XM Sportscaster Satellite Radio

Being in the midst of the professional hockey season, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the XM Sportscaster Satellite Radio Receiver. As a Philadelphia Flyers fan (And no, they’re not doing too well this year) and an all-around hockey fan in general, I enjoyed tuning in to not only Eastern Conference, but Western Conference games as well. Typically, because we are located on the East Coast, we rarely see or hear West Coast games, so it has definitely been a real treat for me.

In addition to carrying NHL games, the Sportscaster also carries programming such as Major League Baseball, NASCAR, the PGA Tour, college sports, ESPN, FOX and your typical 170+ channels that come with your subscription.

The car kit comes complete with an antenna, car mount, a remote control and the car lighter power adapter. I didn’t even attempt to suction the unit to my car windshield via the two suction cups that are provided. I had a bad experience when I had done this with another radio and GPS system I had previously reviewed. I had no problem viewing the clear, well-lit display screen on the front of the unit. It allows you to see the channel name and number, song or sporting event. Unfortunately, although the arrow and menu buttons are easy to access and allow you to navigate the radio fairly easily and the unit is extremely lightweight, the unit does not fit securely in the accompanying car mount. It’s supposed to lock into place. However, whenever I felt the need to change the station, the unit would slide left and right while in the mount. This was a little distracting and disappointing for me, especially while driving. After several unsuccessful attempts at tightening the unit to the mount, I decided to place it in the cup holder and used the remote control that is also included. The remote was easy to use and very beneficial for me when changing stations. It also allowed me to distract my fellow backseat drivers by letting them play around with the remote themselves.

I really enjoyed utilizing the FAV (Favorite Channels) feature that allows you to store up to 30 of your favorite channels. This is extremely beneficial since there is such a wide variety of channels and most of the time, for me anyway, was spent listening to sports programming. Although I also had a few music channels preset as well (the 60s, 70s and 80s rock). Of course, XM wouldn’t be XM without the popular shock jock duo of Opie and Anthony. Funny stuff.

Unless you have the radio hardwired into your audio system, you’ll be using the Sportscaster’s FM transmitter to send the signal to an unoccupied FM station on your car radio. With regards to FM transmission, I really had no problems. Of course, with any satellite radio, you’re going to experience loss of signal on occasion if driving in an area where you’re surrounded by large buildings. I only experienced the loss of a signal in a five block radius around where I work in the center of town, where there are just too many competing FM stations. However, as soon as I passed this five block radius, I was as good as gold. It’s worth noting here that XM is phasing the wireless FM transmitter out of the Sportscaster and all of its plug-and-play radios as per an FCC mandate to turn down the power of said transmitters—apparently they interfere too much with other nearby FM radios, like the one in the car next to you at the traffic light. By the time you read this, the Sportscaster will have a second wire that clips to your car’s outside radio antenna to send the XM signal to your car stereo.

I would definitely recommend this XM radio to any sports enthusiast, even if your hometown team is going through a bit of an early-season slump.