[Chino Tom]

Another poll. What level of data from XM Weather do you have for
your 396/496 (or other)? I have Aviator, but am considering doing
what a wise RVier does and activate his weather only for big trips
(and he takes several every year). He does this 2 or three times a year,
even with the $75 activation fee each time, and can save $225 - $350/yr.
over the full year Aviator cost. Weather in the cockpit has been discussed
many times on this forum and IMHO is one of the best features available
to pilots today.

 

[L.Adamson]

My XM weather just gives me too much info to only go part time. It shows current TFR's which sometimes end up in strange places for strange reasons. A few weeks ago, two were in effect for "gas releases". And if the weather isn't a problem, I can always look up winds and other information at the destination airport............far ahead of what the comm will pick up. I also use the XM radio function.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[mannanj]

XM

My XM weather just gives me too much info to only go part time. It shows current TFR's which sometimes end up in strange places for strange reasons. A few weeks ago, two were in effect for "gas releases". And if the weather isn't a problem, I can always look up winds and other information at the destination airport............far ahead of what the comm will pick up. I also use the XM radio function.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

I realize that $720 a year is a lot of money, but a lot of my trips are spontaneous or not planned well ahead of time and if that info saves my bacon just once---it is money well spent.

 

[bsacks05]

I realize that $720 a year is a lot of money, but a lot of my trips are spontaneous or not planned well ahead of time and if that info saves my bacon just once---it is money well spent.

I agree. Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I vacilated a long time before I decided to upgrade my GPS and get an XM subscription. After a particularly scary flight on a scuddy day in the Shenandoah valley earlier this year I vowed "never again". I'm not much of a techie, but XM WX is a must have for me.

 

[scsmith]

intermittant is my plan

I'm all set up, and will activate in the spring.
No one in the poll has indicated intermittant subscription yet, but thats my plan.
My plan is to subscribe only for may-september.
You only have to turn it off for two months to come out ahead.
Winds aloft is one of the main benefits to me, and so Aviator Lt does not seem to be a good choice for me.

 

[6 Gun]

xm

once you fly with xm its hard to fly with out it
its great and the best tool i know of
the 496 has garmin nuvi so it works in your car also like if your picking up something in your pickup that doesnt need to get wet you can check the weather also the 496 is great on the boat for weather
now with all that said i still hate to pay so much for the service
in the future hopefully the next gen products will have free weather
also the govt gave honeywell money to put up towers that give nextgen info and free weather not sure were there at with that they were doing east coast first
bob

 

[Ron Lee]

Next Gen free weather (if it exists or will exist) requires ADS-B In equipment.

 

[Mark Burns]

once you fly with xm its hard to fly with out it
its great and the best tool i know of
the 496 has garmin nuvi so it works in your car also like if your picking up something in your pickup that doesnt need to get wet you can check the weather also the 496 is great on the boat for weather
now with all that said i still hate to pay so much for the service
in the future hopefully the next gen products will have free weather
also the govt gave honeywell money to put up towers that give nextgen info and free weather not sure were there at with that they were doing east coast first
bob

I agree with Bob.
Once you've flown with XM in marginal VFR you won't ever want to be without it.
And now that I have an autopilot I can actually look at the screen for more than 3 seconds at a time
Mark

 

[Bavafa]

You can deactivate it and will have 7 months to reactivate before the $75 fee comes to play. And reactivation will take only a few hours to take place.

So for those who do not use it for all the times, they can suspend their services and reactivate it within the next 7 months without paying any activation fee, if that makes sense.

Mehrdad
RV7A - IO360M1B

 

[Louise Hose]

Full time, but "Lite" works fine

I thought I might save money and to the activate/deactivate thing but I quickly abandoned that plan. Initially, TFRs were the compelling reason. NOw, I fly too regularly and have found it so incredibly useful that I wouldn't think of not having it full time. However, I've used both full Aviator and Lite but found Lite gives me everything I need. The winds are only predictions and I get those in pre-flight (if it's a long enough trip to matter). Lightening is an interesting curiosity but, since it is particularly unreliable (i.e., misses a lot, IMHO), I don't find it worth the extra cost.

I'm curious, what doe "Pro" offer in addition to full Aviator.

 

[n5lp]

...I'm curious, what doe "Pro" offer in addition to full Aviator.

Turbulence
Current Icing Product (CIP)
Supercooled Large Droplets (SLD)
SPC Day One Convective Outlook
SPC Mesoscale Discussions
Visibility
Hurricane Track

 

[rvmills]

Like Louise, I have full-time Aviator Lite and like it. For the price I feel like I get quite a bit, and knowing me, a great X-C opportunity would pop up and I'd forget to restart the subscription! And then I'd be out music too!

Can't blame those that want to save though, and if it works, all the better.

I looked at the XM Wx comparison table here:

http://www.xmwxweather.com/aviation/data-service-pricing.html

to see what the higher levels have that I might covet. Seems like much of what is not in Lite are things I incorporate into my preflight prep and go/no-go thought process (via Weathermeister/Navmonster, etc.), more than what I'd use in flight. But then again its a VFR bird, so I leave in a pretty big safety margin. Wouldn't mind having the updated PIREPS, and maybe AIRMETS/SIGMETS, but so far its been a great tool as is...Radar, Metars, TAFs, TFRs...all great stuff...heck, I wish we had the XM radar feed at work!

If I was going to Canada a lot, or going IFR I might want to upgrade...but that's just another $0.02.

Cheers,
Bob

 

[N941WR]

Give me a Lite

I use Lite and couldn't imagine flying in the SE without it. During the summer you have pop-up thunder boomers that can be completly obscured by the thick haze. The only way I know they are there is because of the XM weather.

When flying from Michigan to North Carolina in the winter with scattered clouds ranging from 3K to above 12.5K Lite helped me pick my way through while maintaining VFR and staying clear of the snow.

This is just another tool to help complete flights, flights which I would never make based on a weather briefing but was able to complete safely VFR by staying away from the ugly stuff.

Besides, the pop-up TFR's make it worth every dime.

 

[breister]

I canceled my service when I discovered it self-deactivates if you don't use it for a while.

I consider that to be an inexcusable safety of flight issue, and am waiting for a better solution that is free through ADS-B.

 

[N941WR]

I canceled my service when I discovered it self-deactivates if you don't use it for a while.

I consider that to be an inexcusable safety of flight issue, and am waiting for a better solution that is free through ADS-B.

How is that possible? It is my understanding that the weather is a one way feed and the XM receivers are just that, receivers, not transmitters.

 

[N941WR]

I just got off the telephone with XM customer service and while I had the rep on the line I asked her about this issue. They said if you don't use your XM weather within two months, it "ages off". Meaning you have to use it or lose it. If you lose it, you have to call XM and have them send a signal to reactivate your service.

They are simply the most arrogant group of customer service reps I have ever dealt with. If there was another option for XM weather service, I would jump on it.

 

[Bavafa]

Their system needs to sync up with the unit and if you have not used it for extended time, they can come out of sync therefore deactivated. All you need to do is reinitiate the sync process (BTW Sync might not be the right terminology here) and services will be established in a short time. But I agree, it can be annoying or even dangerous if one does not pay attention to it. As a habit, I check mine each time to see if I am receiving data.

Mehrdad
RV7A - IO360M1B

 

[n5lp]

How is that possible? It is my understanding that the weather is a one way feed and the XM receivers are just that, receivers, not transmitters.

Yes the XM receivers only receive but they have to be activated to be able to receive. There have been some problems with them becoming deactivated if not used regularly. Apparently the activation signal must be received regularly. It is possible to have the activation signal sent, if this happens.

I use mine regularly and even so had a deactivation episode early on, during a flight. It didn't make me happy.

 

[n5lp]

...They are simply the most arrogant group of customer service reps I have ever dealt with. If there was another option for XM weather service, I would jump on it.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Garmin customer service. Just to balance things out I would have to say that my experience with Garmin, over many many years and many units and a few hardware problems and a few technical problems, as noted in my other post, has been better than any other company I have dealt with.

On one occasion, involving an automobile unit long out of warranty, they went way above their responsibilities to make me happy.

 

[rwhittier]

I think he was referring to XM customer service, a sentiment I agree with.

But I have agree with you on Garmin. They have always been outstanding.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Garmin customer service. .

 

[n5lp]

I think he was referring to XM customer service, a sentiment I agree with...

Yep, I misread that. I probably didn't see it right because when I had problems with the XM service I called Garmin and they were helpful. I'll bet these companies hate it when they need to support mixed devices like the navigators with data coming from a different company.

 

[N8RV]

I just activated the XM weather and music on my 396 last Friday. The customer service person said that "in about 3 hours" the music function would be activated and that the weather function would download "in about 45 minutes". Grrrr ... I was planning my first cross-country in Smokey and was hoping to have everything up and running.

Well, by the time I launched and scanned my GPS for music, everything was already downloaded and running!

However, after reading this thread, it dawned on me that I'd signed up for the Aviator level, which is probably more than I really need. So, I called and downgraded my service. I'll probably lose all service entirely now...

I just love the overseas customer service people though -- two of them this time ... first was "Carol" and the next was "Megan" ... and both had such thick Indian accents that they were hard to understand. Guess they want to make it easier for us by using American-sounding names.

 

[N941WR]

I think he was referring to XM customer service, a sentiment I agree with.

But I have agree with you on Garmin. They have always been outstanding.

Exactly. Garmin's customer service it first rate!

XM, on the other hand gets a negative rating from me.

 

[Bob Axsom]

If the weather is bad I don't fly

I plan all trips and track the weather for days ahead of time. If the weather is bad I don't fly. When I fly I am totally engrossed in flying and music is of no interest. Don't need it.

Bob Axsom

 

[L.Adamson]

Exactly. Garmin's customer service it first rate!

XM, on the other hand gets a negative rating from me.

I do believe the XM reps are in a foreign land, and I'm not the best at comprehending every word spoken...........but at least my service has been quick to load, and has never shut off. I've used the 296, 496, 696, two truck radios, and a portable radio.

Just fly the plane regularly to keep the engine from rusting, and the XM from getting out of sync......... unless of course the plane is temporarily in for repair & a much, much larger engine replacement

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[L.Adamson]

I plan all trips and track the weather for days ahead of time. If the weather is bad I don't fly. Don't need it.

Out in the mountains of the wild west, the weather can change every 10 minutes..

 

[rv7boy]

Aviator Lite

I initially subscribed to the Aviator Lite plan with the idea that I might turn on/off my subscription. However, I have never done that as I never know when I might stop at the hangar on my way home from work, and want to go flying.

Yes, I even turn on my 396 with XM Weather (and Music) when I fly around the pattern. It's really neat to be flaring for a landing with the always smooth Michael Buble in my headset.

I don't mean to offend anyone, but if you've never flown with XM Weather and say you don't need it... well, then maybe you don't need it. As for myself, I really like it.

You guys educated me. I was not aware of the "use it or re-activate it" feature. Another plus for these forums. So I guess I just might have to go check on the airplane on the way home from work!

 

[Bob Axsom]

I Don't Think So

I flew in the wild west for many years including the Jackson hole, Salt Lake City Area and I have never taken off in non-marginal conditions and seen the weather turn bad where in-cockpit weather displays could be brought up with an unreliable service and save me - obviously. While the AOPA is busy supporting FAA's decommission of all ground based navigation systems to make all of my IFR equipment non-functional they should plead for the in-cockpit weather display system to be government run and always available just by turning on a receiver and selecting the display of interest. Apparently XM has developed a system that proves the concept.

Bob Axsom

 

[L.Adamson]

I flew in the wild west for many years including the Jackson hole, Salt Lake City Area and I have never taken off in non-marginal conditions and seen the weather turn bad where in-cockpit weather displays could be brought up with an unreliable service and save me - obviously. While the AOPA is busy supporting FAA's decommission of all ground based navigation systems to make all of my IFR equipment non-functional they should plead for the in-cockpit weather display system to be government run and always available just by turning on a receiver and selecting the display of interest. Apparently XM has developed a system that proves the concept.

From one end of our state to the other (north to south) the weather varies greatly, especially in the winter months. Three weeks ago, while vacationing down south, I called home before the sun had risen to check on the weather.
The report I got, was that it was terrible, and I should stay put. It was severe clear where we were. Approx. 300 miles apart.

Looking at the hotels computer, it appeared that the storms were moving eastward. A second call home provided some new information that skies to the west were improving. But you never know what these storms around mountainous areas will do for sure. They can keeping moving or stall.

So thanks to XM weather, we headed homeward. We knew that if required, we could divert many extra miles to the west to clearer weather, or go back if needed. As we made progress, we could see that the cloud conditions were still moving eastward, and what the exact conditions were at numerous airports along the way.

As it turned out, getting home was a non-event in smooth flying conditions. Without, XM, it would have been the same as it had been in all those prior years. That could mean staying over night along the way, returning to where you took off from, or getting back just as the weather deteriorated below VFR conditions. Those examples have happened numerous times in the past.

XM weather provides real time conditions for weather hundreds of miles away. It gives you the chance of making much better decisions than you ever could in the past. You will be much more informed at a glance. You won't have to be using the comm to get updates of various conditions. It will be right before your eyes, as it stretches for hundreds of miles on a moving map. It's like the difference between VORs and GPS.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[rv7boy]

... It's like the difference between VORs and GPS.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

Good comparison.

 

[Steve Brown]

May switch

I've got the aviator, but will consider switching to the pro to get the icing and SLD stuff.

 

[Bob Axsom]

OK if you say so

From one end of our state to the other (north to south) the weather varies greatly, especially in the winter months. Three weeks ago, while vacationing down south, I called home before the sun had risen to check on the weather.
The report I got, was that it was terrible, and I should stay put. It was severe clear where we were. Approx. 300 miles apart.

Looking at the hotels computer, it appeared that the storms were moving eastward. A second call home provided some new information that skies to the west were improving. But you never know what these storms around mountainous areas will do for sure. They can keeping moving or stall.

So thanks to XM weather, we headed homeward. We knew that if required, we could divert many extra miles to the west to clearer weather, or go back if needed. As we made progress, we could see that the cloud conditions were still moving eastward, and what the exact conditions were at numerous airports along the way.

As it turned out, getting home was a non-event in smooth flying conditions. Without, XM, it would have been the same as it had been in all those prior years. That could mean staying over night along the way, returning to where you took off from, or getting back just as the weather deteriorated below VFR conditions. Those examples have happened numerous times in the past.

XM weather provides real time conditions for weather hundreds of miles away. It gives you the chance of making much better decisions than you ever could in the past. You will be much more informed at a glance. You won't have to be using the comm to get updates of various conditions. It will be right before your eyes, as it stretches for hundreds of miles on a moving map. It's like the difference between VORs and GPS.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

Ok if you say so but is sounds like a pretty easy trip to me. If you launched in clear weather with a proper weather briefing got to the west side of the mountains and followed the valley basically up the airway from Mormon Mesa and kept a look out the window, monitor flight watch and use the airports along the way (Delta, etc.) as alternates of oportunity that should have been a low risk VFR flight. I question the "real timeliness" the precision and accuracy of the display. Air mass dynamics cannot be duplicated by a few colors on a small screen in the cockpit. The best that can be done is to display general areas of interest based on available sensors and algorithmic processing of the available data. I believe that such weather displays may give you comfort and confidence but they should not be a deciding factor on whether it is safe to launce or not. If costs were of no importance it would be nice to have a weather representation display in the cockpit but I will choose to give myself a reasonable safety margin and fly instinctively with the weather information that is available elswhere. I expect that XM weather will not survive as long as the hardware bought to use it. But that's just me. I used to maintain Radio Range Stations and homers so VORs were pretty amazing to me.

Bob Axsom

 

[L.Adamson]

Ok if you say so but is sounds like a pretty easy trip to me. If you launched in clear weather with a proper weather briefing got to the west side of the mountains and followed the valley basically up the airway from Mormon Mesa and kept a look out the window, monitor flight watch and use the airports along the way (Delta, etc.) as alternates of oportunity that should have been a low risk VFR flight. I question the "real timeliness" the precision and accuracy of the display. Air mass dynamics cannot be duplicated by a few colors on a small screen in the cockpit. The best that can be done is to display general areas of interest based on available sensors and algorithmic processing of the available data. I believe that such weather displays may give you comfort and confidence but they should not be a deciding factor on whether it is safe to launce or not. If costs were of no importance it would be nice to have a weather representation display in the cockpit but I will choose to give myself a reasonable safety margin and fly instinctively with the weather information that is available elswhere. I expect that XM weather will not survive as long as the hardware bought to use it. But that's just me. I used to maintain Radio Range Stations and homers so VORs were pretty amazing to me.

Well, since I've experienced XM weather for a few years........ I "ain't" buying it.. And that means buying the weather program, but not your reasoning.
I don't have to sit here and question it, because I'm an active user. I know what it does and doesn't do.

I like the idea of being able to put the pointer on KSLC and see just what the cloud ceilings are doing. I like being able to watch the weathers progression from hundreds of miles away. And I'm not alone on this. There are many active XM users on this forum who haven't weighed in on the subject. And they certainly use it as part of decision making.

What you call a few colors on a small screen is actually much better than that. It's the same representation you'll see on Internet weather sites. It will also show VFR to IFR conditions at all airports that have the monitoring stations.

As to how long XM will last................who knows. My XM radio is still kicking after 6 years. Those satellites up there are just to expensive to waste. Even if it means combining the competition (as they've already done) and more.

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[Bob Axsom]

Well ...

Well we appear to agree on airplanes anyway. Peace.

Bob Axsom

 

[L.Adamson]

Well we appear to agree on airplanes anyway. Peace.

That's true! Be sure to let us know how the new prop does!


Regards from
L.Adamson --- RV6A with the "classic tail". I believe you coined that phrase.

 

[turbo]

Master Mariner includes some fun stuff.........

when you fly a lot on the eat coast XM is a wonderful tool. Did 350 hrs this year in the RV and R-44. i use the highest level, master mariner which is the same cost as the Aviator, $50 + taxes may to oct. switch to aviator lite in the winter months in Florida. keep the refresh # handy for those who might get caught inactivated. 800 967 2346. whats the difference between the aviator and aviator pro?

 

[breister]

Their system needs to sync up with the unit and if you have not used it for extended time, they can come out of sync therefore deactivated. All you need to do is reinitiate the sync process (BTW Sync might not be the right terminology here) and services will be established in a short time. But I agree, it can be annoying or even dangerous if one does not pay attention to it. As a habit, I check mine each time to see if I am receiving data.

Mehrdad
RV7A - IO360M1B

"All one needs to do..."

Yet, they bill irrespective of whether you receive the service or not.

Sometimes I fly every week. Sometimes real life intrudes. If a good day happens, why on earth do I need to be the one to take responsibility to see to it that I haven't been away more than xx days before I head to the airport?

Nope, this is an inexcusable safety of flight issue. They are now on my list of 3 vendors I will NEVER do business with again.

 

[L.Adamson]

"All one needs to do..."

Yet, they bill irrespective of whether you receive the service or not.

Sometimes I fly every week. Sometimes real life intrudes. If a good day happens, why on earth do I need to be the one to take responsibility to see to it that I haven't been away more than xx days before I head to the airport?

Nope, this is an inexcusable safety of flight issue. They are now on my list of 3 vendors I will NEVER do business with again.

Well let's see..........

Thumbing through my log book, it seems that my 6A was out of service from 12/12/08 to 2/20/09 while I installed a new audio panel, radios, in-line fuel filters and a floscan fuel meter. That's two months plus a week.

Hmmmmmmm, I never had to re-sinc or do anything until I upgraded to the Garmin 696 from the 496 a few months later. And I simply did that while sitting in the cockpit with my cell phone.

Nope........... I don't believe we have a big-time "inexcusable safety of flight issue" going on here..

L.Adamson --- RV6A

 

[breister]

Well let's see..........

Thumbing through my log book, it seems that my 6A was out of service from 12/12/08 to 2/20/09 while I installed a new audio panel, radios, in-line fuel filters and a floscan fuel meter. That's two months plus a week.

Hmmmmmmm, I never had to re-sinc or do anything until I upgraded to the Garmin 696 from the 496 a few months later. And I simply did that while sitting in the cockpit with my cell phone.

Nope........... I don't believe we have a big-time "inexcusable safety of flight issue" going on here..

L.Adamson --- RV6A

Glad to hear YOU weren't affected. And you won't be as long as you turn it on often enough.

Lots of others have not had such a satisfactory experience.

What one person thinks of as not meeting standards is just fine with someone else. Fly safe.

 

[L.Adamson]

Glad to hear YOU weren't affected. And you won't be as long as you turn it on often enough.

Lots of others have not had such a satisfactory experience.

What one person thinks of as not meeting standards is just fine with someone else. Fly safe.

When we say "lot's of others", it really needs to be an actual percentage, than hearsay. From experience, I'd say that many more have a positive experience, rather than less.

Here is my point. Without doubt, XM weather adds a new margin to decision making, that's a vast improvement from past methods. It's like VOR's versus GPS and analog gauges in IMC versus synthetic vision.

Since I have this long time interest in "flight into terrain" accidents (for several good reasons) as well as prevention, I feel that XM weather is a worth while and valuable option to have. I know that I much prefer it over the old ways. Just the real time TFR's are a good reason to have it. They seem to pop up all over the place........lately.

L.Adamson --- RV6A