Christmas presents! Whatcha gettin'?

[OmniGLH]

and she gave me portable XM radio.

An XM MyFi???

Dude I WANT one of those.  NOBODY around here has them in stock!  How do you like it?

[cornercamping]

An XM MyFi???

Dude I WANT one of those.  NOBODY around here has them in stock!  How do you like it?

I bought one and returned it.  pos if you ask me.  I'll stick with my iPod.  Word on the street is that Sirius is also releasing a portable at CES next week.  8)

[TiffineyIngram]

I got him the Roady 2.  It just so happened that someone returned one that morning.  We're all out of stock down here too.  I'll give you a hint: go through xmradio.com directly.  They have discounts on there too.

[StumpysWife]

Oh great!

I didn't know I wanted a MyFi!  

<Veruca Salt>Stumpy, I wunt a MyFiiiii, noooow Stumpy!</Veruca Salt>

<Stumpy>Not in the racer budget.</Stumpy>

<Always in race mode Heather>But your workouts at the gym will be so much better with a MyFi and you'll go so much faster because of all that weight lost! </Heather>

<Stumpy>You are right!  You always know what's best.</Stumpy>

 ;D ;D ;D  

(We have XM in the motorhome and I miss it.)

[OmniGLH]

Ahhh.  See, I already have a Roady (just the regular, original one.)  I actually bought it the day before the first Topeka round this year, just so I'd have something to listen to on the drive out.  Now I'm so addicted to XM, I listen to NOTHING else.  Regular radio just plain blows chickens in comparison.

When I heard about the MyFi... it just sounded great!  I could take it into the office with me, in my house, on the train, or take it with when I go for a jog.  When I can actually get my hands on one, I will just replace the Roady in my truck with it.

I'd just go buy it from XM's website... but I want to actually SEE one and play with it first.  I have read a few reviews on it where people say the audio quality suffers a bit... I want to compare it to my Roady and see if the quality is really THAT bad.

[OmniGLH]

I bought one and returned it.  pos if you ask me.  I'll stick with my iPod.  Word on the street is that Sirius is also releasing a portable at CES next week.  8)

Yeah, see, I don't really want an iPod.  My Alpine 9815 already plays MP3s encoded on CD.  I have most of my MP3 collection on CD in my truck.

I still prefer listening to XM.  It's just nice to let the XM channel decide what I'm going to hear next, and possibly play something I haven't heard in awhile, or never heard before.

[Eric Kelcher]

Yeah Tiff bought one I think it was the SkiFi but it had a magnetic antenna which with Semi's does not work so well (they are fiberglass) so traded it for the Roady2 which is portable in the sense it does not have any connection to the truck other than cig lighter. It uses a FM transmitter to send signal to truck radio.

A warning from the Best Buy guys was the Roady2 has small controls and display is easliy broken, so we bought an extended warranty which I am not to hip on normally for electronics.

[cornercamping]

Yeah, see, I don't really want an iPod.  My Alpine 9815 already plays MP3s encoded on CD.  I have most of my MP3 collection on CD in my truck.

I still prefer listening to XM.  It's just nice to let the XM channel decide what I'm going to hear next, and possibly play something I haven't heard in awhile, or never heard before.

Get the Alpine iPod interface box and you can control the entire iPod functions thru your Alpine and not have to mess with any wiring.  Then, get the XM Mbus interface from Terk for Alpine, and you can have XM thru your Alpine, and the whole deal for both will cost you about $300.00   This way your Alpine controls everything and you have both  :D  Also, all the "information" from both sources shows up on the screen of your alpine.  ;D

[OmniGLH]

Get the Alpine iPod interface box and you can control the entire iPod functions thru your Alpine and not have to mess with any wiring.  Then, get the XM Mbus interface from Terk for Alpine, and you can have XM thru your Alpine, and the whole deal for both will cost you about $300.00   This way your Alpine controls everything and you have both  :D  Also, all the "information" from both sources shows up on the screen of your alpine.  ;D

Yeah.

OR I can buy a CD-R for 2 cents, load it up with MP3s, and have it display the ID3 tag on the head unit, and have no need to spend a couple hundred bucks on an iPod and special iPod interface.

My Roady cost me $100, complete.    I just flushed the XM Roady box into the cup holder.  Last time I checked (~7 months ago), the Alpine XM interface box and associated hardware would've run me over $200.

[cornercamping]

Yeah.

OR I can buy a CD-R for 2 cents, load it up with MP3s, and have it display the ID3 tag on the head unit, and have no need to spend a couple hundred bucks on an iPod and special iPod interface.

My Roady cost me $100, complete.    I just flushed the XM Roady box into the cup holder.  Last time I checked (~7 months ago), the Alpine XM interface box and associated hardware would've run me over $200.

That wouldn't be as cool though  8)   ;D  Anyways, the alpine XM box came down in cost quite a bit.  I just bought one a couple months ago for $120.00 and installed it myself.  You just plug it into the AiNet  cable and mount the antenna.

[dwilson]

Looks like XM was big this year.
The GF got me a Skyfi2, I had the Skyfi.  The Skyfi2 is a drop-in upgrade and fits in all the Skyfi(1) cradles.  It also has a built in FM modulator and 30 minute memory.  I definitely like it better then the older model.  

I also got a Lincoln Pro-MIG 135 (thanks Mom!) which I promptly returned for the Pro-MIG 175  ;)  The aluminum kit is on its way... now I just need an argon gas cylinder.  Ever seen a 10 gauge (230 volt, 30 amp) extension cord?  :o

I also got the march 22nd 1862 edition of Scientific American, covering the battle between the Ironclads USS Monitor and CSS Virginia (AKA Merrimac).

[tzracer]

I also got a Lincoln Pro-MIG 135 (thanks Mom!) which I promptly returned for the Pro-MIG 175 Ê;) ÊThe aluminum kit is on its way... now I just need an argon gas cylinder. ÊEver seen a 10 gauge (230 volt, 30 amp) extension cord? Ê:o

Make your own. I have used a 480V 50A, 50ft cord at work, made it ourselves.

For welding aluminum with a MIG, you may need a gun with the spool on it. Sometimes it is diffucult to push aluminum wire through the full length of the gun wiring. Never welded Al with MIG, only TIG. Make sure your filler rod is the correct type for the Al you are welding.