SIRIUS Starmate ST1 Plug-and-Play Satellite Radio Receiver

by SIRIUS

Product Details

Product Manual [1.15mb PDF]

• Shipping Information: View shipping rates and policies
• ASIN: B0007UPMJ2
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,806 in Electronics (See Top 100 in Electronics)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 18, 2005

Product Description

Starmate ST1 is the most compact, integrated SIRIUS plug & play to date.PRODUCT FEATURES:Unique channel toggle switch;Integrated connectivity for antenna, audio/headphone out, FM out and power;Headphone volume control;Compact 3-line display;S-Seek;Wireless remote control;Integrated FM transmitter with 100 frequency selections.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth the $50 I paid for it., May 17, 2005

By 

Greg Hayken (Arlington, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: SIRIUS Starmate ST1 Plug-and-Play Satellite Radio Receiver (Electronics)

I'm not sure if the problems that I have with this system are unique to it or are shared amongst all satellite radios. Let me begin by saying that it works wonderfully in the car.

I had to install the antenna on the roof of my BMW which was surprisingly easier than expected. I was hoping that I could just toss it on the dash so that I could move the radio between cars, but that made for a very choppy signal.

I also got the home kit, but the signal is EXTREMELY choppy in doors. Maybe I don't have my antenna well positioned, but I don't have many options.

The indoor antenna is very limiting, because it's only about 15 feet long, which means that you've got to position the receiver pretty close to a window (yes, the antenna needs to be facing outside - and needs to be pointed N, S, E, or W depending on where you are in the country.

My recommendation is that his is a good car receiver, but if you're looking for more than that - consider other options.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Liked It, but Mine Stopped Working After 1 Month, August 28, 2005

By 

J "tech head dc" (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SIRIUS Starmate ST1 Plug-and-Play Satellite Radio Receiver (Electronics)

I bought this as a gift. I tested it out for 3 weeks before I gave it to my boyfriend. I do deliveries for a living and spent many hours listening to it. It seemed to work pretty well. The service is good. A good selection of stations to select from, though they're rather repetitive if you listen a lot. Apparently there's 2 signals it receives -- a land signal and a satellite signal. The adjustable suction cup bracket seemed like it would not work, but actually it was quite effective and did not block my front window view at all.

Anyway, after my boyfriend had it for a week, I put it back in my truck for a long drive to his parents. It didn't connect for a long time .... like for 15 minutes. Usually, it connects in less than a half minute. I gave it back to him and he said that each day after that it took longer and longer to connect, and then it didn't connect at all. I tried it out in my car again, and it completely quit working.

I called the Sirius sevice people and the guy was nice and helpful. He said my account could be suspended for up to 5 months before automatically reactivating. He gave me a techinical number to call to look into getting a replacement or fix, but I haven't decided if I want to continue this. I DO LIKE IT, but I don't love it. $13 a month is tolerable, but $10 would've been better.... If only the darn thing wouldn't have died.

Other things I didn't like about this:

Easily Obstructed Signal -- The signal fades in and out if you drive under a lot of trees. Or under a bridge briefly. If you are in a big city like DC or Baltimore, it works fine. But if you drive on a highway between the two, it relies on the skies above, and any half-blockage will make the signal go in and out, and that's very annoying.

Weak FM Transmitter -- The FM transmitter in this unit works, but not so well. The sound quality is weak, almost AM quality. The "s" sound becomes a "shh" sound. I bought a cassette tape line converter to see if it was the satellite signal or the FM transmitter. The sound quality was much better with the cassette tape converter.

Wires, Wires, Wires -- There's a wire from the Satellite Reciver that usually has to go outside your window. There's a wire that goes from you cigarette lighter to the unit. And then I added the cassette tape converter and ... my God, all this just to hear the radio.

Theft Possibility -- I live in the city. It's not good to leave anything in plain view when you're away from your vehicle. So, with this, one has several options to remove this from sight. None of which is very practical: wrap up all the wires and undock it from the holder (wires get tangled); leave the wires, but undock the holder (antenna is difficult to remove); or never dock it at all (wires stretched from seat to various parts of the car). Plus, since I do deliviers, I have to get in and out of my car A LOT, so I always had to roll up the windows or hide it before I ran inside somewhere.

Heat - This little thing gets super hot if you turn up the backlight. Even turned all the way down it is warm. It was super hot this summer and this added a lot to my already steamy truck.

Small Menu Window - Unless you memorize what each station is actually about, the oddball names to go with each number are hard to know what's what. I suppose once you've heard them all, you'll settle into a pattern of just a few station presets anyway.

Presets and Remote Control - The little buttons on the front are very important, but only partially convenient. It's hard to know which set of pre-sets you're pushing on. There's a tiny A1 or D3 in the top left (arranged A-F for each screen and 1-6 for the bottom buttons). The note/memo feature is just weird. I guess you're supposed to get a bleep whenever Kelly Osbourne is playing on some station somewhere. The remote worked, but only if you point directly at the unit -- day or night, it wasn't the most responsive device. It did not keep my eyes on the road any better than if I were flipping the switch or hitting the buttons.

Again, I liked the service and the sound, but it was a lot of work just to get it all hooked up and sounding good and finding something what I wanted to hear ... and then it died.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Absolute piece of junk, October 5, 2005

By 

AMH in OC (CA - United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SIRIUS Starmate ST1 Plug-and-Play Satellite Radio Receiver (Electronics)

I was attracted to this unit by its low price, but I soon realized that you get what you pay for. I went through three of these and each one lasted less than 2 weeks.

The first one worked fine for about a week, then the signal started dropping. I spoke with Sirius customer service and they told me that where I live (Orange County, just south of Los Angeles) I shouldn't be getting any signal drops and that the unit was most likely defective.

I exchanged it for a new one and had it less than 48 hours when the remote control stopped working, so back to the store it went.

The third one I got worked fine for about ten days until it stopped playing music. The artist would appear in the screen, but all I would hear is a loud hiss. I messed with the FM Modulator settings, but nothing worked. I returned it to the store for a refund.