I have had my XM Commander for about 3 months now, give or take. Recently (the past 3 weeks) the reception has not been up to par. I lose the signal in places where I never did. For the first two months, I never once lost the signal...trees, mountains, garage, etc, never. Now, I lose it just driving down the street.

I have not listened to regular FM radio since it was installed until yesterday. When I hit Seek or Scan, the only station it stops on is the 87.9 (which receives the XM channel).

What the hell is the deal? I pulled the radio out and checked all of the connections, and everything is fine.

Don't get me wrong, I still love this thing. I was just so spoiled with the good reception that the faintest sound of static or loss of signal makes me want to drive into oncoming traffic.

HELP!

 

Not certain but, I'd suspect that it's something to do with the modulator...

When I had a modulated XM system (the original Pioneer add-on system... GEX-FMXM403 or something like that), when the power was on on the XM system, it would basically not allow any other reception other than the standard 87.3 (which is where my modulator ran as well).

Shutting off the XM (if you're able to do that with your system) should remedy the FM problem...

Not sure on the reception. I have XM and use it nearly every day and have had NO problems with it at all lately.

RP

 

Your screwed. Go buy a complete new system and have your XM hardwired.

Man I love messin' with 'ya Tuff!

But seriously, RP is onto something with the modulator. It should be under warrenty, take it back and get it replaced.

 

Like RP said...just reboot the modulator

 

The FM reception makes sense. I'll try to shut off the XM at lunch and see what that does for the FM. Is there any chance it will make the reception better on the XM?

I'll let yall know what happens after lunch.

 

if you still have reception problems with the XM after rebooting, go to your dealer and try plugging in a new antenna to see if that's the problem. I worked on a semi with much the same problem and it turned out to be the antenna.
Good luck

 

I would suspect the antenna as well due to poor receive while listening to FM. Is 87.9 your strongest FM signal by any chance?

Try unplugging your antenna and see if it acts the same way.

 

So, here we are after lunch (in all but Hawaii and Alaska) and still no word on if it worked or not.... SLACKER!

LOL!

Like DZ mentioned, if that doesn't work, I think you're just screwed. Sorry. LOL!

 

Thats a very, VERY long lunch.

 

I replied to this thing about an hour ago, and I don't know what happened.

Anyway- I went out to lunch and ended up running a bunch of errands...2 1/2 hours worth...OOPS!

I shut down the XM display and FM worked fine. I am still having issues with the XM reception though. Nothing to really gripe about. I'll look into a little deeper when I get back.

Thanks for all of the replies...I'll let yall know what works.

 

I put in a Sirius in my 04 F150 http://www.sirius.com/servlet/Conten...=1028140215544 and they even put it in the ash tray so it goes unnoticed. Works great - took a 600 mile trip in heavy rain without interruption. I went with Sirius because of the sports coverage. I do have problems pulling in to my neighborhood because of large overhanging trees but it is only 5 seconds to my house so no worry. I live in the MPLS area and if you ever listen to radio here it is brutal. I here more local bands on Sirius than I do on my local channels. Death to Radio. I wish the 04 came with built in Sirius since the built in sound better than the fm mods but it still sounds good.