Delphi SA50000 XM SKYFi Radio Receiver Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)The SA50000 is well-worth the money. It's a bit bulky compared to the Roady 2 but you have to remember that the Roady is for car audio use only. The SA50000 can be installed on a boombox/indoor unit or in the car so you get both functions with this receiver. When you buy this receiver, there are no accessories included except the remote. Use a C2032 battery to power the remote. So before you head out and buy this, don't forget to buy the battery. I had to open one of my old motherboards and pulled out the battery. I don't think it's mentioned on the packaging about what type of battery it uses. So I'm saving you all a headache and telling you. Ok let's start off with the installation. I bought a Delphi Boombox to hook up the receiver. To actually review this product, I would have to review the boombox as well cos without a boombox or car adaptor, this receiver is useless. So...installing the receiver is quite easy on the boombox. The boombox has a cradle that catches the receiver. Be careful not to force the receiver into the cradle mount. Just slide the receiver into the cradle. The contact pins should catch the receiver in the cradle, and then lightly push the receiver forward. Push the receiver on the top-most part of the device. Push the receiver until it clicks. To unseat the receiver, just push it again and it will make a faint click. Pull the receiver off gently.

Now, to activate. It's really a painless process. Make sure that the receiver is hooked up and seated properly in the boombox cradle. Ok, power-up the boombox and receiver.Just have your credit card ready, a pen, and a piece of paper. Once the receiver is powered-up, go to Radio ID channel. To switch channels, use the rotary dialer until it says Radio ID. It should give you the Radio ID number. Copy it and then activate it online. Activation fee via online is about $2.00 less than if you activate it over the phone. Once you get a message on the XMradio activation page, go back to your receiver and start looking for the channels, starting with channel 1,4,5,6,7, then 122. You can also use the number keys to switch channels. The ENTER key is that big button on the rotary dialer's hub. If after activating it, you don't get any sound from the channels I mentioned, please don't blow a gasket. Give it like about 30 mins. for the satellite to update your receiver. After about 30 minutes, you should be getting most if not all 120 channels.

Now the remote...well one thing is missing on the remote and that's the MENU key that's found on the receiver. Maybe it's somewhere on the remote but I haven't found it yet. Remote is fairly straightforward operation. As for the boombox, it comes with an antenna. It has a 20 ft. cable. I suggest you put the antennae close to a window in your house. It says to look for the southern part of the house to get best results. I didn't bother looking for itcos how many people here in US know exactly where the south part of their house is? Anyways, get the antenna on an elevated position and turn it towards the window. The receiver has a function that will tell you the signal strength of the satellite waves and the terrestrial repeater waves. You can access this by going to MENU and then scroll down to Antenna Setup. If you see four-bars filled for satellite and three bars filled for terrestrial, then you are GOOD TO GO. The boombox packs a wallop! The sound is crisp, tight, and powerful. I have it at level 20 volume and it's shaking my lounge. I don't know what the max volume is and I won't even try it. The boombox comes with a humongous sized power adapter to power your receiver and boombox. Overall, the SA50000 is a fantastic receiver, it's easy to install, activate, and it gives a nice clear sound and signal. My suggestion is buy SA50000 and keep it for home use only. If you want to have a satellite radio for the car, I suggest you get the Roady 2.

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Product Description:
Delphi's XM SKYFi Radio Receiver gives you plug-and-play satellite radio for the car, home, office, or virtually anywhere you want to enjoy XM's 101 channels of programming. SKYFi is your XM satellite-radio interface, pulling in the radio signal and letting you navigate between channels. Besides a monthly subscription to XM Radio ($9.99 per month), you'll need a home or vehicle kit in order to listen to the SKYFi receiver.
The SKYFi receiver's large display concurrently shows channel number, channel name, artist name, song title, and channel category. SKYFi also comes with a remote control for convenient channel navigation. Select a large font size for viewing the song title, artist name or channel number from across the room.
You can navigate through direct-channel entry from both the receiver and the remote, and you can program up to 20 channel presets for one-button tuning to your station of choice. The channel guide lets you view 5 channels at a time while scrolling through the channels by channel name, number, artist name, or song title. You can also skip or add channels while scrolling. In addition, a "favorites" mode lets you preview the artist name and song title currently playing on your favorite channels before you select one.
SKYFi accessory kits for the home and vehicle let you enjoy uninterrupted XM radio service in any vehicle, at home, or at the office. The SKYFi vehicle adaptor kit can adapt to any existing car stereo system with mounting options, and the SKYFi home adaptor kit is adaptable to most home or workplace audio systems and multimedia speakers.
XM's digital programming lineup features 70 music channels, many of them commercial-free, from hip hop to opera, classical to country, bluegrass to blues; and 31 channels of sports, talk, children's programming, and entertainment.
What's in the Box
Receiver, remote control, remote battery, a user's manual, and warranty information.

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