XM weather Aviator Lt. or Aviator

BlackRV7 · #1 08-12-2008, 12:42 PM

By today's end I will have my WxWorx box and GRT processor installed in Black Magic. For those who are using XM, talk to me about the practical differences in Aviator Lt @ $29.99 per month vs. Aviator @ $49.99 per month. Looks to me like lightning and echo tops would be nice to have on the Aviator package. Another question is can you flip flop between packages?

N395V · #2 08-12-2008, 01:01 PM

From my standpoint there are just too many things missing from the aviator lite pack for frequent cross country flights especially in marginal VFR or IMC.

I have heard XM will be offering a 3rd package Aviator Pro with even more features and probably a lot more $$$.

I have seen a few posts where others have mentioned they have switched back and forth between packages but I think there is a fee when you upgrade again.

Try Lite for a few flites then upgrade if you feel the need.

pierre smith · #3 08-12-2008, 01:17 PM

......if you intend to do a lot of low vis IFR and so on. I have the light (2 years now) and my 496 shows lightning and direction of movement and if you scroll to the Thunderstorm with the cursor, it will show the tops altitudes. Dunno how WxWorks works

Regards,

Ironflight · #4 08-12-2008, 01:45 PM

I have the Full Aviator package on my 396, and Louise has the Lite on hers, so I have used both. Yea, it's neat to have the extra stuff on the full package, winds aloft probably being the feature that I use the most that isn't in "Lite". As for storm cells and lightning, I generally stay away from any radar returns that are red, regardless of if they show lightning or not, and I find that the tagging of storm cells is fairly arbitrary - long before they tag them as a cell, I am planning to stay away. for normal weather AVOIDANCE, I think that the Lite is adequate - but is nice to have the bells and whistles if you can afford them.

Steve Brown · #5 08-12-2008, 01:52 PM

Reliably making long trips require flying near thunderstorms. I want to be sure I'm just going to be near and not in one.

Having lightening and echo tops completes the convective picture for me.

rocketbob · #6 08-12-2008, 02:19 PM

I got one of the SNF show specials and paid for two years in advance, which amounts to $39/mo. for the full aviator package.

frazitl · #7 08-12-2008, 02:52 PM

price is good 'till Sept 30th. I signed up today for 6 months Aviator for 269.95 with FREE activation ($75 savings). Thats about the same cost at Aviator light for 6 months plus paying the activation fee. I figured I can always drop back to lite after 6 months if I want. Can also get 1 year for 539.89. There is no discount code on the flyer. I just told them about the Airventure deal and they signed me up.

Kyle Boatright · #8 08-12-2008, 04:40 PM

Dittos on the Aviator package with the Oshkosh discount. I looked at it this way:

Lite package = $75 initiation fee + $30/month x 12 months = $435 for the first year.

Aviator package = $0 initiation fee + $50(minus 10% discount) x 12 months = $540 for the first year.

I thought the extra data was worth the $105/yr difference.

RVadmirer · #9 08-12-2008, 05:18 PM

On the trip to Oshkosh I had lightening appear right in front of me between cell areas where I was trying to pass. 3 minutes later they showed up on XM or about when I would have been in them! I too avoid any areas with big cells so that feature isn't useful to me. Echo tops are very inconsistent and inaccurate. On the way home from Seattle it showed very little clouds and I found myself at 17,500 VFR on top where I did not want to be in an area where it showed no tops at all, nor any clouds. And it doesn't see smoke layers. Another questionable feature. Winds aloft are very cool and I use them all the time. Hope this helps your decision. Maybe try the top package first and see what you don't use to see if you can reduce the costs.....

n5lp · #10 08-12-2008, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVadmirer

... On the way home from Seattle it showed very little clouds and I found myself at 17,500 VFR on top where I did not want to be in an area where it showed no tops at all, nor any clouds...

The only clouds that XM weather shows are the satellite photos that show areas of cloud cover. This normally shows only when zoomed out quite far.

Nexrad radar does not purport to show clouds, normally. It shows precipitation. There can be pretty high clouds with no precipitation. Also, as has been noted, Nexrad radar has areas of no coverage.

Also please note that XM weather does NOT show winds aloft, it only shows winds aloft forecasts.

I think XM weather is an amazing tool, but it is a tool that requires understanding of how it works.