Tag: Sirius

Siriusly, My Radio Listening Just Improved

I’ve been a Sirius subscriber since before it was Sirius XM and before Howard Stern first fled from teresstrial radio to the birds. I stopped being a regular commuter in 2013 and so my listening time shifted from the car to home.

At one point I mounted a small antenna to the side of the house and listened directly to the satellites. This was soon replaced by my Logitech Squeezebox internet “radio”. At some point, Sirius made some protocol change for the internet streaming that broke the Squeezebox app and there was to be no fix. So I switched to a Grace internet “radio”. Then came another change and the Grace could no longer be used.

I’ve been a Google Home smart speaker user for a couple of years and it always seemed odd that Google and Sirius had not partnered on a solution. Well, Happy Radiomas to me! In November, Sirius XM rolled out Google Home device integration. After setting up the credentials in the Google Home app, Sirius radio fun is now as close as saying “Hey Google, Play Spectrum on Siriux XM”.

Thanks Sirius and Google for making it easy to listen to Sirius in the same way that I listen to many other audio sources. If you are not using your smart speaker to listen to the radio, you’re missing out.

Former shortwave listeners, especially, can find a wealth of programming from around the world. For example, you can get the lastest news from the BBC or updates on the fire situation in Australia from Radio Australia. Make a resolution to explore this capability in the new year and you won’t be disappointed. You can even request, “Hey Google, play the latest Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio podcast.”

73 de K2IE

A New Kelement

I’ve been a fan of internet radio appliances ever since the AE1 hit the market in 2006.  I still find them to be more convenient than using a smartphone paired with a bluetooth speaker.  However, my Grace models, a few years old now, stopped working with Sirius a couple of years ago.  It was the same with a Logitech Squeezebox.  Google Home provides a decent way to access Pandora and TuneIn, but not Sirius.

Our kitchen counter has added a new Kelement WiFi Internet Radio and I like it.  It is an appliance based upon an Android screen and familiar apps, along with two speakers and a subwoofer.  No, the sound won’t blast you away, but it is fine for the $80 I paid during Black Friday/Cyber Monday.  The price on Amazon is now $90, but I would still recommend it at that price.

It is nice to be able to again listen to Sirius while downstairs and the Android touch screen interface makes sense.