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Delphi SA10085 Roady2 XM Satellite Radio Receiver with Built-in Wireless FM Modulator
By: Delphi Average Rating: 4.0 Total Reviews: 96
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 On: 2008-03-10
I got a Roady 2 about 2 years ago and it performed well enough that my son bought one and got one free which he gave to my son-in-law. That one never worked, mine has been plagued with poor antenna and power connections and now has completely quit. So that makes two of three dead in under two years. Reliability and performance are both poor.
I certainly wont be buying another Delphi product to replace this one. The user interface wasnt very well thought out and the limited number of channels that you could use for the FM Modulator made it have limited use in Washington DC where you could not drive from outside the Beltway to inside the Beltway without having to change the channel selection. All in all one of the most disappointing pieces of electronics I have ever purchased.
 On: 2008-03-06
Still using and working well over the last 4+ years. Great price at the time of purchase. Easily transferred between vehicles.
 On: 2008-02-26
I have had this product for a couple years. I am an Over the road truck driver and it stays on 24/7. Bottom line Fantastic! Good price, always works. Best investment I ever made.
On: 2007-12-13
I love this receiver. I have it installed in my car and absolutely cannot live without it. The only problem is that one of the outlets is not secure, therefore I keep the receiver in my car and dont take it into the house set. I dont want it to get broken.
On: 2007-04-02
From a feature / functionality / price perspective these are great radios. The only problem... Ive gone through 3 of them in less than a year. Different problems. I wish that I could say it was all due to the same defect or that I abused them somehow.
Spend a little more on the xt. My parents have had ONE for about a year and it seems a more sturdy replacement.
On: 2007-02-11
My husband and I have each had the Roady 2 for more than a year now and have had absolutely NO complaints. Despite the advent of newer and "nicer" models, we have no wish to upgrade. This version is dated but works like a dream. I use mine with the cassette adaptor and get great sound. My husband has no cassette player in his JEEP, so he uses the built-in FM modulator. It took us awhile to figure out where to place his antenna, but that is simply because the JEEP has a soft top. Once we placed it and found a clear station, the Roady 2 has never failed him. Save your money and buy this version!
On: 2007-01-19
I got the Delphi receiver maybe 2 years ago. Its great for people who want to try satallite radio, but arent great in the electronics department. Its simple to use and I like how you can change the colors of the backlight. The only time I get bad reception is if Im in the back woods somewhere, but that is rare. The down side to this receiver is that the black faceplate came off, which is probably why they gave you two extras. The vent clip gets worn out over time and doesnt stay on the air vent half the time. And unless you get the unit professionally installed, there is an crap load of wires to stash in your glove box. I would recommend this unit to others, the only thing I would do differnt is get it installed. Its a great starter unit. It does the job, which is play satalite music.
 On: 2007-01-14
This little receiver (and accompanying package) is really a cool setup ... HOWEVER ... the FM transmitter/modulator is the weak link. It has 2 serious shortcomings. (1.) The signal is pretty weak. Other items plugged into my other power outlets in my car interfere with the signal (especially charging my cell phone). To be fair, its barely noticable with music channels, but with voice channels (news, comedy, etc.) it has an annoying hiss if I have other devices plugged in. (2.) It doesnt transmit on all FM channels. In fact, it only transmits on 88.x and 107.x I drive in areas where all the channels in these ranges pick up some sort of station, so my Roady2 competes with distant stations. Overall, Im satisfied with it, but with a little more effort, Delphi could have had a home run with this little guy.
On: 2007-01-11
The Roady2 is compact and stylish. It is easier to find places to mount this unit than standard XM radio receivers. I especially like the variety of backlighting colors that are available and the capability to find the best FM frequency for receiving the XM signal.
On: 2007-01-11
Very Nice!
Since I dont have a cassette player in the truck, this was the way to go for using the satellite radio. Its great that you have enough choices as far as empty stations on the radio dial to locate one to use with the reciver.
On: 2007-01-06
The Roady2 is the simplest and least expensive of XM products to use. They no longer manufactor this particular item so I was thrilled to find them here. If you can still find them here I strongly advise you to buy them.
On: 2007-01-04
VERY GOOD RADIO HAS ALL THE SAME FEATURES AS THE NEW ROADY XT Accept it is a little bit thicker and the Price difference is about $50-$60.00. Thanks
On: 2006-10-29
This was a replacement for the original Roady. It is smaller and easy to use. Wouldnt leave home without it!
On: 2006-10-12
Ive had the Roady 2 for about 1.5 years and have been very happy with XM radio performance (I move the unit from car to home to boat) and the performance has been great. My problem with the Delphi Roady 2 is the connections. First the yellow tip in the car DC power connection came off the plug and lodged in the power socket on the radio thus preventing me from using other power connections for home or boat. Delphi advised me to cut the tips off the other power connectors so they would make contact. This worked and put me back in business with all power supplys. Next the line out socket (center connector where the tape cassette adapter and line plugs for other stereo systems plug in) stopped working with all adapters. Dephi tech support informed me that there was internal damage which could not be repaired and since it was out of warranty, I should buy a new one. It seems to me that this unit which initially cost $100 should have lasted more than 18 months.
 On: 2006-09-15
I originally purchased the unit during the winter because of a sale, but I didnt install it until the beginning of July for our cross country trip from Oregon to Wash. DC. During the trip, there was quite a bit of interuption from hillsides and tall trees in the Pacific Northwest. I kind of wondered how well the reception would work in the city. Once I got out of the NW, I had no problems picking up a signal unless I was in a long tunnel or deep valley.
I did notice the unit did get hot during the trip and I think that is why it is acting the way it is now (two months later).
It works fine when first turned on, but after 15 minutes, the signal flutuates and at times, no signal is received. The tech support said that I needed to check the wires, but since it is recently installed and it doesnt happen when first turned on, Im ruling it a receiver problem.
The unit is placed just below the radio head and has been exposed to direct sunlight when parked. Im sure it didnt help.
Im currently looking for a better unit and XM said they would transfer the remainder of the account to the new radio without inducing an activation charge.
On: 2006-09-11
I like XM, but I am giving 3 stars because of the cheap wiring. I have had the Roady for about 2 or 3 years now and I am on my 5th set of cables. I handle the unit very gently, but the cables are so flimsy that the wires break nevertheless inside the plastic coating. I am tired of buying new wiring over and over, why cant they make this more durable. Also, I have to use the radio feature the cassette accessory does not work in my car (Toyota Avalon); the unit keeps spitting out the cassette. (The same happened to a friend who drives a Honda Accord) Not a real problem for me since I dont travel much, but it may be a consideration for others, because you would have to find a new station constantly in order to get reception.
On: 2006-08-09
not a bad price so I bought 3.....they will make nice Christmas presents for the kids..should have waited because I found them cheaper elsewhere.for the same exact thing.
On: 2006-07-23
I planned to subscribe to XM Radio. But after reading the review by FOX, I decided not to subscribe based on the fact that XM lowered the audio quality after Apr 2006 by adding more channels. If you listen to XM mainly in your car, then the poor audio quality may or may not affect you.
On: 2006-07-10
I purchased three of these. One for my family vehicle, one for my dad and one for my mother. They are great!! The fact that the FM modulator is built-in is what makes this an exceptional option. And you dont have to have it professionally installed. You can do it yourself just by routing the cords into the seams of the dashboard. Its a clean install. I did it - and Im a female:).
On: 2006-06-29
Bought this unit so I could have XM in my office. Live in a semi-rural area and public radio reception is hit and miss. Have Direct TV at home and they use XM for the music channels so decided to pay to have at work.
Have pointed the antenna south, north, east, west and upside down and still no signal. And yes before anyone chimes in I have a window and a clear view of the southern sky.
All I have is an expensive paper weight that says no signal. No signal is no music, no music is no rating and no rating means one star.
On: 2006-06-28
The Roady2 XM Satellite Radio is a must have for long road trips or music maniacs! With a touch of a button, you can select the type of music or talk show you are interested. We do a ton of driving and wouldnt consider leaving the house without this system! This system is so valuable when youre driving through remote areas that dont get normal radio coverage, like uninhabited areas of New Mexico and Texas. Im very happy with our Delphi system, this model was the first Id had of the satellite radio craze. The unit is very affordable, both initial purchase and monthly fee, was super easy to install, and took about 5 minutes to initiate service over the phone! We have had great service with XM and any questions we needed answered. It comes with a mounting ball that is easily placed anywhere on or below your dash and allows quick and easy disconnect. This unit gets great reception, nice easy ready controls, small controls though, hard to manuever as youre driving...but itll make a pro out of any radio channel surfer! We now own the newer version of this model because the other was stolen. Although we had great service overall with XM, we were dissappointed that even after having cancelled the original radio service off of our bill for the Roady2, XM failed to shut that system off and allowed the person who stole the unit to have free service for several months. Who knows, theyre still probably still listening to it right now! The Delphi XMSKYFI2 is so much better! Most everything is improved on this model. It has everything the old version had except it includes a remote control and a better screen layout and more vivid color where you can view 5 channels ahead on the screen, incase you dont have your flimsy paper channel selector with you or cant remember what all the channels are. The newer one is much easier to control while youre driving. You can hold the stearing wheel with your left hand and hold the remote with your right hand resting on your console/arm rest. I dont like the new mounting bracket, its bulky and hard to disconnect the unit, but the improvments are whole that small detail. It also has a larger tuner dial for channel selecting, better fit to large clumsey fingers, much better than the Roady 2!!
On: 2006-06-28
I was very pleased with the ordering process, response and delivery on this item. I may never go back to retail stores!
On: 2006-06-26
I bought my husband this item for Fathers Day last year. Just so happened to be buy one get one free so we both have one. He loved it so much, he bought the adaptor kit so that he could bring it to work with him to keep him company on the long night shifts. Just recently, someone stole his unit. He was very upset. I said no worry, we will just buy another one. Well, it was not that simple. It seems that a newer version had come out that would require a new home kit to be purchased as well. I then began to search to find a replacement for the stolen one so he could use it with the current accessories. I searched all over on line, in stores, even tried to buy a display. No luck. I then went to Amazon and there it was and in time for Fathers Day. Thanks AMAZON!
On: 2006-04-25
I just want to warn people about the shady practices of XM Radio.
You have to explicitly ask them to not include automatic renewal.
If there is not indication of this (either approved or not approved), they will keep your credit card number and charge you without warning. When you try to cancel, they will be pretty nasty and sell at you like a used car salesman. Not the type of company I want to deal with. Their product should sell itself and if people cancel they should try to find out why.
On: 2006-04-13
Mine wouldnt work if it got hot until I cooled it off with the cars air conditioner.
On: 2006-04-06
I purchased this unit about six months ago. I was fed up with the ever-increasing advertising on the commercial FM stations in the area, and finally decided to try satellite radio. I chose XM because of its music selection and MLB coverage. And I chose the Roady2 because it was cheap (>$50 at the time) and portable. (I didnt want to pay for a second unit and subscription just to listen away from the car.)
My Roady2 has been great. Every once in a while the antenna connection gets a little cranky (momentarily losing the signal), but thats probably because Im always moving the unit between the house and car and thus have to unplug and replug the antennas a lot. All the connectors still fit very snugly in spite of all the times Ive plugged and unplugged stuff.
I love the TuneSelect feature. The Roady2 can store up to 20 song IDs in TuneSelect, and I only wish it could hold more because I can easily come up with 20 "favorite" songs listening to just one or two music channels! If you are listening to one channel and another channel begins to play one of the songs youve saved in TuneSelect, the unit will beep and give you about five seconds to accept its offer to redirect you to the other channel. VERY nice.
Like one of the other reviewers, I keep the Roady2s antenna inside my car. I put mine on the rear dash (under the back window). I do tend to momentarily lose the signal when I get into thick tree cover, but I suspect having the antenna on the roof wouldnt net much improvement in those situations. Otherwise, it works flawlessly. Id recommend trying interior mounting places first; if it works, it will save you the hassle and risk of an external mount that has to be routed through the vehicle frame.
Ive since added the home and portable kits, and am very pleased with both. The home kit includes an antenna (larger than the one in the Roady2 kit, and with a base) and a remote (very handy indoors, but not necessary in the car). The portable kit includes a docking unit, headphones (w/built-in antenna), Li-Ion battery, and charger, and basically lets you treat the Roady2 like an oversized Walkman. It even has an FM tuner, just in case you end up in a place where you cant pick up the XM signal. I also purchased the Roady2 carrying case, which is good for protecting the Roady2 and makes the portable setup easier (and safer) to use.
There is one other thing Id like to mention about XM that surprised me: the channels (at least the ones Ive listened to) dont compete with each other for listeners. Youll never hear an FM DJ suggest you check out another station, but the XM DJs frequently recommend other channels! It feels a lot like one big happy family, and in some respects it kind of is.
And to think I used to tell myself Id never pay to listen to the radio... Now, I tell everyone XM is 100% worth it!
On: 2006-03-29
Im very happy with my purchase. I got my Roady 2 for free, then went on Amazon and bought the home unit. If youre going to pay for the XM service you should not be limited to Vehicle use. The home unit antenna is the same you can use with the MyFi. It puts out a very powerful signal,I recommend direct connect. You may get static on a very rare ocassion, though its never been an issue. Over all, Satellite radio is still very new technology. It will only get better with with time. The roady 2 car and home unit kits are great products you will end up using daily.
On: 2006-03-11
I have a Roady, not the Roady2, and have had no trouble with it (knock on wood!). I bought my husband a Roady2 for Christmas and had it "hard wired" into his truck the first of January. He loved it....until recently. It started cutting out and then saying "no signal". I knew it couldnt be the service because mine was working great. After calling Delphis helpless desk, and waiting for someone to finally answer, all we got was a girl who was obviously reading her answers. She finally decided that we had a bad antenna and gave us a number to call. I called Delphis number the next morning and timed my "hold", it took 30 minutes for a human to pick up. The person gave me instructions to send the antenna back to them. Yeah, right. I finally took it to an local satellite installer and they hooked up another antenna to the radio and guess what, it wasnt the antenna, it was the radio! After reading the other persons comments on his experience with trying to get another one, or get it repaired, I think Ill just go out and buy a new one.
On: 2006-03-04
I got this reciever for Christmas 05 and within 3 weeks it did not work. The problem is not with XM Radio. They have a fablous line up of stations and their service department is easy to deal with. However Delphis service department is not knowledgeable, difficult to deal with, and down right rude, not to mention the 20-30 min wait time everytime I call b/c theres only like 1-2 people working in the call center. If there are more then somehow I keep talking to the same person. I had to mail the product back to Delphi at my cost. It two weeks to be returned. The returned product only worked 3 days, then I had to deal with the service department again. I mailed it back, took two more weeks, and worked 5 days this time. I called and asked if I could trade models since this one keeps breaking and was told the problem was on my end, they would not exchange for diff model. All in all I had this model 60 days, it only worked abt 20 of those. Finally I threw in the towel and bought an Audiovox reciever and am finally pleased to be able to listen to XM in the car.
On: 2006-03-02
I traded in my 2003 GMC Yukon on a new Toyota Sienna. I thought Id lost my quality XM Radio reception forever, but gas mileage being what it is......
I took a chance with this Roady2. I am not technically inclined and worried what I was getting into. I received the receiver as advertised. I followed the directions within the box and was pleased how easy things went.
A previous review suggested how to use the vent clip mount. That was sooo easy! Another reviewer said he put the antenna on the dash, so I did the same.
I called XM Radio and transferred my XM Radio account to this new receiver. It took about 45 minutes, but when the connection took place I was extremely pleased with the reception. The sound is the same quality as received in my GMC Bose system.
I am a happy customer. Thanks as well to Amazon!
On: 2006-01-18
I bought this item because it was well priced and had a wireless fm transmitter. It was mainly used in my car then I eventually decided to get the home kit. Using it through the FM radio stations worked fairly well. Sometime static and interference would come into play if a statiion was nearby. If you can direct connect it in any way the sound quality improves a great deal. I now have it connected through a aux input when I use it in the car. If you are looking for a quality product at a budget price this is it.
On: 2006-01-16
I bought this for my husband who found it easy to install and easy to use. He doesnt have to be a techno guy to find his favorite music and when he travels he can now listen to what he wants without annoying radio talk.
On: 2006-01-12
I bought the roady2 at sears as a Christmas present and now the faceplate has no display. The light comes on and the channels change, but there is nothing on he screen. I cant return it to the store and Delphi says I have to send it in to be fixed. How annoying!
On: 2006-01-08
It was so easy to install. I listen to it all the time. I would recommend this to everyone. If I can install it anyone can. Buy now.
On: 2006-01-04
You have to love those anti-satellite commercials. They have actors pretending to be real people with real problems, complaining about how difficult it is to set up a satellite (took my family about five minutes) and how much trouble it is to get reception (again, five minutes worth of time) as well as reception difficulties. (we got reception during the worst thunderstorm Virginia ever had) Youd expect one of those commercials to show a poor Sudanese immigrant family claiming how armed satellite dishes burnt their village. What the commercials should really say, of course, is "Hi this is your cable company, please dont get satellite because we enjoy the monopoly we have in your region." Similar mudslinging has been done about satellite radio. Cant get reception under a bridge, fizzles out in rainy weather, my satellite radio knocked up my daughter, etc etc etc...
Well this Christmas my family gave me a satellite radio. They had already each gotten one for their car, and figured it was time I got one for my long drives. Before I continue, let me explain: I am a military brat, so for one thing my family moves around. A lot. I always get a kick out of civilian kids who make a big deal about that one big move across the neighborhood they have to make - try moving across the nation every year. As you may infer, I go to a college not in the same state of my family. This means during holidays, summer, and sometimes during spring break Im moving back and forth. Right now I only have to drive six hours, but three years ago it was a two day drive. Driving that long you realize something: radio really is bad. In the rural parts of America you have limited choices (lets see, do I want to listen to country or religion?) and when you get around a city you get an oldies station, a rock station, (if youre lucky) and a corporate station that plays the same ten songs over and over again. Whats worse is just when you find the station you like...bam! Out of range.
XM Radio doesnt do that. Any where in America you can get connection to over 200 stations to choose from, most of them categorized by genre or what they broadcast. Do you like those corporate stations? They have the popular songs of the day playing on one channel. Like bluegrass? They got a station for that too. Like listening to talk radio? They have one for conservatives and one for liberals. Like sports news? They have it all, even one playing old dramas from the golden age of radio. Whats also nice is, like a normal radio, you can customize your radio to preset channels you want to listen to the most. (you know, hit "1" for this channel, "2" for the other, etc)
Some of those anti-satellite commercials have tried badmouthing XM radio saying that youll have trouble with reception. The only trouble Ive ever had was driving through a tunnel that went deep under the Chesapeake River...and even then, it wasnt that bad and only a rare thing. I drove back to college in a rainstorm and got perfectly fine reception. The only thing I should warn is, depending on the channel, there ARE commercials. Im not counting the "Youre listening to the blah blah network," I mean like normal radio commercials. I know the talk radio stations have them, some of the others are pretty mild. I just find it odd when Im listening to the Old Time Radio station and suddenly a commercial for NHL news comes up.
Overall Im very pleased with this little radio. Incidentally, find a decent place that will install it. There was a small car lot that did these things where I lived, and they made it so the radio was at a convenient place and didnt fly all over my interior. And by the way, avoid trips to Africa because I hear conflict between the Tutsis and satellite dishes is worstening.
On: 2005-12-20
I bought this device from Amazon and it was DOA. Be prepared to send it back.
On: 2005-12-17
I love my XM. And most of the time this little unit is a cheap and servicable way to get it going.
However - I have serious reliability problems with it in my car whenever the temperature gets too hot or too cold. I live in the Boston area and from June through September every day after work the receiver (which had sat in a hot car all day) would refuse to come on after work.. 5 or 10 minutes later after the car temp came down with the AC or windows open all would be good again.. It has a similar but less severe problem on cold winter mornings.. it has to be down around 0 degrees or so, but again it wont operate correctly until the car gets up to a more reasonable temperature.
I understand the difficulty of building cheap consumer electronics that work over wide temperature ranges, and I wouldnt expect my laptop for instance to respond gracefully to the same conditions - for instance. However, this is a CAR unit, and these conditions are perfectly expected for a car environment.
Im sticking with XM, but Im pondering different receivers.
On: 2005-12-04
Always wanted XM Radio but I never wanted to spend more than twenty dollars on a reciever. Spend "real money" on car stereo equipment in a major city never makes a lot of sense since you are one parking lot away from having something stolen.
The Roady 2 is a great, small, cheap solution for anyone that wants satellite radio. Nice design, about the size of an IPOD and a bit thicker it works great. No problems with the FM Modulator even though I live in the heart of L.A.
XM Radio is everything thats been promised. The subscription set up is a breeze.
On: 2005-12-02
I was slightly nervous buying this receiver from some of the reviews that I had read on Amazon and elsewhere; however, those fears have been relieved! This is a very good product, and for less than $30 it CANNOT be beat!
PROS:
Very cheap, effective way to ease into Satellite radio
Easy to install, I had it completely installed in about 10 minutes.
Comes with several installation options. I used the vent clip which works well. It does not fit my vent perfectly but playing around with it got it in there pretty good regardless.
I like that you can switch the background color to match your own interior lights
Tunes very well. I did not put the antenna on the outside of my car like Delphi instructs you to. I sat it up at the top of my dashboard and it works fine up there (I usually get all 3 bars). I think though that it works well because my windshield is very slanted and can get a lot of sun - mounting it inside I feel would not work very good on pickup trucks or anything with a steep windshield (it cant see the sun as well then).
The Wireless FM Modulator really works good. In the Kansas City metro all of the 12 FM stations they give you to choose from at least have hints of other stations programming on it, so I chose the least affected and it works fine. The only time Ive had a problem with it was when I large building was blocking the southern view (driving close to a store in the parking lot).
CONS:
The tuner wheel will eventually annoy you. Ive had it long enough now to memorize a lot of the station numbers I frequently use and try to type them in instead of scrolling. The wheel isnt bad but the newer models make it easier to go through the stations.
I wish I could get the song titles to scroll so I could see the entire title. As far as I know you cant do it on this model.
The way the whole thing is set up leaves wires hanging around. Since the wires attach to the left side of the receiver you end up with wires hanging and crossing stuff. If they were on the right side it would have been easier to hide the wires. You could mount your radio in different spots to lessen that affect though - but in a small car it kinda stinks.
I had really wanted sateliite radio but thought it was cost prohibitive, this really proved me wrong. Its a great radio at a great price.
On the note of XMs service, it is also very good. I enjoy their programming (they have very good alternative stations) and the talk radio as well. Overall I am very happily and strongly reccomend this model. However, if you have more money to spend you might try Delphis next step up just to have the better tuning wheel !!
On: 2005-12-02
I bought the Roady 2 XM receiver kit and set it up first at home using the Home kit which I also purchased. Even though the instructions warned to make sure the antenna was set up properly, I found that the Roady 2 worked right out of the box once I attached the antenna (wire still coiled), the power supply, and plugged in a set of headphones. I was amazed with the clarity of the signal received and the variety of programming available.
Not having time to properly install the Roady 2 in my van before a trip, I nevertheless resolved to try it out. I uncoiled about 6 feet of the antenna and placed the tip on my dashboard. I plugged everything in, set a FM frequency for the Roady to use, and Voila! - it worked.
As the directions stated, there was some minor problem with reception outage when driving if I was close to the side of a south facing hill (happened twice in a 500 mile round trip). Other than that, the only "problem" was having to tweak the setting for the FM modulator (push a couple of buttons) due to local stations broadcasting on the same frequency I was using.
My wife and I cruised through western and central PA on the Turnpike listening to a variety of programming including a couple of old time radio dramas.
I cant say enough in praise of the Roady 2 other than I just bought 4 more to give as Christmas presents. That should tell you how pleased I am.
On: 2005-11-24
I have been tiring a bit of my iPod, do a lot of driving, and have grown to hate commercial radio stations. Commercials make me sick (guess thats why I watch a lot of HBO). Bought one of these things at Best Buy last weekend after making a commitment to try XM vs. Sirius. Right now, Im glad that I chose XM (more channels). I love the comedy, news, and rock stations; theres plenty more to choose from.
So far as the Roady2, the price is great. You can buy these things (just bought 2 more) on ebay for $20 a piece. Each unit comes with a complete car kit. I also bought the home kit which includes remote. In the car, I route the sound into Aux inputs in my car receiver; at home the FM modulator works just fine. Yes the buttons are a little small, and I agree with the reviewer who suggested the display should have more, but for $20 I cant rationalize (for right now) buying anything more expensive.
Installation was a breeze. Mounted antennae on roof/side and routed wires down through weatherstrip. There are plenty of mounting options. Velcroed in the convenient stand. Several reviewers have complained about the wire mess. I love two sided velcro and so have used cable ties to wrap up the cords neatly with some excess stowed under front passenger side mat.
The sound from the unit in car or home is great. I live out in the country (Chesterfield County, VA) and have had no problems with reception.
Im a pleased customer, Roady2 and XM-wise. No doubt I could buy a little more convenient and interesting unit, but at three times the price (even with rebates).
On: 2005-11-24
Since Hurricane Katrina, Ive had to commute from New Orleans to Baton Rouge every day, which takes between one to two hours each day. Theres a stretch of about 40 miles on Interstate-10 where you get nothing but static. I came across the XM Roady 2 at a Wal-Mart ($29) and decided to do some research online. Luckily the price was much cheaper (I paid $17 total) and I found out from the great consumers on Amazon that EVERYTHING was included.
Bottom-line is, even though my drive time hasnt changed, XM Radio has definitely shortened how long the drive feels. I dont know how I got along without it. The Roady 2 was easy to install, the XM people were extremely helpful, and the time it took to open the box and get everything installed and activated was less than 30 minutes. The sound is crisp and clear, especially when I use the tape-cassette adapter. The FM modulator works very well too, but I prefer using the tape cassette adapter. Im thinking of investing in a remote control and purchasing the units for all of my friends.
On: 2005-11-22
I have had the Roady 2 for 6 months and enjoy the XM service very much. Great programs, no signal fade, very enjoyable. The Roady 2, however, is a pain in the butt. Be prepared to have wires running everywhere in a tangled mess. In addition, the screen is too small for using while driving. I suggest you use the tape adapter (another wire! ) because there is always a local station interfering with the Roadys broadcast. I received the free second unit from XM. Its still sitting on the shelf unopened. I suggest you spend the money for an in-dash unit.
On: 2005-11-15
I have had the Roady2 for about a year now and I first want to note that so far I have been overwhelmingly pleased with both the XM service and the receiver itself. Ive read a lot of reviews and I have a few additional notes:
Pros
- I used to live in Maine and can testify that, much to my surprise, my roof-mounted antenna showed no loss of signal through 8 inches of snow
- Lots of complaints on here about the FM Modulator. I use mine virtually everywhere except for downtown in Boston and New York and have had great success
- The rest of the reviewers detail all the positives!
Cons
- The two line display. This is a big one for me - the display shows only two lines when it seems to me that there are three glaringly obvious items that a listener would want displayed all the time: Channel #, Artist and Song. On the Roady 2 you can display any 2 of these at a time, but never all three. I find this to be the most annoying feature
- If you have the home docking station, my remote was almost unusable. At first i thought its tiny size was great, but I realized that the tiny battery which went with it only gave the remote enough power to work from a distance of roughly 15 feet
by: zenderman On: 2005-10-31
Right up there with my high speed DSL and Netflix.com subscription, XM radio is the best day to day entertainment service I have ever bought. Never again will I have to cope with a bunch of lousy, same-20-songs-20-times-a-day FM stations all owned by the wingnut Clear Channel Communications monopoly, or even the one decent local NPR station which interrupts programming to beg for more donations about once every two weeks...whoopeee!
I thought long and hard about which module to get, and finally decided to get the Roady2 for its simplicity, easy portability, great low price, and very good reviews.
Boy has it exceeded my expectations! The FM modulator works great, in fact I dont think I will ever bother hardwiring it into my cars stock head unit since I often take it to the second car anyways. At home the XM subscription includes free online XM radio which I found to be of surprisingly much better sound quality than with my usual Internet radio running off WinAmp.
The XM antenna works great about 90% of the time, on cloudy or stormy days it can get staticky, also if Im driving around a bunch of tall buildings yes there are dropouts. However I consider these to be minor inconveniences for the remaining 90% of the time when the signal comes through nice and clear. And ths is with me simply plopping the antenna on top of my front dashboard, so I imagine that if I bothered to roof mount it the reception would only get better.
Sure the satellite feed is not quite as good as CD quality but I knew that going in, and am happy that its comparable to local FM reception usually, without all the godawful crappy content of my local FM stations.
On long road trips this thing really is worth its weight in gold, makes time just fly by ever so pleasantly.
On: 2005-10-30
I receive a good signal about 10 minutes of each hour ROADY2 is turned on in my van. Most of the time is filled with no sound at all or every kind of noise you can think of. I spend a lot of time driving between Wisconsin and Tennessee. I tune the
FM van radio to a clear frequency and tune ROADY2 as I move from one city to another but have no luck enjoying good sound.There are days when I get a good signal when parked in my driveway and then on the next several days there is no signal, only noise.I have talked to and emailed XM and have been told that they have no clue what is causing my problems. Yesterday I started the van in the garage and roady2 came on with the best, clear,beautiful music it has ever made. I backed out into the driveway under clear sky,no trees, no hills to block any signal and lost the signal and have not heard anything but NOISE since.
CAN ANYONE HELP?
Thanks,
SLY
On: 2005-10-25
Ive had my Roady 2 (plus the home kit, see my review there) for three months now. I dont know how I lived without XM before. More on the programming in a minute.
The Roady 2 itself is an inexpensive, fairly intuitive little box. The main receiver comes with a mobile DC adaptor for your motor vehicle/boat/whatever, a mobile antenna and a number of mounting options. I was so excited when I first got this little box that I just put the antenna on the dashboard and it worked about as well as it works now that Ive mounted it properly on the roof of the vehicle.
The display is large and legible. You can change the background color and contrast through the "menu" button. The FM transmitter is strong. Ive had friends in vehicles next to me tune to the FM channel on which I was listening to XM so they could enjoy the programming while we were talking. At home, I have the XM receiver in my bedroom. I also tune the living room stereo to the same channel and listen to crystal clear XM there. Ive played with the line-out option, which offers even more clarity, but I frankly enjoy the FM broadcast version more with all the flexibility that goes into listening to it anywhere in my house I have an FM radio with a good antenna.
I set up my three banks of 10 programmable stations, but now Im now familiar enough with the XM list that I either just scroll to the channel with the thumbwheel or use the direct entry feature either on the receiver or through the remote (which I got with the home kit). I also use the "memory" button from time to time when I hear something I want to look up later. A quick tap of this button stores the current song data so that you can press and hold the button later and scroll through your saved program information. Ive bought several CDs from that data. This leads me to the programming.
My son, who has his own XM receiver, listens to stuff that I dont bother with. Thats the joy of XM. He can have his rap and adult comedy, I have my "Fine Tuning" eclectic music, my coffee house selections, my classics and my multiple channels of news and talk radio. From time to time I listen to old time radio shows and music from the 60s and 70s. I love this service so much that I could sell it for a living. And Delphi has made an excellent product to take advantage of the service. My Roady 2 is on about 16 hours a day (I listen to "Audio Visions" at night).
by: page-o-rama On: 2005-10-18
This is my first and only satellite radio. I got it based on listening to a colleagues Roady2 all the way up on a business trip of 2 hours, and I decided I had to have it myself. Since I spend an hour a day total commuting and since we have few radio stations I like on air, this seemed a good deal for $12.99 a month.
The literature said something about commercial-free music stations, but the talk and news stations are NOT commercial free. No indeed. CNBC spent a good three to five minutes plugging their programs. And there were other ads. Just like cable--they said "No commercials, youre paying!" but it just aint true.
The Broadcast Stations
There are 247 stations, including local weather and traffic (the display doesnt show you which city you are tuned into, though, so use a preset) news, music, talk, finance, books and comedy. There is an optional service for rap, x-rated comedy and adult stuff for an additional $2.99 a month (not for me, Im fine without.)
Certain popular shows (G. Gordon Liddy, Dr. Laura, ) are broadcast and there is an equal-time America Left talk radio to balance the America Right. Disney for the kids, family comedy (no blue language.) Spanish language news and music, Gospel and a wide selection of music from new age, classical to pop, country, rock or jazz hits.
Best of all, Major League Baseball and some college football games. I love listening to baseball on the radio on long trips.
What you get with the Roady2 is as follows:
1. The Roady unit, about the size of a pack of cigarettes
2. A cassette connect unit
3. An external antenna kit
4. An internal antenna
5. A 12V cigarette lighter adapter
6. Various stick-on brackets.
To install, you follow the instructions, plugging the unit into your cigarette lighter and tuning to the XM channel 1. You receive your XM serial number. This is what you use to sign up with the XM service either online ($9.99 connect one time charge) or by phone ($14.99 charge.) I connected and got the serial number, but the website had troubles. The customer service people on the phone were helpful and charged me the web logon service fee because I tried to use the web first. Thanks, XM. Nice touch.
Then you leave the radio on and wait 15 to 20 minutes for the radio to recognize the service. This happened in exactly 15 minutes for me.
You can connect using the cassette insert or use an antenna instead. Since I didnt want to mount an antenna outside the car, I use the cassette player. But for better reception, the instructions tell you to use an external magnetic mount and find the best spot on the roof of the car, away from anything that interferes with reception. My reception is fine, though it does drop out occasionally.
An optional (not included) 600MV ac adapter will allow you to broadcast to your FM radio inside the house. I wish this were included. You also need the home antenna and a cable to go to the "aux" outlet on the back of the stereo receiver. I ended up purchasing this set as well, and will review it separately. I think its a "must" if you enjoy the XM stations as we do. The classical music stations are commercial-free, as I mentioned before, so you can have hours of great music flooding the house. Or your office. (Sadly, my office cant get reception in the building, so I have to find a way to put an antenna on the roof there.)
Other family members can get service for additional units for an additional $6.99 a month.
Paying up front for three years of service gets you a 23% discount.
Sound is mediocre (my car radio isnt so great to begin with but there is no improvement from satellite reception.) There is a tendency to blink out from time to time. Its acceptable but dont expect digital, sterling sound. The main advantage is good radio all the way up and back on your car trip and plenty of variety.
The instructions claim that using the cassette unit (I do) and an external antenna make for the best sound. But if you go through some densely-wooded patches or in a remote area, the signal seems to drop out. I think the roof installation will improve this situation for use in the car.
In short, great music, something for everyone, and as an added bonus, you can sign in for streaming audio on line if you have a subscription.
ONE and ONLY ONE ding; no playlists online. They give the piece being played but not the ones played and who played them. Ive written to suggest they include uploaded playlists (duh, they come right off the cd, so whats the problem to do this!) Thats the reason I deducted a star from this review.
Operation and ergonomics: To choose a channel, you toggle a thumbwheel on the side and push in when the display shows a song or station you want.
The display is bright enough, and the font large enough for a good glance while driving. Naturally, I want to set presets to my faves so I dont stare at the screen while driving (unsafe to be distracted on the road. Things happen in a second and you have to be alert.)
I didnt like all the spaghetti in the car (from the dc adapter, the wireless receiver and the cassette connector) but what can you do? I tied up the wires best I could. The preset buttons are small, but this is a small unit. There are plenty of them--10 to be exact. The wireless received (a small dongle) has to be tied down to the dash to be safe, lest it fly off and whack you in the face during a hard right or a fast stop. This CAN happen.
Summary:
For $12.99 a month or less, you can have a huge variety of news, music, information and talk in your car, no matter where you roam. The sound is mediocre, but I can put up with it to get all those wonderful selections. I like it. I think satellite radio makes sense for the car.
On: 2005-10-07
I bought this unit because I listen primarily to talk radio. I had spent too much time cursing at the extremely poor reception consistent with any AM radio. When XM first came out, I swore I would never pay for something I could get for free. Then I saw the Roady2 priced at under $50 and just had to give it a try.
I think this could qualify for the best $50 I have ever spent! I am disabled and my van is modified so I can drive from the wheelchair. I was worried about installation; especially mounting the antenna on the roof. I am like most men and when I get a new toy I must play with it immediately. The thought of having to beg a friend to install the antenna and then waiting for that installation was terrifying. I read some reviews here about merely placing the antenna on the dashboard. I have a Dodge grand Caravan and the windshield slopes at a real low angle so I placed the antenna on the dashboard so that it had a very clear view of the sky. I plugged in the antenna and power supply in and was pleasantly surprised with a crisp clear signal. Three bars!!! And that is using the FM modulator. I drove around a bit and did not lose signal once.
The user interface of the unit is extremely friendly and takes only minutes to master. The buttons are a bit small but I am not much of a channel surfer unless I lose a station signal. With this Delphi, I dont believe that will be a problem.
Bottom line: if you are willing to pay $150 or so a year for excellent radio reception, both at home and on the road, you probably cant beat the Roady2. If your worried about the hassle of installing and mounting new audio equipment in your vehicle the Roady2 will be a delight. I plug it in, turn it on and slide it into a cassette holder in my van console. Easy installation in under a minute
On: 2005-09-01
Easy to use, Very Small, and Priced Right. I love the unit I have, it works great for those long road trips. The only gripe I have is that it doesnt display the whole name of the song if the title is too long. Also it would be nice if it displayed the Artist name. This is a minor thing however and for $50-$100 less then most any other player, I can live with an abbreviated song name. This one is a keeper guys!
On: 2005-08-27
A very good product. I am technically challenged and even I was able to install this with only minimal difficuly. XM offers a great selection of music and entertainment channels. Their baseball package is a must for fans who want to catch their teams game, but dont live in the teams listening area.
On: 2005-08-26
First of all I have to say that I actually printed one womans review and it was not only helpful but practically all the information I needed! The Roady 2 is just like I read about- easy and fun. I did get the home adapter kit and sychronized my home intercom system that fills any room in the house. You can also use a regular boom box. I live in the woods so satalite reception varies in quality and the car isnt 100% without some interuptions but I love this thing and wonder how I lived without it. The regular mass media got turned off years ago and only XM could have lured me back.
On: 2005-08-25
I purchased this unit for my fiancee she has a 2003 mitsubishi eclipse with VERY limited mounting options. installation was a breeze, only took me 10 mintues tops to install it in her vehicle. it took me longer to activate the radio, (27 minutes on the phone with xm). however, once acitivated i was recieving the full channel lineup, (120 channels plus) within 15 minutes.
The unit looks and performs great! It comes with everything you need, reciever, mounting hardware, antenna, the works.
the neat thing is that it comes with a BUILT IN FM modulator, wirelessly transmitting the xm signal to the vehicles radio. what a timesaver! i would recommend this to anyone that wants xm but doesnt have room in their vehicle for the skyfi 2, or other bulky xm recievers. you cant go wrong with this one, less than 50 bucks, and everything you need is included. the service is $12.00 a month if you have one reciever and $6.99 if you add an additonal reciever to your account. XM ROCKS!!!
On: 2005-08-25
This is one of the best purchase decisions I ever made. I can take it back and forth between my house, car and office. It works great - just put the antenna in a position to catch the satellite signal. Takes five minutes to set up and you have hours of pleasure listening to broadcasts without any advertising. Its easy to contact the XM people also and you are ready to go within about 10 minutes of subscribing. Could not be better - I recommend it highly.
On: 2005-08-19
This radio is great. Its small and doesnt distract you and the type size is big enough to read at a glance. The backlight option for night driving is great also. Its easy to move from car to car and the small antennae was simple to install and never moves from its spot. The only problem I have is that from time to time my antennae wire comes loose and I have to turn it a bit to get reception, but I suspect thats more a faulty wire than the radio itself. I highly recommend the Roady2 and XM radio in general.
On: 2005-08-05
I love it so much i have bought 2. With it, you dont need a separate FM modulator. I use it at home and in car. Very nice unit!
On: 2005-08-03
I have been considering satellite radio for several months. Went back and forth between XM and Sirius. Initially went with Sirius but I couldnt get very good reception in the house (and didnt want to spend the $$ to install a rooftop antenna) and one of my favorite stations recently left Sirius and is now exclusively with XM so....I returned the Sirus equipment and bought the $49.99 Roady2 and boy am I glad I did. Unit works really well in the house...much better reception than I got with Sirius. Im listening to it now in my office with a direct connect to a Bose Wave Radio...the reception is soooo much better than I get on FM with an antenna. Sound quality is excellent. Unit is very easy to set up and use and much more compact than the Sirius Sportstar. Im having it installed in my car tomorrow and will probably buy a second radio for our other car.
by: willow_moon On: 2005-08-03
I have found that using a terk amplified extension and a sirius outdoor antennae that I have better sound and receiving bars. They do fit.When I turned up the amp at home the music is AWESOME.
On: 2005-07-21
If you are thinking about getting satellite radio, the Delphi SA 10085 Roady2 is the unit for you! I was skeptical because of its small size, but once installed I was amazed at the sound quality. Installation was a breeze and activation at XMRADIO.COM was fast and easy. Within an hour I was listening to great satellite radio. Reception is crystal clear. There are numerous stations from which to choose; whether it be rock, pop, classical, Christian, New Age, there is something for you! If youve been thinking about getting satellite radio, think no longer, do it!!!
On: 2005-07-19
Fantastic Unit! I had a Sony DNR model (one of XMs first) I love all of the new features. Installed by myself with no problem. The car kit came with some handy clips to install on an existing air duct. It looks like it belongs there.
On: 2005-06-14
I know this is my fault, but I didnt "install" the unit using any clips. I just slip it into the little casette holder under my radio and pull it out when evern I adjust it. The attenna wire leading into the unit needs to be wiggled about once a week or it shorts out. Im sure if I installed it properly this wouldnt be a problem.
Customer support was great and mailed me a new attenna. No charge!
LOVE the service. Life changing, I used to dread my 45 minute drive to work, now I love it. Its fun hearing CNN and FOX cover the same stories with different spins. Im listening a lot more bluegrass and heavy metal now.
Anyone know of any good bluegrass metal bands?
On: 2005-05-18
I have more nice things to say about the Roady 2 than I do XM radio, which has taken a great concept and minimalized it. I bought mine so I could listen to news channels in the car on long trips so I wouldnt be zipping out of range constantly.
The Roady 2 works very well in the car once the mobile antenna is in place. The displays change color and its easy to dial up various stations, most of which are junk. XM is geared more to kids, which is a mistake because I think many of them prefer iPODs.
Of all the XM receivers, this is the one to get. The FM transmitter works well at home or in the car and its kind of relaxing to listen to Fox News or CNN.
I hope they dont discontinue this model because I think many people overlook the transmitter. If you need a radio to pick up overpriced radio signals, this is the way to go. XM recently raised its prices to pay for two idiots named Opie and Anthony who really are worse (by a long shot) than Waynes World.
On: 2005-05-02
When my father purchased his new vehicle it had XM in it, so after driving it for a while I began to like the music selections. Recently I bought my own Roady 2, and I am very impressed. There are so many options for everything, and it is so compact.
Pros:
--Very small unit, about the size of a deck of cards
Great XM service
--Various mounting options, tuning options, personalizing options, and listening options
--Low price on XM service, especially if you already have existing service
--Wide variety of music from classical to rock to salsa
Cons:
--Wireless FM modulator brings music quality down (I reccomend the using the tape deck option is you have one in your car.)
--There are a lot of wires- I thought there would be less visable wires when mounted in the car.
On: 2005-04-30
Just installed my Roady2 in the pickup and have nothing but praise for the unit.
The installation is a snap. Everything worked as advertised in the manual, first time, without any SNAFUs.
When I found that 9 of the 12 FM modulator frequencies were used in my area and the other 3 had heavy interference from adjacent channels, I was upset. Then I discovered that the Roady2s modulator was strong enough to produce full quieting and eliminate any intermod.
Some folks have suggested that simply placing the antenna on the dashboard gives good results, so I decided to try it. I drove a long square course that oriented me N/S/E/W with the antenna on the dash, right behind the windshield. Worked just fine. I had a couple of dropouts of very short duration for no known reason since I was sitting still at the time. The signal strength is "two bar" vis "three bar" in this configuration, but its worth it.
My success with the dashboard antenna could be due to my southern location (Florida), but Ill be giving it another test when I drive to Minnesota next month.
Overall, this is one of the best "toy" investments Ive made. Sure will make distance driving more enjoyable.
On: 2005-04-17
I recently bought the delphi Roady2 for my wifes car, I have a Roady1 in my truck and love it, but my wife does not have a tape deck so we couldnt swap it between the cars. So, I bought her the Roady2 with built in FM modulator and she loves it!!! The only complaint I have is the reception on the FM radio can be a little scrachy sometimes (I am used to the tape feature on my Roady1) but otherwise its great!! Also, when you have 2 XM radios you get a discount on the second one!!! How cool is that??? But, I own 2 XM radios both Delphi Roadys and I recomend them both.
On: 2005-04-15
Although I despise commercial radio, I hesitated to get satellite radio because I assumed there would be a lot of expense and installation involved. I was way off! Anyone, and I mean anyone, can get this going in 10 minutes or less, and there is no "hard" installation necessary. You can even take this very easily transportable system out of the car when youre done driving and take it in your house to deter theft. Or you can easily move it from one car to another, and back! The guide says it takes an hour for the stations to update before you can begin hearing them, but for us it took 15 minutes.
As for the other reviews here that say the FM modulator doesnt work well, I live in a MAJOR market, a suburb of Washington, DC, and it works perfectly with absolutely zero interference or static and amazing sound quality! This is an EXCELLENT FM Modulator!!! If you take a couple of minutes to find a good station to set it on out of the choices, its fantastic. I also dont really agree that its difficult to change channels in the car, there are a number of ways to find a good channel (presets, by genre, by channel number) and Im not having difficulty. Also, I agree with those who have said the antenna works great inside the car on the dash - it really does.
This unit is also LOADED with cool features, including a memory for storing favorite songs, an "alert" that tells you when favorite songs are playing on other channels, and 3 preset channel banks so your family members with different taste in music can each have their own personal one!
Dont let commercial radio insult your intelligence with their obnoxious djs and 18 minutes per hour of commercials any more, or abuse your loyalty with format changes and morning talk shows on stations that claim to be music stations. There are over 150 channels, the music channels are commercial-free, (and really play music!!!) and EVERY kind of music is well represented, in most cases with not one, but multiple channels. My favorite genre, Electronica, has 3 stations on XM, even though after living in 5 different states I have never found any Electronica stations at all on regular commercial radio. Rock has 13 stations! And for sports fans, this is the only place you can hear ANY Major League Baseball game nationwide! As for comparison with Sirius, there is none. More total channels, more music channels and a much better variety of other channels, like the exclusive sports (like MLB) and news channels, and my own personal favorite music show Subterranean with Zoltar - used to be on 2 hours a week on a local commercial radio station here until they changed their format from Alternative (the only Alternative channel in DC area) to Mexican. (That was the last straw, and why I final broke down and tried XM!) DO NOT HESITATE to get this unit or the XM service. I dont even want to get out of the car anymore!
On: 2005-04-09
I have to say the music selection is second to none and there are no commercials to boot! One disappointment for me was the piss poor internal FM modulator. Just forget getting a clear signal via your in dash radio. Thank God I have a cassette deck in my car. Once I used the casette adapter the sound was excellent. The only draw back of course was more wires running around. No biggie for me(if you saw my car you would understand!). That being the only drawback I can say that this was an excellent buy at $56 after taxes and delivery. Oh by the way tune in to chanel 202 if you want to laugh your a** off!!!!
On: 2005-04-01
I love my Roady2 and listen to it almost exclusively in my car, the 6-CD changer notwithstanding. Im especially impressed with its 20-song memory; the Roady2 can alert the listener when one of those 20 tunes is being played on another station. Another 20 songs names and artists can be stored just for later reference. And up to 30 preset stations can be programmed into the unit for quick tuning without the scroll wheel. I use 10 for music, 10 for news/talk, and the rest (set C) for a mix of miscellaneous stations.
The small design of the Roady2 allows it to blend in and avoid being too noticeable on the dash. Its various mounting options also accommodate most vehicles, making this a perfect unit to give to someone as a gift. Youll love the clear reception, easy installation (well, in my case), and superb selection of stations.
Ive also recently purchased the home kit for my Roady2. I just connect the device to a boom box via the line-in jacks and then enjoy a great selection of stations and programs while I relax inside. My remote works from across the room; Im not sure why some people have had problems with their remotes at distances of more than a few feet. And the antenna just rests on the stereo as is -- no need to put it near a window.
One last usage note: if you hear some distortion when you first listen to your Roady2 in your car, turn down output volume in the settings menu. By default, the volume is on 5. Ive had to turn mine down to 3 to avoid any distortion on talk or music channels. My stereo inside, however, sounds better with the default setting (5). Im also using the cassette adapter in the car because of the better sound quality it offers compared to the FM transmitter.
Highly recommended!
On: 2005-03-31
My Roady2 is working well and I love the product and XM service now that I can enjoy it. However, when I first set it up, I found the built-in FM transmitter completely inadquate. As my car does not have a tape deck, using the cassette adaptor was not an option, although I did test it in my wifes car (which does have a tape deck) to make sure the Roady2 or the XM service wasnt the problem. It worked fine with the cassette adaptor.
Back in my car, it occurred to me to try attaching my iRock FM transmitter (used with my Archos Jukebox when in the car) to the Roady2 and voila, I had great sound. I concluded that the iRock is a much better FM transmitter and/or the Roady2 transmitter is very poor.
One additional consideration if you have this issue. I have an old iRock - it runs only on batteries and if you ever forget to switch it off (or it gets bumped and turns on, which happens a lot), youll return to dead batteries. The newer iRock has a connector to draw power from your car lighter. However, your Roady2 will need to use the lighter as its power source, so youll need to figure out if theres a way to use both the Roady2 and iRock together with one lighter (perhaps theres an adaptor of some kind, but I have not investigated this).
On: 2005-03-19
Well out of the 3 Roady2 units I bought, 2 had defective backlight lcd displays and all 3 and very limited range(5ft. or less) FM modulators. Using a Sony boombox, the Roady2 had to be within 5ft. or setting right next to the Sony boombox just to receive the signal. People claiming that the Roady2 can transmitt a long distance must be lying. And when I went to get a second unit, it had bad spots, like liquid or moisture or something was on the backlight behind the LCD display and these areas shined brighter than the surrounding areas. I returned that one, and went to a different store and purchased a new Roady2. Again, the same type of bad spots on the backlight LCD display just like the one I returned, except that it wasnt as bad, but still, Im not paying a hundred bucks for spots on the LCD display. So after buying 2 defective units and returning both, I decided that Delphi must produce some bad electronic devices and decided to give the Roady2 the boot. How sad, manufacturers cant even produce a basic LCD display with the technology available today. I will not be buying another Delphi product again. My experience with this poor, defective hardware made by Delphi has given me a bad first time experience with satellite radio. Too bad, nobody can produce a good receiver that actually works without the defects.
Oh, and the vent mount that you receive with the Roady2 is very weak, and breaks very easily. It broke the first day I tried it, and that was with me being very careful with it. Just another reason not to buy this unit.
On: 2005-02-20
I received the Roady 2 for a Christmas gift and initially I wasnt thrilled with the thoughts of installing it and paying $10/mo for a radio. The installation was rather easy, activation took minutes and I have to admit this is one of the coolest gadgets Ive owned.
We like new, alternative music (I guess alternative means not rock oldies and country music) and its generally possible to find something worth listening to. I like to listen to talk radio, finance and news, and theres plenty of choices. The unit will display (delayed) stock quotes, and that is handy. There are 2 comedy channels, sometimes those are entertaining. I guess theres classical music but I want the Roady to combat boredom, not to enhance it, so Ive never sampled those channels.
The song memory feature is way cool, you can store 20 favorite songs, the unit will beep when the song is found on another channel and you can switch to it.
The product quality seems to be good, except if you spill something on it, then the buttons get a bit sticky. Try to mount the Roady 2 vertically.
Even though the XM satellites are the most powerful communication satellites ever launched, their signals are highly directional and easily blocked. So dont expect to get a signal when you are parked in a garage or even under a tree.
We call XM FN because of the numerous channels marked with XL for extreme language. Some of them are over the top, in my opinion. If you are interested in hearing more F and N words in one hour than the average inmate in a county jail hears in a month, then tune into those. I like hip-hop, but the violent and pornographic language in the uncensored music gets real old after awhile. (No, the FCC does not need to intervene, changing the channel will suffice.)
Sports are supposed to be great on XM, I have no experience yet because Im not interested in college basketball and NASCAR. (Theres a NASCAR oldies channel where you can listen to races from 20 years ago. I am not kidding.) I am a baseball fan, however. XM will carry every game, and that will be great. No MLB oldies channel but Im sure someone is working on that.
Also useful is the regional weather and traffic. I understand that the traffic reports are quite thorough. I live in a small town, so I cant rate the traffic reports. I have to admit it is perversely fun to tune into a commuting hellhole like Seattle or DC during their rush hours. The unit displays JAM ALERT if (when) theres a problem in one of the cities.
Theres a few minor gripes and one major one. If you tend to surf channels a lot and are an active stock trader, you are going to be one seriously distracted driver. Thats my major gripe. When these things become mainstream, the safety zealots will go on a holy war that will eclipse their jihad against cellphones.
Routing the antenna wire was a bit of a pain. Also if your car radio isnt XM ready then you have 3 choices: a wireless link to an FM channel, a clunky cassette adaptor, or a hard wire RF adaptor into your car antenna input. I chose the wireless route and the signal strength is barely adequate. An XM ready radio is the most elegant setup.
XM advertises commercial free radio but thats a bit misleading. Theres short commercials, mostly for XM. The talk & news channels have plenty of genuine ads, I guess thats not XMs fault, they are embedded in the programs. Whats a bit cheesy is the synchronization of commercials: If you surf to another channel to avoid a commercial, theres a good chance you will hear the exact same commercial on another channel at exactly the same time.
If you can manage the risk of getting into accidents while channel surfing and dont mind occasionally turning your car into the audio equivalent of the county detention center, then I would recommend XM radio and the Roady 2.
On: 2005-01-27
If youre a technical person like me and understand how this technology works, youll realize this is a great product for the price -- despite a few shortcomings.
Setup is easy -- it took me 10 minutes to find a location for the included antenna and snake it through my Pontiac Vibe. The built-in FM modulator is excellent. I have had mixed results with other FM modulators in my vehicle, but this unit delivers clear audio on several available FM frequencies. I live and work around Philadelphia, and the FM band is over-crowded, so Im quite pleased with this. You wont get CD-quality sound through FM, but if you can stand strong-signal FM stations, youll appreciate the sound quality and it shouldnt bother you at all. Satellite radio, like all satellite entertainment systems, uses compressed audio -- so dont expect CD-quality music. It simply isnt possible with the available bandwidth. It sounds like mp3s encoded at 96kbps, which is good enough for me.
The buttons are a little small, and I would have preferred a dedicated "Direct" button to allow direct entry of channel numbers. Instead, you have to toggle between Preset A, B, C, and "Direct" to enter a channel number directly. While driving, that is a distraction. I recommend the remote, which I have ordered. The kit includes a variety of mounting options, none of which work particularly well in my vehicle -- but every vehicle is different, and the manufacturer cant possibly accomodate everybody. I was disturbed with the fact that none of the mounting devices were explained. The kit includes several smaller pieces, and I have no idea what they are for. Managing the two cords (one for the antenna and one for the power supply) around the dash is also a challenge. If you dont like cords dangling around your dash, this isnt for you.
I commute nearly 100 miles a day on various roads, and the unit performs well, both in terms of capturing the satellite signal and transmitting the audio to my cars FM radio. Overall, its a great product for the price.
On: 2005-01-26
I have tested and evaluated all the Delphi Sat. units and this one stands out from the crowd. Small enough to fit into a shirt pocket, with built in Fm modulator so that no other componet pieces are necessary other than antenna and power source, this radio can go anywhere you go, with the minimum of wires and external appliances. Big easy to read display ensures you can navigate at a glance. Dollar for dollar this is your BEST choice for satellite radio. Subscription can be purchased 3 months at a time for 9.99 a month with no contract. 100% commercial free on music stations, but has a FEW commercials on the talk radio side. If you are tired of supporting the Record industry with all the format changes (those of you old enough know to what I refer) forget your cassettes, lps, and even cds. Get this radio and for pennies a day enjoy not just todays music, but anything from the world music library with the LUXURIOUS aspect of INSTANTLY looking on the display to see what/who you are listening to. No CDs to wag, no fear of someone ripping off your car audio system, (and small enough so that when you take it with you, you put it in your shirt pocket) Sound quality is roughly 128bit encoded mp3 (rumor is that the sound resolution will increase over time) I LOVE this and I imagine you will too. Subscriptions for more than one radio per household are only 6.99 a month.<br />
<br />
Get XM-Get tuned in turned on and jammed up.
On: 2005-01-20
I didnt give it 5 starts cause I really like pop music and was expecting a lot of pop channels. But there is only like 2 or 3 at most.
But what I did want to say is I live in Los Angeles and everyone has been telling me that the FM modulator sucks. But with the system I had in my car Id have to special order the direct connect so I ordered the Roady 2 instead and was just going to try out the FM modulator before trying a direct connect. I have to say the FM modulator works great. Everyone was telling me youre going to hear a lot of static and other channels coming through etc. Found a good channel and my roady 2 comes in clearly.
I figured it was worth a shot and if it didnt work I could just return it or hard wire it. So Im pretty happy with it.
On: 2005-01-20
Im generally happy with the Roady2, but I thought Id pass on this word of caution: If you buy the Roady along with a home docking kit and are looking forward to using the remote control, make sure your head unit responds to it before you activate the service. In my case, the head unit does not work properly with the remote and I learned that this is not all that rare. Im still trying to decide whether its worth the trouble of taking back the head unit, deactivating, reactivating, blah, blah, blah. Not being able to use the remote might actually be a blessing in disguise, as it stops me from jumping around too much.
Other than that problem, everything works fine. I use it almost exclusively in the house, but it also works well in the car. Just toss the antenna on the dashboard, no problem. One thing to watch out for, though, especially in an older car, is ignition interference. I was experimenting with mounting locations and found I picked up noise in certain spots. The built-in FM modulator is a great convenience, though admittedly of lower sound quality than direct RCA.
As for the XM content, well, if you have broad musical tastes there should be enough to keep you busy for a long time. 30 presets are more than enough, and in the end youll probably have your faves all in the top 10. Soundwise, Ive noticed that certain channels sound better than others (though none are CD quality), and certain types of recording fare better than others. Older recordings, denser mixes, and heavily compressed mixes tend to suffer most. Maybe its just my imagination, but I get the feeling that if you like the same kind of music as the XM engineers, youre in luck... :-)
My only other beef is with the owners manual. Surely it could have been more comprehensive and printed in larger type, eh? Couldnt have saved that much money.
On: 2005-01-17
The XM radio service is very good overall
And i think this device is on average good compared to other XM radio receivers.
On the plus side
a)the roady 2 is of Relatively small size
b)portable.
c)It has a large array of background colors.
On the other hand, I think Delphi can do better
1) the cables that connect to the roady are unsightly and cumbersome.
2)you cant see the Artist name, song and the channel at the same time you must chose between views constantly if you want to see all three of the fields.
c)the plastic holders seem to be made of very cheap plastic.
I really dont know why Delphi deviated from a superior xm receiver design such as the Skyfi to the the Roady 2.
The price is not precisely cheaper since the roady 2 goes for 99.00 dollars.
I do not regret buying this unit i just think Delphi could have done better for the money, it certainly did so for the Skyfi.
On: 2005-01-09
This was/is a great gift I got for christmas from my wife! The hardest part was figuring out how to route the antenna wire through my grand prix. Once that was figured out, 5 to 10 minutes online. It took about 20 minute for the satellite to finish the programing.
Its been great ever since. Snow on the antenna has been my only problem at all.
On: 2005-01-08
This is my first satellite radio. The only bad thing I have to say about it is that I cant believe I was so foolish not to look into it sooner. Its no secret that most FM stations are awful, and this is an audiophiles solution. Great product, better price!
On: 2005-01-02
After reading into both XM and Sirius, I decided on XM primarily for deeper music as opposed to more mainstream. I chose the Roady 2 after considering other options and I have been incredibly satisfied with this product. This compact, handy sized receiver has been able to receive top-notch reception without me doing anymore than placing the antenna on the dash (I even got great reception with it placed in the cup holder). It is true that your driving may be distracted, especially in the beginning when you are switching through countless channels, so the remote that comes with the optional home kit is probably worth your investment. But there really havent been any negatives to this purchase. AM has never sounded better and FM has never offered more listening options.
Since I havent listened to radio outside of a handful of times over the past ten years, this was a logical move. Now I just wonder when Ill listen to cds again.
Well worth it.
On: 2004-12-31
Do not believe the review above which said the audio quality is poor. (I think that reviewer was using the FM modulator, which anyone with car audio experience will tell you, is inferior compared to a direct wired connection. It has inherently lower S/N hooked up that way.) I have a head unit (Nakamichi) with a set of RCA pre-outs that are hooked up to a "Y" cable. I know of at least 2 manufacturers: the $29.99 iCable by Monster Cable and the $7.99 Belkin. The Belkin is only 7 feet long, but this is more than long enough to hook up to the head unit and route out from under the dash. Either cable terminates in a single 3.5 mm mini-jack which can then plug into the output of the Roady 2 (or an iPod). Hooked up thusly, the sound is clear and free of distortion.
I am most impressed by the variety of programming. Its true that there are so many channels youll be tempted to listen to types of music that you wouldnt ordinarily think about, let alone find on your regular FM or AM stations. Some of these stations have DJs, but they are not like most DJs. Reminescent of the guys on NPR, they are rather subdued and low key. They introduce the song then go away. No complaints here. And no commercials!
I experimented with placing the antenna inside the car to see whether exterior mounting is required. It isnt required, but if you want to maximize signal strength, you need to mount it to the car roof with its built-in magnet. I paid an installer $30 at a Best Buy to route the thin 1mm cable under the molding of my front windshield. The magnet itself is placed alongside the edge of the windshield. The install looks completely stock and I get clear reception at all times, except possibly when parking in an underground garage.
Definitely a worthwhile investment, as it perfectly complements my CD changer. The reception does not provide S/N on the order of quality CD reproduction, but it does equal the clearest FM reception.
I didnt buy a remote despite all the reviews that said it was a "must have." I cant scan station by station but I have my presets memorized for the most part. I put the 70s on A7, the 80s on A8, the 90s on A9, etc.
Now if only they could make a smaller, lighter portable adapter. Im getting another one for my wifes car. (Another reviewer said it costs only $6 more per month for the second unit.) Ill tell you if thats true.
On: 2004-12-20
I was curious about satellite radio for a long time. Had a discussion with my brother about satellite radio. Did a LOT of research on the net. Seemed too good to be true. I HATE broadcast FM stations. Not listened to broadcast radio for many years. I have been using MP3 CD in my car. But after a year or two, all my music is memorized. Nothing special.
So the local chain stores had the Roady2 on sale. Bought one to try it out. Came with car stuff. Installed it. I discovered satellite joy! WOW! No commercials! Lotsa stations, including stand up comedy! I was hooked. The Roady2 is a little gem.
Bought a home kit to try it out in my condo. Some antenna location problems, but got it working. WOW! Love it! Sound quality is like an old FM Stereo (analog) of years ago. Its not really CD quality sound. But good enough. Like a moderately good 96kbps MP3 at best.
I even bought another Roady2! Now one in my car, one in my condo living room. If I could afford it, I would put one in my bedroom too.
I do have a high end audio system. My main thought is it is music that counts. XM provides a large variety of stuff I dont have, and its nice to have someone else do the choices. Makes things nice.
XM is great. I highly recommend it. Commercial free music, lotsa comedy and talk, and news.
The Roady2 plugs into the dc outlet/cigarette lighter. It has a small antenna I put under my "dashmat" cover on my dashboard. It has a built in RF modulator. Its great. I use it in a Ford Focus no problem.
At home, you have a bigger antenna, power supply, and stereo cable to your home stereo. And a remote control comes with the home kit.
Now I can listen to jazz too. I dont buy jazz CDs (even though I like jazz) because I dont know what to buy. With XM, I can just listen!!!
On: 2004-12-19
My job involves a lot of driving through areas with very limited radio reception, so satellite radio was a natural for me. I had a Sirius receiver in my old car but when I traded in decided to go with XM and bought a Roady2.
My Roady2 was very easy to install and I was up and running in minutes. In contradiction to the comments of one other reviewer, I didnt have to drive around for an hour for all the programmming data to be downloaded into my Roady. I turned the ignition of my car turned to "accessory" and stayed in the driveway. It was going in less than ten minutes. Although it has a wireless FM modulator, I recommend using the cassette adaptor (which is included) if you have a cassette deck in your car; the sound quality is much better and you wont have to hunt for another FM frequency if you drive into an area that has another station broadcasting on the one you have the Roady set to.
As much as I like my Roady2, I cant help but have a few gripes. First, despite the fact that the display resolution can be user set its hard to see it at night in any setting. Second, it lacks a seek/scan feature although you can solve this problem by purchasing the optional remote control ($15.95 in most places). Although Delphi pushes the convenience of moving the Roady2 from car to car, its really kind of a chore when you have to go through the trouble of disconnecting it, taking off the antenna, etc. In my case it was easier to just buy a second Roady2 for my wifes car. XM only charges an extra $6.00 per month for a second subscription.
Finally, although XMs music channels are commercial free there are some annoying plugs for programming and other channels in between songs that I can do without. The talk, news, comedy, and old time radio channels do have commercials and unfortunately their frequency and duration is about as bad as that of the typical commercial FM station.
In summary, I believe satellite radio is superior to commercial radio in terms of programming and reception and the Roady2 represents the cheapest and easiest way to get you there. Despite a few annoying drawbacks, I recommend it.
On: 2004-12-16
Marvelous! Had the Skifi and enjoyed it. The Roady2 is an improvement and reviews here are detailed, so I am mainly giving the 5 star vote. The FM Modulator is GREAT (contrary to a review below). It is not the best way to patch in; but even in a crowded FM market such as where I live, it works quite well. On the road, I have to change FM Modulator stations on the fly, as I go through different FM markets. A direct RCA plug is clearly a better solution. The Roady2 makes great improvements including mounting options and turning on automatically with the car, and little things like different screen colors. XM radio is great; this is a great XM Radio device.
On: 2004-12-12
Well, Ill start by saying the roady is a great alternative to a built in XM deck.
PROS:
1) Easy instalation with the supplied mounting bracket
2) Price
3) XM has great music, equal to sirius
4) Screen color change is way cool
CONS:
1) Wireless FM modulator sounds like garbage.
2) Wireless FM modulator had HORRIBLE sound quality
3) Wireless FM modulator sound like AM radio with poor reception.
4) See #1-3 again
5) The antenna is tricky to mount and i dont know how well it will hold up to snow rain and ice. I guess ill find out, though.....
Basically, the tape adaptor is the only way to go beccause it sound clear and crisp and great through the cassete adaptor. I know 99 percent of you dont have a tape player in your car, so DONT buy this unless you do. If you have a tape deck in your car( My 02 Tacoma has cd and tape) then i higly reccomend this product.
On: 2004-11-30
I purchased the Roady2 and home adapter kit and activated the service with no problems. I bought a five year subscription to keep the monthly cost low (you can cancel at any time without penalty). Im very satisfied. I feel that my commute time is now my time to unwind and explore new music. The instructions tell you to mount the magnetic antenna outside the car. Mine works fine just tossed on the dashboard (I did place it on a magnet I have affixed to the dash for a nice tight fit). The unit itself is in a storage compartment in my Odyssey. When I park the car I shut the compartment, thereby concealing the unit. (Check out the XM message boards for ideas on mounting). I play XM through the radio (my unit is not directly connected and I do not play it through the cassette deck). Reception and sound quality is fine, though the other two options are supposed to produce even better sound quality. I do recommend the home kit because to avoid a car accident youll want to use the remote control in the car. Once inside the house, I hooked the Roady up to my stereo TV and it played fine through the speakers. I also hooked it up to a Bose radio with good results. Funny thing is---my husband says that with all those channels to chose from that I play elevator music! (My favorite channel is Watercolors, which is contemporary jazz). The only downside is that youll want to upgrade your car speakers and wire your whole house for sound.
On: 2004-11-24
Simply put - SIRIUS is MUCH BETTER!! the choices of music, the different formats, the sound quality... even the price is better. I found xm to be quite monotonous!! xm was to middle of the road, you know how someone tries to stay safe and please the mainstream, but they end up pleasing NO one - thats xm! SIRIUS is by far the BEST. with SIRIUS what i love most is when Im surprised by a song that I havent heard in a long time and MOST times never before (and im in the music business)! Thats one of the things that sepreates them from xm - xm is very commercial in terms of playing standard humdrum music ( and i mean in all their formates, jazz, rock, pop even hiphop, imagine that standard hip hop), they arent very diverse and to me that gets boring!! thats why i cancelled xm and sold the receiver, (which was a very troublesome process) But Im free now and Im here to say SIRIUS is great system! Im thinking about giving one to my girlfriend for christmas.
On: 2004-11-07
First, I have to mention a few things - I have a very high fidelity sound system in my car, and have been with Sirius since it became available. I heard O&A was available for XM, and I was interested in doing a comparison since they claim "the best sound quality for satellite radio".
This unit works wonderfully. I installed the antenna on my roof next to my existing sirius antenna and ran the cables along the window weatherstripping and into my trunk, under the carpet, etc (mind you I tested it first to ensure it worked). The interface is intuitive, the orange color seems to match the best in my pontiac grand am gt, and it looks good mounted underneath the stereo in that little cubby area. Feature-wise, this roady2 works great, is easy to use, and switches channels fast (faster than sirius), but...
Now for the bad. Im very dissapointed in XMs quality. Compared to sirius, it sounds like MP3s and MUFFLED! I wont hold the roady2 responsible for this, because Ive listed to many tuners out there for XM. Sadly, anyone with good hearing and a high fi system will be dissapointed at the bass response and the highs (lets not leave out the digital artifacts that chime clear in the mid range!). Sirius is the way to go, and anyone who mentions the fact that XM is cheaper doesnt realize that they want you to pay $4+ dollars more a month just to hear it on your computer via the internet. Add on premium channels and it can start to choke a horse!
Once again however, this tuner is very classy, and will I keep XM along with my sirius? Yes. I like O&A on the high voltage channel (extra $2/month), and extra channel options that are between XM and Sirius. What would be nice in the future is a dual service tuner so people like me could have their cake and eat it too. Ill be putting a full review up on my own personal site soon if you do a search for it. Hope this helps folks!
On: 2004-11-06
First, I have to mention a few things - I have a very high fidelity sound system in my car, and have been with Sirius since it became available. I heard O&A was available for XM, and I was interested in doing a comparison since they claim "the best sound quality for satellite radio".
This unit works wonderfully. I installed the antenna on my roof next to my existing sirius antenna and ran the cables along the window weatherstripping and into my trunk, under the carpet, etc (mind you I tested it first to ensure it worked). The interface is intuitive, the orange color seems to match the best in my pontiac grand am gt, and it looks good mounted underneath the stereo in that little cubby area. Feature-wise, this roady2 works great, is easy to use, and switches channels fast (faster than sirius), but...
Now for the bad. Im very dissapointed in XMs quality. Compared to sirius, it sounds like MP3s and MUFFLED! I wont hold the roady2 responsible for this, because Ive listed to many tuners out there for XM. Sadly, anyone with good hearing and a high fi system will be dissapointed at the bass response and the highs (lets not leave out the digital artifacts that chime clear in the mid range!). Sirius is the way to go, and anyone who mentions the fact that XM is cheaper doesnt realize that they want you to pay $4+ dollars more a month just to hear it on your computer via the internet. Add on premium channels and it can start to choke a horse!
Once again however, this tuner is very classy, and will I keep XM along with my sirius? Yes. I like O&A on the high voltage channel (extra $2/month), and extra channel options that are between XM and Sirius. What would be nice in the future is a dual service tuner so people like me could have their cake and eat it too. Ill be putting a full review up on my own personal site soon if you do a search for it. Hope this helps folks!
On: 2004-11-02
I started looking at the satellite radio service when I found out that Major League Baseball signed an 11-year deal with XM to broadcast all games beginning in 2005. After doing my research on this site and many others I decided to purchase the Delphi Roady2 (SA10085) and the optional home kit (SA10069-11P1). These two items togehter simply provide you the least expensive, simplest and most complete package for satellite radio.
What it comes with:
The unit comes with all you need to install the Roady2 in your vehicle. (cigarette lighter cord, mini mag-mount antenna with plenty of wire, cassette adapter, vent mounting clip and swivel mount). The Roady2 itself is the size of an audio cassette tape and has a built in wireless FM modulator and comes with a black face plate installed on it and a red and blue which can be installed if you desire.
The home kit comes with a stand to hold your Roady2, AC power adapter, antenna and remote control with battery.
Home installation:
The first thing you need to do is find a spot in your home where you can recieve the satellite signal. After my experience, I suggest the following. The Roady2 has the built in wireless FM modulator (12 different channels) which means you can use any FM radio in your house to listen to your XM radio. The range is pretty good. I placed mine in my second floor bedroom with the antenna near a window that provides a full signal. You will have to experiment to find a location that works for you both for signal strength and functionality. But once you find the spot you are all set. I used the second floor to increase the range of the FM modulator and its more convenient.
Once you have a signal and the unit is on tuned to Ch 1 (Preview Channel) you can activate your XM service. I activated mine online on the XM web site. This was straight forward and painless. About 10 minutes after activation I had access to all channels. I listen to my XM on my home stereo system, a boombox in the kitchen and a small radio in the bedroom all while my Roady2 just sits there on my night stand doing its thing. The only thing I have to do is go to the Roady2 to change the channel if I desire.
Operation of the Roady2:
The unit is fairly straight forward to operate. There are some drawbacks many of which are just do to the small size of the unit, but there are also many great features. The display can only show 2 lines of information at a time. To see the other lines you need to press the Display button. There are some features and preferences which you can change with the Menu button, such as the display color (there are like 7 to choose from) and FM frequency and others which I wont go into here. The buttons are fairly small and you can easily hit the wrong one. However, that is where the best part of the home kit comes in. The small remote control. The remote has all the funtions of the Roady2 except the Menu button. It also adds a couple of features not available on the unit. (SCAN and JUMP)
There are 3 banks of 10 presets for a total of 30. The only downfall of the presets is that the display does not show the memory position while you are listening to a station. (minor problem) A nice feature is the ability to store up to 20 of your favorite songs. While the song is playing you simply press the MEMORY button and the Roady2 will store it. The next time that song is playing on any XM station you will be notified even if you are not listening to that station. Havent seen this in action yet because in the 4 days I have had this unit I havent heard the same song twice yet.
Vehicle Installation:
As with many newer vehicles, my car does not have a cassette player, so the cassette adapter is useless to me. That is why the wireless FM modulator is so important. The vehicle installation was simple, but I do have some suggestions. I experimented with antenna placement on my 2003 Chevy Impala. I wanted to try and place it on the inside top of the windshield. I took it out for a ride and noticed that the signal faded out in some spots. I live in a CT town with many trees and some hills which surely had some affect. I found this unacceptable and tried it mounted outside using the magnet. I placed it on the vertical post on the drivers side of the windshield, which was the easiest spot for me without running the wire all over my car. I took another ride on the same route as before and never lost the signal. Problem solved! I am using the vent clip mount and the cigartte lighter plug. Plugged the power and antenna in and tuned my car stereo to the FM modulator and XM was playing loud and clear in my car. They say that the wireless FM modulator is the poorest sound quaility of the possible connections, but it sounds GREAT to me and for the ease of installation you cant go wrong.
I love this radio and the XM service and to those of you who are considering the Roady2 or XM service I recommend you buy it. You will not be disappointed! This is the best bang for your buck and the service has something for everyone (music, news, talk, sports, comedy, specials, weather, traffic and more)!
On: 2004-11-01
I started looking at the satellite radio service when I found out that Major League Baseball signed an 11-year deal with XM to broadcast all games beginning in 2005. After doing my research on this site and many others I decided to purchase the Delphi Roady2 (SA10085) and the optional home kit (SA10069-11P1). These two items togehter simply provide you the least expensive, simplest and most complete package for satellite radio.
What it comes with:
The unit comes with all you need to install the Roady2 in your vehicle. (cigarette lighter cord, mini mag-mount antenna with plenty of wire, cassette adapter, vent mounting clip and swivel mount). The Roady2 itself is the size of an audio cassette tape and has a built in wireless FM modulator and comes with a black face plate installed on it and a red and blue which can be installed if you desire.
The home kit comes with a stand to hold your Roady2, AC power adapter, antenna and remote control with battery.
Home installation:
The first thing you need to do is find a spot in your home where you can recieve the satellite signal. After my experience, I suggest the following. The Roady2 has the built in wireless FM modulator (12 different channels) which means you can use any FM radio in your house to listen to your XM radio. The range is pretty good. I placed mine in my second floor bedroom with the antenna near a window that provides a full signal. You will have to experiment to find a location that works for you both for signal strength and functionality. But once you find the spot you are all set. I used the second floor to increase the range of the FM modulator and its more convenient.
Once you have a signal and the unit is on tuned to Ch 1 (Preview Channel) you can activate your XM service. I activated mine online on the XM web site. This was straight forward and painless. About 10 minutes after activation I had access to all channels. I listen to my XM on my home stereo system, a boombox in the kitchen and a small radio in the bedroom all while my Roady2 just sits there on my night stand doing its thing. The only thing I have to do is go to the Roady2 to change the channel if I desire.
Operation of the Roady2:
The unit is fairly straight forward to operate. There are some drawbacks many of which are just do to the small size of the unit, but there are also many great features. The display can only show 2 lines of information at a time. To see the other lines you need to press the Display button. There are some features and preferences which you can change with the Menu button, such as the display color (there are like 7 to choose from) and FM frequency and others which I wont go into here. The buttons are fairly small and you can easily hit the wrong one. However, that is where the best part of the home kit comes in. The small remote control. The remote has all the funtions of the Roady2 except the Menu button. It also adds a couple of features not available on the unit. (SCAN and JUMP)
There are 3 banks of 10 presets for a total of 30. The only downfall of the presets is that the display does not show the memory position while you are listening to a station. (minor problem) A nice feature is the ability to store up to 20 of your favorite songs. While the song is playing you simply press the MEMORY button and the Roady2 will store it. The next time that song is playing on any XM station you will be notified even if you are not listening to that station. Havent seen this in action yet because in the 4 days I have had this unit I havent heard the same song twice yet.
Vehicle Installation:
As with many newer vehicles, my car does not have a cassette player, so the cassette adapter is useless to me. That is why the wireless FM modulator is so important. The vehicle installation was simple, but I do have some suggestions. I experimented with antenna placement on my 2003 Chevy Impala. I wanted to try and place it on the inside top of the windshield. I took it out for a ride and noticed that the signal faded out in some spots. I live in a CT town with many trees and some hills which surely had some affect. I found this unacceptable and tried it mounted outside using the magnet. I placed it on the vertical post on the drivers side of the windshield, which was the easiest spot for me without running the wire all over my car. I took another ride on the same route as before and never lost the signal. Problem solved! I am using the vent clip mount and the cigartte lighter plug. Plugged the power and antenna in and tuned my car stereo to the FM modulator and XM was playing loud and clear in my car. They say that the wireless FM modulator is the poorest sound quaility of the possible connections, but it sounds GREAT to me and for the ease of installation you cant go wrong.
I love this radio and the XM service and to those of you who are considering the Roady2 or XM service I recommend you buy it. You will not be disappointed! This is the best bang for your buck and the service has something for everyone (music, news, talk, sports, comedy, specials, weather, traffic and more)!
On: 2004-10-21
The Delphi XM Roady2 receiver is by far one of the best receivers released for use with XM satellite radio. The Roady2 features a relatively easy to read display with several choices in colors to choose from. The downside about this display is unlike previous XM satellite radio receivers, you can only show two of the following; song title, song artist, station name, and stock quotes. A good feature about this receiver is the Tuneselect, a new feature that allows you to be notified when a predetermined song is played on any of XMs 125 channels. The Roady2 is relatively simple to install into any vehicle however it is strongly recommended that you put the micro antenna on the outside of your vehicle in order to reduce cut outs in your XM signal. Another new feature that the Roady2 has is the ability to wirelessly transmit the XM signal via FM radio waves in order to reduce the hassle of wires and other connections inside the car. Just turn the Roady2 on, set the desired FM frequency you would like to use, and set your car radio to the same frequency in order to enjoy your XM satellite radio service at CD quality. One last good feature about the Roady2 is that it allows the user to have up to thirty preset channels. One thing that is difficult about using the Roady2 is the fact that the buttons are extremely small. I STRONGLY recommend the Delphi Roady Remote control if you plan on using this receiver while on the road. Two weeks after purchasing my first Roady2 receiver, I purchased two more so that all of my vehicles and home could have access to XMs superior service.
On: 2004-10-20
The Delphi XM Roady2 receiver is by far one of the best receivers released for use with XM satellite radio. The Roady2 features a relatively easy to read display with several choices in colors to choose from. The downside about this display is unlike previous XM satellite radio receivers, you can only show two of the following; song title, song artist, station name, and stock quotes. A good feature about this receiver is the Tuneselect, a new feature that allows you to be notified when a predetermined song is played on any of XMs 125 channels. The Roady2 is relatively simple to install into any vehicle however it is strongly recommended that you put the micro antenna on the outside of your vehicle in order to reduce cut outs in your XM signal. Another new feature that the Roady2 has is the ability to wirelessly transmit the XM signal via FM radio waves in order to reduce the hassle of wires and other connections inside the car. Just turn the Roady2 on, set the desired FM frequency you would like to use, and set your car radio to the same frequency in order to enjoy your XM satellite radio service at CD quality. One last good feature about the Roady2 is that it allows the user to have up to thirty preset channels. One thing that is difficult about using the Roady2 is the fact that the buttons are extremely small. I STRONGLY recommend the Delphi Roady Remote control if you plan on using this receiver while on the road. Two weeks after purchasing my first Roady2 receiver, I purchased two more so that all of my vehicles and home could have access to XMs superior service.
On: 2004-10-09
I had always wanted satellite radio, but thought it would be out of my price range because all of the accessories that I thought I had to buy and have installed. I was telling a very good friend about wanting a satellite radio and after taking him to see the display they had set up in a local "Best Buy" he wanted one also, but like me figured price of all the accessories would be a bit much, and we both left it at that. Well about two weeks later He was in a mega truck stop on the outskirts of Denver, (He is a Car Transporter) looking at the XM radio wondering out loud if he should bite the bullet and just buy it. A trucker over heard him and Said, "Well buddy you could buy all that stuff or you could do like I did and just buy the Roady 2." The trucker went on to explain what it was and how he could put it in himself and that if he acted right away he could get the home kit sent to him free. Well say no more my friend bought the roady 2 and call me the very next day and told me about the roady 2 and the free home kit rebate offer. Fifteen minutes later I was buying my very own.
Hooking it up was so easy, and customer support was great. I had to be careful while driving because it it hard to channel surf with the roady, but I just ordered a remote and that fixs that problem. The sound quality is so much better than am/fm radio but at times I do hit dead spots, but they dont last that long.
The mounting can be a bit trouble some, but I solved that by using the velcro pads they hold it in place very good.
There are so many great stations I have not been able to listen to them all. Being that I love all kinds of music it is hard to pick my favorite station.
I sent the rebate for the free home kit the same day i bought the roady 2, and as I sit here writing this review I am rocking to station 74 -The blues stations.
I dont know if they still have the free home kit rebate going on, but it is great to be able to hear xm radio in the house. The hom | | |
