JUST ANOTHER LITTLE XM ACCESSORIE..

Whip-Z-Do-DA! Every once in a while something sneaks up on you like a Barn Owl on a dark winters night. This is something that happened to me today. I got this phone call from a former customer in PA. He had purchased a Delphi RoadyXT from our Company sometime last fall.

I remembered the customer because he asked a lot of very good questions. His attention and assertive questioning made me think about XM Radio and especially really how good their equipment is and was going to be. Also, the training that they give to Dealers like us way down here in the good little Piney Woods of Southern Mississippi!

Well you see he kinda took one of our sales associates to task. The question that he had was about a walk-man type product that goes with the Delphi RoadyXT and the Audiovox Xpress XM receivers. For some reason none of the distributors that we bought from ever stocked, sold, or asked about one of these puppies.

So once that I got on the phone with him and found out about what it was he was inquiring about I immediately went in research mode. But; not withstanding, to my surprise none of our distributors had heard of the gadget! I didn't think that they would be a holding out on us!
This just lit a good ole fire under my inquisitive soul. I dropped everything and went into venture logistics problem solving mode!

After what seemed like an eternity blazing the internet, calling everybody that I knew, and even posting questions on different sites! I finally came across a little blurp on a post asking a question about the un-for-told thing a ma jig! Pay Dirt! Eureka... Mission almost accomplished.

You see now I knew the what cha ma call it existed but who made it? Was it still available? Where and if we could get one for this good customer. I had virtually everyone in the office phoning, emailing, texting, working, laughing, you name it and you can bet-cha somebody was doing it! Finally almost (3) grueling hours later Eureka! We found it.

The what cha ma thingy is a Mobility Kit for Xpress and RoadyXT Model# F8E724. Now the hard part where do we source one of these babies? We called the manufacturer and finally got a source. We placed our first order today and should have some inventory in a few days!

The Mobility Kit contains everything you need to turn the Delphi RoadyXT or the Audiovox Xpress XM Satellite radio receiver into a portable unit. It includes a rechargeable battery pack, an AC adapter for charging the battery, radio holders for the RoadyXT and Xpress, a belt clip, and a pair of headphones with a built-in XM antenna. As with all XM products In addition to the receiver, a subscription to XM Satellite Radio is required in order to receive programming.
*Big Daddy Heartbeat*

www.satelliteradiowarehouse.com

XM HEADQUARTERS A TOUR...part 2

Well now let's see what it takes to get the real sound to all of us XM junkies? Of course we already hit on the XM Headquarters facilities. But now we will focus on the Production Studio's where this is truly the Heart and Soul of the operation so to speak!

In addition to the broadcasting studios, there are five production rooms where producers create, all sorts of genre, including what XM calls "Audio Animations." What this actually is are the sound effects and channel identification bits heard on each XM radio channel. The audio animators spend hours patiently crafting what will end up being a few seconds of sound on the radio. I know that if you have listened to XM then you have heard these "jingles" or sound bites!

XM's performance studio is simply amazing and if you ever visit XM Radio's headquarters, you might be able to attend a live show at their in-house concert hall. This room which is called Performance Studio 1, seats around 50 or so , including an orchestra of up to 40 performers, and is an intimate performance hall with out of this world acoustics and a half-million dollar control room. The thing that amazes me is that each and every sound and note is crystal clear. XM uses the concert hall to host live shows for XM-only performances. This enables XM subscribers to get private concerts that can't be heard anywhere else.

In addition to live performances the space is also used for, recording for record labels and XM shows, mixing, and re-mastering. If you have the CASH the studio is also available for rental.

The performance space utilizes metal, ceramic, glass, wood, and Fiberglass With the use of all of these materials the result is a warm rich sound. One wall features a window which goes from the floor to the ceiling and this allows visitors to view working sessions. A theatrical lighting system is in place and is used for live TV. Just like all of the other XM studios, the performance studio has a suspended floor and floating walls.

I hope that you have enjoyed this section on the XM Studios! If you have a subject that you would like for us to approach just drop us a line and we'll see if we can fit the bill!
Yours truly! *BIG Daddy Heartbeat*

XM HEADQUARTERS A TOUR...

With all the great programming, sounds, and equipment that XM has to offer you should intuitively know that all of this has to come from somewhere?

Yes, XM has it's satellites beaming back a signal to it's 9 + million subscribers but all of this has to originate from somewhere. This somewhere happens to be from our nations capital! Right Place. This beautiful brick building in an unassuming part of the city. The one thing that you can't help but notice is the rather large twin satellite dishes, 20 plus feet in diameter. These two round white giants boldly display giant XM logo's atop one wing of the building right from the heart of Washington, DC which is located not too far from the National Mall at 1500 Eckington.

The building's history has it as being a printing facility for National Geographic. The buildings facade is rustically rugged, art deco as in industrial architecture. This part of the building is still apparent under a layer of modern interior design. Ceilings are lofty high, often with exposed beams and snappy light fixtures, which gives the place an open, relaxed, and airy feel. In stark contrast, the XM headquarters is furnished and decorated in futuristic modern styles. The truth is that you find yourself in a rich, solid, modern facade over rugged, industrial construction.

Everywhere you turn hallways, stairwells, elevators, and lobbies you will see memorabilia everywhere. One of the cool aspects of the facility is the domes that hang down from the ceilings. Underneath each dome there is a circle that is painted on the floor. Stepping into one of these circles, you find out that each dome is playing a different XM channel. While your standing under a dome, you can easily hear the music. But, if you step away a foot or so, No sound!

The real work takes place in 82 sound studios, this is all housed on the building's second floor. They vary in size, from small closet-sized rooms containing just a music programmer's (high-tec term for DJ) workstation, to larger rooms that are capable of housing a programmer and a number of VIP'S or several guests. Songs are pulled from XM's central computer library every programmer is able to access the entire song library of three million + pieces of music at any time. That's right. Their song collection consists of three million + pieces of music and it's growing every day.

Control Room At XM Satellite Radio Studios

Each and every broadcast studio is super duper soundproofed and built on a suspended floor. This helps to prevent any outside sounds or digital artifacts to be picked up in a channel's signal. The signal from all of the studios are transmitted from an intricate network (one of the world's largest) of fiber optics. This is what helps give the XM signal CD quality sound. While you wander around the studio you can't forget all of the "On Air" lights outside of each studio. A glass pane window allows you to see magnifico DJ'S at work. One of the neatest things I experienced is a set of headphones that hangs on the wall outside the studios so that you can hear the live channel feed that's being broadcast at that moment. Most all of the studio rooms are artistically decorated to reflect the attitude, latitude, and personality of that channel's DJ'S.

On the next BLOG I'll cover the Production Studios!
*BIG Daddy Heartbeat*