Well, maybe I exaggerated just a little about 1969 but I still have some of the hottest news there is with regard to satellite radio to be found for sure. A while back I went looking for a truck for the specific purpose of hauling my race car trailer to the Mexico/Guatemala border to compete in the La Carrera Panamericana. Besides a lot of other requirements such as dual cab so four of us could ride comfortably I also wanted a good sound system/radio for obvious reasons. One of the options that popped up was a satellite radio system and since I liked it took it as well.

The good news was it was much better than I had expected never having had one before and one of the features about it that I liked best of all was being able to listen to Indy or Nascar races live many times while we were in route to or from the track. But then it happened… The bad news. Some corporate changes where made and all of a sudden my XM radio no longer played the Nascar races. OK, so I got over it but I wasn’t very happy that something I had purchased was no longer available to me.

Before I left the U.S. I called and asked if my XM radio and my built in phone would work while in Mexico but I was told that it would probably not work that far south since it’s not set up for it. But now there was more good news… The phone and XM radio worked throughout Mexico all the way there and back!

But now, there is some really exciting news for anyone with XM or SIRIUS satellite radios. Today SIRIUS Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio announced that they have completed a merger, resulting in the nation’s premier radio company. The new company plans to change its corporate name to Sirius XM Radio Inc. and for the first time all stations and programs will be available to anyone with either radio without having to make any modifications to their systems. Now anyone with either system can have their cake and eat it too. HOT DAMN!

These days, most new cars leave the factory with a pretty decent sound system. While they may not always satisfy the audiophile, they do just fine for the majority and they are pretty reliable to boot. Working in the industry, I’ve come across plenty of aftermarket stereo installs that made a total mess of the functionality of the vehicle. From butchered fitments, to botched wiring it is often a nightmare for the tech who is asked to fix some installer or owner’s mistakes.

For all of these reasons, I usually stay away from replacement radios but the used Xterra we picked up a couple of months ago had been fitted with a Pyle radio that really was a pile. FM was the only function that worked, though even that was a bit of a crap shoot as the display did not work. I’m not an audiophile, so I went on a hunt for an inexpensive basic radio that included a CD player. A search through a few major chain sale flyers turned up the Sony cdx-GT110 for a great deal. As an added bonus, it also has a front jack for and mp3 player.
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