Excessive Signal Loss

[HipKat]

About a month ago, my Sirius (not XM) Dash Kit (Not sure of the Model name anymore) started losing signal often, going to Check Antenna Connection and Acquiring Signal, sometimes with no trees around. I replaced everything; the dock, the antenna, the power and even shelled out 75 bucks for a new unit - no real change.

Is it just me, or is anyone else having this issue lately?

 

[TheKrell]

Bizarre. I have not noticed any change in service on my 300. IIRC, my radio uses Sirius tech. Some people claim that the terrestrial repeaters are being decommissioned. Could that be happening in your area?

 

[HipKat]

Possibly. I might have to call them. It’s irritating as hell. Btw, I had to correct, mine is Sirius, too

 

[TheKrell]

Sirius (not XM) Dash Kit

What is a Sirius Dash Kit? Dock and Play radio with car mounting kit?

 

[HipKat]

What is a Sirius Dash Kit? Dock and Play radio with car mounting kit?

Yep, and an auxiliary input that plugs into the Aux jack on my stereo

 

[Jimbo]

Possibly. I might have to call them. It’s irritating as hell. Btw, I had to correct, mine is Sirius, too

Chances are they will just do a refresh and hope for the best.
You can do that yourself online.

 

[Jimbo]

Not to steal the thread, but I have a similar issue with my Sirius on my Ford F 150 ...
Its the unit that comes with the truck.
It will work fine, but it seems like whenever I go thru certain intersections I lose signal, says Acquiring Signal ...
Then once I get past that point, it works fine again.

I'm finding it happening in more and more Major intersections ... wondering if all the electronic stuff being used at intersections now is causing issues with it ...
I talked to the Ford dealer about it, but they want the truck for the day and look it over ... I doubt its an equipment failure.
You'd think they could look at thier computers and see if any others are reporting the same issue and talk with Sirius ... but no, they'd rather have it tied up all day ...
Which would be OK if they would give me a car/truck to drive for the day and I was OFF work.

 

[harshness]

I doubt its an equipment failure.

There are two options; either interference of some sort (the FCC perhaps needs to know about this) or an equipment failure (maybe a crushed cable).

How many "certain intersections" are there?

As you well know, satellite coverage is relativey uniform.

 

[Howard Simmons]

Are there photo cameras at these intersections?

 

[Jimbo]

There are two options; either interference of some sort (the FCC perhaps needs to know about this) or an equipment failure (maybe a crushed cable).

How many "certain intersections" are there?

As you well know, satellite coverage is relativey uniform.

Probably at least 4-5 that I know of.

 

[Jimbo]

Are there photo cameras at these intersections?

Most ... yes, unsure about all, but its usually a major intersection, so I would guess that there would be, but can't confirm all of them yet.

 

[harshness]

Most red light cameras are hardwired but there may be radios involved for occasional reporting (I can't recall seeing any antennas in or around one). I would presume that the radios (perhaps cell band) would only be active when reporting. The inductive loops that some of the cameras use (and many of the traffic reactive traffic light systems use as well) are oscillating at 10KHz to 200KHz which should be too low to impact SARS downlinks or IF bands.

Most speed trap cameras (and indeed most speed guns these days) use LiDAR so the chance them interfering seems remote (ouside of the reporting cycle).

Regardless of the source, someone probably needs to take a good look into the RF emissions if they're interfering with licensed radio traffic.

 

[Jimbo]

Most red light cameras are hardwired but there may be radios involved for occasional reporting (I can't recall seeing any antennas in or around one). I would presume that the radios (perhaps cell band) would only be active when reporting. The inductive loops that some of the cameras use (and many of the traffic reactive traffic light systems use as well) are oscillating at 10KHz to 200KHz which should be too low to impact SARS downlinks or IF bands.

Most speed trap cameras (and indeed most speed guns these days) use LiDAR so the chance them interfering seems remote (ouside of the reporting cycle).

Regardless of the source, someone probably needs to take a good look into the RF emissions if they're interfering with licensed radio traffic.

Remember, were only speculating that the Red Light Cameras have something to do with it ...
I'm sure that not every RLC intersection drops Sirius signal or it would happen much more often.

I'll have to pay closer attention to exactly what intersections its happening in ...


Also, wouldn't you think that it would happen with all radios (Sirius) going thru that intersection(s) ?

I have a friend that also has Sirius, I'll have to see if she has any drop.

 

[harshness]

Remember, were only speculating that the Red Light Cameras have something to do with it ...
I'm sure that not every RLC intersection drops Sirius signal or it would happen much more often.

I'm leaning towards a theory that doesn't involve the camera setups.

Also, wouldn't you think that it would happen with all radios (Sirius) going thru that intersection(s) ?

At this point, we don't know that it isn't. There seems to be a pattern with some of the factory radios being impacted by strong wireless signals and busy intersections may be a place where they are concentrated. Perhaps aftermarket radio kits are similarly impacted.

I have a friend that also has Sirius, I'll have to see if she has any drop.

Two data points are better than one.

 

[Jimbo]

I'm leaning towards a theory that doesn't involve the camera setups.
At this point, we don't know that it isn't. There seems to be a pattern with some of the factory radios being impacted by strong wireless signals and busy intersections may be a place where they are concentrated. Perhaps aftermarket radio kits are similarly impacted.
Two data points are better than one.

In My instance, its a Factory installed radio ...

 

[harshness]

In My instance, its a Factory installed radio ...

Have you checked for TSBs? F150 models from around 2016 have one and there are more than few YouTube videos.

You may be wrong about the dealer not being able to help you.

 

[Jimbo]

Have you checked for TSBs? F150 models from around 2016 have one and there are more than few YouTube videos.

You may be wrong about the dealer not being able to help you.

I inquired if the had any issues reported at the Service dept, they said no, but don't know if they actually LOOKED.

Thats a good idea though.

I'll inquire again.

 

[Jimbo]

I just remembered another location ... this one is on the expressway, middle of town ... the expressway goes OVER the main road below ...
There are 2 cell towers, one on each side of the road and a lot of New Constructed buildings, Hotels, stores what not ...
Nothing that I saw, that I would think would cause issues ... byw, wehnI go over the center of the bridge, I lose signal for about 100 ft, then it comes right back ... happens every day.

 

[tobsandmags]

I recall reading not long ago that cell towers can cause interference. I think T-mobile was specifically called out. It was described as if it was a known problem.

I have the same problem near our house. No trees, buildings or hills but the signal drops at the same intersection every time. And, there are cell nodes on the building nearby.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[harshness]

Wireless fans like to talk about negligible emissions but it is becoming more and more of a problem as the number of both cells and devices increases. More cells was supposed to mean lower power.

The answer would seem to come from making the antenna more resistant to wireless interference but there may also be issues on the IF side depending on what frequency they're using there.

A little more googling and it turns out that the IF is around 75MHz (nestled in between VHF TV channels 4 and 5).