# 2017 GMC Acadia - Sat Rad is acting up **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Tags:** gmc\ **Created:** [November 16, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935 "2018-11-16T00:36:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JerryGood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/13edae/32.png) [@JerryGood](https://community.cartalk.com/u/JerryGood)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 12:36am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/1 "2018-11-16T00:36:02Z")
Problems with Sirius/XM radio. At various locations with no obstructions overhead, some stations come in and some do not. What could be the problem? No obstructions overhead. ---
**Author:** ![GorehamJ](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/gorehamj/32/24103_2.png) [@GorehamJ](https://community.cartalk.com/u/GorehamJ)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/2 "2018-11-16T19:50:45Z")
I think the membership would suggest a trip to the dealer for a warranty fix. If you end up stymied, give Pandora or another similar music service a try. Pandora has the advantage of being much less expensive than SiriusXM. If your GMC has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto the integration will be outstanding. Something to consider. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 8:19pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/3 "2018-11-16T20:19:18Z")
I have recently been experiencing similar issues since about a month ago. I had a GM antenna fail on me before but this is not like that kind of issue. It seems more like a system wide issue with Sirius/XM to me as a couple of my cars have similar results…Oh yeah, and my neighbor was recently complaining about it as well… ---
**Author:** ![lion9car](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/59ef9b/32.png) [@lion9car](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lion9car)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 11:35pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/4 "2018-11-16T23:35:55Z")
The satellites are over the equator, so you need to be concerned with obstructions to the south, not overhead. You didn’t say where you live, but the further north you are, the lower the satellites appear, making it easier for things to obstruct the signal. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2018, 11:51pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/5 "2018-11-16T23:51:33Z")
I only have reception problems with my XM service when there are obstructions blocking the signal. Even a bridge can interrupt the signal. Once that happens, the system has to reacquire the signal. It usually takes less than a minute, but could be 20 to 30 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 3:35am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/6 "2018-11-17T03:35:51Z")
There’s an 8 second buffer built into their scheme along with very strong error recovery mechanisms. If signal is absent or too degraded after 8 seconds it will drop out. Consequently, it needs at least 8 seconds of error free signal time to fully restore the buffer. Their satellites are not geostationary and have elliptical orbit. So the signal is not consistent at all times. If you live near a large metropolitan area, you likely benefit from a third stream broadcast by terrestrial transmitters to help with signal consistency. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/7 "2018-11-17T14:32:33Z")
I looked up the orbits for the Sirius/XM satellites, and they are geostationary. The apogee and perigee are about the same, and the inclination is 0 degrees. The altitude is a bit under 36,000 km, and all that means GEO. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/2017-gmc-acadia-sat-rad-is-acting-up/128935/8 "2018-11-17T19:10:40Z")
1 through 4 are geosynchronous, 5 and 6 are geostationary.