver in your bedroom playing, and have it set to a frequency (there are many to choose from) on your FM radio so that you can hear it on your FM radio in the kitchen or other room! This litle box will actually broadcast to an FM radio!
And look at the prices! Amazon's are the lowest around! Look even closer and the this SkyFi2 is ten dollars more than the original SkyFi Amazon has. At these prices I don't see how Amazon makes any profit!
And it keeps going and going with no problems. Meaning, when I first got this from Amazon, the following day I came down with the Flu. I had it playing soft/easy music in my bedroom for well over 48 hours while I layed in bed with the flu. Non stop for over 2 days and at no time did the screen get "hot" and have problems nor did the radio turn itself off from overheating.
Plus you get a nifty remote that's a bit larger and more comfortable in the hand than the original SkyFi. And there's a metal clip you can attach to clip onto your pants/belt. Remote has good range, comes in handy when you don't want to get up to adjust the volume (included) or do just about anything other than menu functions (changing color, ticker, etc.). Two AAA batteries are included with the remote.
What you will need with this (just like the original SkyFi) is with the homekit (to hook to your stereo) or boombox (has antenna, and all). Just make sure when you order them that it's for XM radio as the Sirius Satellite parts will not work with XM.
If you're looking for a XM Receiver with lots of "toys" to play around with, adjusting it to see various things, then this one is for you. You'll spend hours customizing the screen to your exact color, darkness, brightness, contrast, selection of ticker stock quotes or sports teams, etc.
When I first read about Satellite Radio I said to myself "why would anyone pay for something that's free on the radio," but trust me there is a BIG difference! Sond quality is much better, there are little to no commercials (commercials are on the Old Time Radio and Sonic but are few) and you can zero in to listen to the exact type of music you want to. Not listen to your radio for hours upon hours for the genre songs you like. And if talk radio is your thing, especially LIVE shows, then Satellite is what you want. Especially if you live in parts of the country where you have one or no talk stations. XM gives you 5 talk stations. With G Gordon Liddy and Dr. Laura coming in Feb. 2005. And if baseball (Major) is your thing, well XM has an 11 year contract with MLB to carry each and every game starting with spring training to the world series! And with no additional cost to the $9.99 fee!
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I bought this unit on-line literally within minutes of hearing about it. TiVo does that to people; you begin to expect to be able to pause or rewind just about anything around you. Now, if it could only pause and fast-forward live people talking...click, click.
This reciever answers that need for satellite radio...almost. Sadly, it does not contain or allow an external hard drive chip to record songs permanently when your 30 minutes are up or the unit is shut off, the songs stored in memory are gone forever. Also, the forward and reverse buttons can only skip one song at a time to get to the front or back of the ever changing 30 minute memory, you must push the desired direction button many times to skip through all the songs.
The unit does have a built in FM transmitter, but it only works while installed on the home or auto cradle, NOT the boombox. Since the manual fails to mention this, and it being entirely illogical as to why they would remove this function only for the boombox, I wound up having to find this out from their technical help line.
Until music and electronics manufacturers eventually stumble upon the concept of a magic 'BUY' button, which would record (or instantly download) the song playing to a removable hard drive or chip, along with relevant title and artist info, we are destined to be satisfied for now with small incremental steps in that direction that receivers like this bring. This unit is a rather significant and appreciated step to that end, nonetheless.
Also not published in any of the manuals is a diagnostic mode for the receiver that can be a great aid in aiming the antenna. Briefly, to enter the diagnostic mode:
Make sure your receiver is off.
Press these keys in order: 2 0 7 XM (button in the middle of the wheel on the SkyFi)
Press Display 3 times to cycle through the normal displays to the first Diagnostic screen.
SkyFi Screen 1
SAT1: East Satellite at 85 degrees west longitude.
SAT2: West Satellite at 115 degrees west longitude.
TERR: Terrestrial Repeater signal
DEMOD: A check mark means you have demodulator lock. This means the receiver is locked on the signal from that source.
TDM: A check mark means you are synchronized with the Time Division Multiplexed signal from that source.
BER %: Percentage Bit Error Rate. This is the percentage of received data bits in error. For satellite this value should be less than 3% for error free audio. For terrestrial, it should be below 6%.
AGC: Automatic Gain Control Level. This is an indication of the amount of internal gain needed to recover the signal. The more negative, the higher the signal being received.
SkyFi Screen 2
BER: Raw Bit Error Rate. This is the number of received data bits in error. This value divided by the maximum number of errors in a measurement interval is the BER % on Screen 1. Max number for SAT1 and SAT2 is 5440. Max for TERR is 6800.
AGC: Same as on Screen 1.
C/N: Signal to Noise Ratio measured as Carrier Power divided by Noise Power. For SATs, this value needs to be greater than 7. It does not apply for TERR. This is a good satellite antenna pointing indicator.
RSBK and RSBY: Reed Solomon Block and Byte Errors. They should be 0.
Honest reviews on Delphi SA10101 SKYFi2 XM Satellite Radio Receiver and Remote Control
I have the SKYFI2 hooked up to my home stereo and am impressed with how easy it was to get it working. While the sound isn't CD quality I wasn't expecting it to be. It's on a par with FM but the music choices are 1000x better. XM has great music channels and I haven't listened to the radio at home since I bought this. I like the display and the artist and song titles. The remote works great and the FM modulation works well even in the crowded Washington DC airwaves. If you're interested in XM you can't go wrong with the SKYFI2.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Delphi SA10101 SKYFi2 XM Satellite Radio Receiver and Remote Control
I ordered the radio specifically to use for a road trip to Phoenix which has in the past required three changes of radio stations and the playing of two CDs to travel through a 'no airwaves' zone. What a pleasure to listen to quality radio for the entire 450 miles.
The vehicle hook-up was very easy, and I just placed the antenna on the dashboard near the front window and had absolutely no interferance. Moving the setup from car to car has been extremely easy so if you travel a lot, you can set it up in a rental car in minutes and never miss a beat.
