Sirius or XM with F90BT?

[tmd07]

Hello all! I've been reading the forums here for a while and just joined. After reading the information on here I just recently purchased a used AVIC F90BT. I have 2006 F-150 with the stock system right now with sirius. My question is I want to have sirius with the AVIC unit I just purchased. Will the Sirius and XM tuners both give me the same channels? Just looking to see if both are the same so I can look for the best deal.

Also, the unit is missing the original ipod cable that came with it. I have the iPhone 3G, will any generic cable work or do I need to buy a pioneer one? I just checked on the Pioneer website and they have like 5 different cables listed, what is the difference? Thanks for any help with this newbie!

[VBLUE42]

Dont know as too weather the channel line ups are different between the two standards but my guess is that they are different. You can get an additional service with Siruis/XM called the best of which gives you the best of the other service. There is only one iPod cable listed as an accessory to the F90BT and that is the one you need.

[SteveInNC]

Sirius and XM overlap to a large degree in programming. There are some specific contracts, like some of the sports and Stern, that they don't carry on both.

 

My understanding from reading here is that the XM module gives more information on the display than the Sirius module. I have an XM module for my 90BT.

 

Of note, XM and Sirius use different satellites to send you a signal. Where this matters is that XM uses geostationary satellites, meaning that they always appear in the same relative position in the sky from your location. Sirius uses geosynchronous satellites, which appear to be in the same general direction relative to your position, but they move up and down in the sky throughout the day. This means that your reception may vary depending on the time of day. At any given time, at least one Sirius satellite (of three) is above the horizon. When I had both Sirius and XM (different vehicles) the Sirius would drop out at certain times of day. I live in an area of about 500 feet elevation and there are no mountains or similar in the way. XM works better for me.

 

Before the merger, XM had more terrestrial repeaters than Sirius too, so problematic areas like in downtowns with tall buildings or in building interiors, XM was more likely to work.