SiriusXMStratus 7 Satellite Radio with Vehicle Kit | 3 MONTHS ALL ACCESS FREE WITH SUBSCRIPTION

This satellite radio is pretty much a base model (just the way I prefer)- simple and straight forward. There is not any memory for saving twenty of your favorite songs or artists (kind of miss that).. There is not a record setting to save twenty or thirty minutes of a performance to play back (thank God). The ten station setting buttons are somewhat in question as they seem rather flimsy.All that being stated, this radio performs well. In my opinion, if possible, always use the "line out" jack in the base of the satellite radio to plug into the "line in" connector on your car radio. Most after market car radios/receivers have this. If you use the transmitter of the satellite radioto wirelessly connect to the car radio eventually there will be unwelcomed static (the modulators are not nearly as powerful as earlier satellite radios).I've recently purchased a Kenwood Excelon KDC-X798 from Amazon. The cable for the "line out" to "line in" was a simple connection and all is well. This is a Sirius radio, not SiriusXM radio. If you have an XM account, the only way this satellite radio will receive the XM signal is to upgrade your Sirius XM account (more expensive).I've had 5 or 6 Sirius satellite radios over the years, beginning with the Sportster 1. All of them have failed. The Stratus 7 is fairly inexpensive,so the monetary damage won't be so harsh when failure occurs.There seem to be many options for the XM radios, but very few for the Sirius side. Since Sirius owns both versions, one would think that all the satellite radios for this company would be compatible with XM or Sirius..

I wanted to have a satellite receiver in my latest vehicle without the hassle of replacing the audio system I have already. This little unit has all the features I wanted, just basic radio tune and favorite settings. I didn't have a problem installing the cradle to my vent.I also am running with the antenna on the dash with no reception problems.(As a side note: the receiver's LCD display baclight is EXTREMELY bright. It comes defaulted to the highest setting. The light almost took away my night vision.)This Stratus 7 receiver is a wonderful value for the money.PROS: Basic function, favorite channel setting is easy(hold a number button down for 2-3 seconds), clear and crisp audio.CONS: As noted, the unit comes with the display's backlight on high(to decrease - press the menu, then scroll to settings and press Sirius dog button. Scroll down for display and audio options.) The display updates slow and when you change channels the display scroll is stodgy and get jumbled when going too fast.Just set the favorites, you won't regret it!!)

Really happy with the a la carte plan!Heres how to get a la carte plan in 2018:1) Plug in radio and write down the SID by tuning to channel 0.2) Go online and attempt to registar your radio with a subscription (note this will not work and is part of the process)3) Use the chat dialog and tell them you want the a la carte plan on your portable stratus 7 radio. You must be very adament about the word "portable" and do not let them call it a car radio. Throught this process they will pretend the plan doesnt exist so be ready to paste in the link. Eventually they will have you call 888-635-5142.3) call that phone number and you will have to explain yourself again. Be persistant about wanting the $8.99 50 channels a la carte plan for a portable stratus 7 plan. My representative didnt know what it was so i had to explain what it was and he spent about 10min off the phone reading about it. From here they will give you a 1 month free trial of the all access plan. They will register your email and send you a link to confirm the email. They will tell you when you go online you will have the option to subscribe to the a la carte plan, but you wont be able to. Try to skip the free trial and have them manually sign you up for the plan today or they will hang up with a job well done and you wont have what you want. Otherwise continue below.4) register your email. Then chat, then call that phone number back. On the phone, they will try their best to keep you on the all access plan saying all sports of stuff and things you will loose not realizing you only had the free trial for 5minutes. Be very persistant and they will transfer you to advanced support.5) the advanced support will not be aware of the plan you have to describe it to them because they are not trained about the a la carte plan. They will have you walk through all sorts of things and eventually they will have to manually sign up for the plan. That is what you want! Give them your credit card and next time you log in you will have the option to select the chanels you want for the a la cart plan. This whole process took 2 hours.

I think this radio, although simple, is great! My last Sirius radio (a Sportster 4, I believe) was limping along on its last leg and I needed something to replace it. That radio served me well for about 9 years, but it was time to put it out of its misery. Enter the Stratus 7! It is more compact than my previous radio, which I like. This is truly a "no-bells-and-whistles" radio, but, it does what its supposed to, and does it well. The screen is easily legible both at night and in the day. Furthermore, it is also easy to read with polarized sunglasses! Something I couldn't claim with my former radio. It was very quick and easy to set up... although, since I already had a portable radio set up previously, I just reused the antenna I had installed before. No sense in removing the old antenna if it still functions as it should. So, your install will take a little longer if you're starting from scratch. Even so, it's not too difficult. In summery, though not as feature-rich as my previous radio, I really like the Stratus 7 and am very glad I upgraded.