Radio reception on the Lake Michigan and smaller lakes.

[Jimxo]

Newbie boat owner here - 2019 Yamaha 242X

I'm trying to figure out how to get tunes on the Lake Michigan via Pandora or FM radio. Is radio reception a problem or do I need to activate another XM account.

I carry a Samsung Galaxy 9+ on the Sprint network. Not sure if my data will work to access my Pandora unless there is a way to use it offline?

Thanks for your feedback!

 

[drewkaree]

Pandora does have an offline method, but I dunno if it requires payment, or if the free version offers it as well. I've got the cheapest pay plan, like $5/month, and I'm certain that it offers offline mode because there's a few dead spots on my drive up north where I don't get any phone/data for a good 10-15 minutes.

An alternative you might wanna consider is using an iPod, or if you don't have one, perhaps an old smartphone. Folks usually have one of those lying around, and if you don't, you can walk into any Walmart and buy a new prepaid phone. Add a storage card to it - SD or XD or whatever it uses - and load it up with some tunes. You should be able to bluetooth it to the radio even without a phone plan.

I use Straight Talk, so I can't give you any idea of how Sprint would work on Michigan, but I've had no issues with whatever network my phone is using (I've had several phones, and using either AT&T or Verizon, both networks haven't been a problem for me).

 

[Dixie Highway]

Well, I don’t know how far out you intend to go, but most FM stations transmit 30-40 miles. And if you don’t mind AM I can get WLS AM in Michigan near the lake...

 

[PJ73]

I had sprint for years, I boat almost exclusively inland in Wisconsin. The reception was horrible with them. My buddy had Verizon and he wold get a signal easily on most lakes. I made the switch this past fall, we'll see if it pays off.