lifted ford

I purchased my 15 last July and the sat radio worked flawlessly up until a few months ago, I've contacted Sirius several times and I get the same answer to the problem " we are upgrading our towers" , very frustrating like the OP said... I hope it gets fixed soon or I won't be renewing my service with them

ImpDust

@donsmith - My wife has a Jeep Grand Cherokee and never has a problem with the Sirius cutting out. I drive the same route as her and mine will cut out several times during the drive. I mentioned this issue to the service department today and they just told me it's working as intended. On the plus side I'll save money by not renewing the service.

donsmith

ImpDust - That was my problem in getting anyone to take me seriously. Anyone who heard me say that the sat signal was constantly dropping out would just stonewall me with the old "that's how satellite radio works." No. That is not how satellite radio works. Just because you can occasionally lose the signal when the sky is obscured (like a parking garge) doesn't mean you lose the signal under open sky. I've been a Sirius customer since the first year Sirius and XM went on the air. Satellite radio works very well under open sky. Yet, my radio is constantly seeking a signal under open sky. It's unusable. If it worked that way it's not ready to be marketed. My dealer didn't believe me until they found the bulletin I copied in the OP that Ford has found the issue in a number of 2016 models and is investigating.

Mikeincalgary

Just picked up a 2016 and noticed a few drop outs, thought it may have been due to being cloudy. For your drop outs could you tel me how often? Once every 5 min? Or? Thanks

ex250

Sirius works flawlessly in my wife's Infiniti QX60. It sux in this truck. Oh well, for how little we drive it, I'm not renewing anyway. I hate the sound quality even when it is working. I would rather stream pandora or albums from my phone.

Coronet

I fixed my Sirius radio problem last night. I cancelled it after my free 6 month trial...
I've listened to AM/FM radio my whole life and never felt the need for satellite radio, it was always a bonus (never paid for it either). Between the FM channels and my iPod I'm very happy, and I don't have to pay for anything to boot...

ImpDust

I didn't notice a pattern to it. I only put up with it for a little while before I decided to just stick with listening to FM.

donsmith

Under open sky, cloudy or not, satellite radio should be solid. It's been solid for me since I first subscribed the year satellite radio began.

As for how long between dropping out? With my 2016 F-150 it's never gone as long as five minutes without stopping to search for the signal. Never. Sometimes, the searching for a signal occurs back-to-back with the sound coming up for a couple of words and then the radio begins searching for a signal. Sometimes it takes the radio a full minute or more to find the signal again.

This is not how satellite radio 'works' and don't let anyone stonewall you by evoking the natural dropout that will occur when the sky is blocked by being inside a parking garage or passing under a massive flying interchange. Even normal bridges won't interrupt satellite radio. It wouldn't be fit for being a paid service if you can't listen to, say, 'Suspense' and constantly, under clear sky, miss out on dialog and plot points.

Ifallsguy

Another amateur radio operation here. First, the only place Sirius has towers is in major cities where tall buildings degrade the signal. This is a satellite service and anyone working for them knows that. To date, I haven't seen the problem though I live in a rural area.


Second, my previous Sirius radio (stand alone radio with Sirius stick on antenna) had drop outs in clear skies. Normally it occurred near cell towers, high tension lines and near other items which transmit near or on a harmonic of Sirius frequencies.


Sirius has an issue with overusing bandwidth. Too many channels for the bandwidth they are authorized. The result is tinny sound, drop outs and low quality service. One other problem could be the antenna on our trucks. Ford has already fixed the issue in the Explorer with a new antenna. In theory, Ford is going to do the same for the F-150, though it could be months before it shows up.


One question I have is anyone see drops and problems with both Sirius and Navigation? The Nav uses a GPS antenna which is part of the shark fin on the truck.

FranksLive

Same issue here. Had serius in my last car and only one consistent dead spot on my commute under a bridge. This truck looses signal much more often and in wide open spaces. I will say it is hugely predictable. It happens in the same spots every time on my commute. Don't know what that means, since this is not my wheelhouse.