eavila1

eavila1

Member
I have the GDL51R mounted in the plane and was going over the plans. Not cheap but reasonable I suppose if its significantly better than ADS-B. Have any of you been able to negotiate cheaper than the $30 plan or add entertainment for discount?
 
eavila1 said:
I have the GDL51R mounted in the plane and was going over the plans. Not cheap but reasonable I suppose if its significantly better than ADS-B. Have any of you been able to negotiate cheaper than the $30 plan or add entertainment for discount?
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They are really proud of their subscription. I have a GDL51R installed but don't think the cost is worth it. I have been following the thread on the Starlink Mini, and for the money, I think it is a better solution.
 
I call and get the latest special when the last discount runs out, makes it at least seem reasonable. I do listen to XM music on flights, so that's nice. But I will say the info is usually better and faster then adsb. I have my iPad with a stratus with adsb, and my old 530w with the xm weather, so I can see what each is showing in terms of data.
 
I have negotiationed for a car better price, rv $29.99 for as many years I can remember. plenty of great music on my iPhone/bose headset.
now with xm on the iPad I have double the fun.
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rocketman1988 said:
Not sure who you talked to, no negotiation when I talked to them. What were you able to negotiate for a monthly subscription?

I still think that, for the money, Starlink would be a better option.
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Not weather, but I pay $19/mo for "music & entertainment" on 3 vehicles. I used to have to threaten to cancel every year. but after quite a few years, they don't even argue anymore.

I just tell them, "Continue at my current rate or cancel".
 
eavila1 said:
I have the GDL51R mounted in the plane and was going over the plans. Not cheap but reasonable I suppose if its significantly better than ADS-B. Have any of you been able to negotiate cheaper than the $30 plan or add entertainment for discount?
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I had both years ago. Was great when I wanted to listen to Heavy D and The Boyz or sing about my Ambitionz as a Ridah on a cross country but I got my weather info from ADSB. I just found the display was easier to consume.

Spotify is errrr spotty unless I'm really low so I do miss the music.
 
IMHO, SiriusXM in ALL its manifestations is pretty low on the "bang-for-buck" scale. Maybe if I was a routinely "all-weather" flyer it would be worth it for cloud tops, winds, icing etc...but I'm not. ADS-B is more than sufficient for my weather radar needs.

Yeh, they will negotiate, but usually that occurs if and when you call to cancel your subscription. That's the point where they offer you a discount if you go for an additional year. Last time I did that to cancel one of my seasonal vehicles, they gave me 50% off for the subsequent year if I re-upped.
 
When XM weather first came out, it was te greatest safety enhancement for cross-country flying since the invention of the wing! We had two portables with subscriptions for both - and could listen to music and endless Car Talk episodes to boot. Then along came ADS-B for weather, and my iPhone gives me books, tapes…and endless Car Talk podcasts, so we reduced the monthly bills and skipped XM receivers in all our most recent avionics purchases.

Technology improves…or at least it advances.
 
I think xm works better in the mountains or low level. ADS-B doesnt seem to work low because of line of sight. I don’t like paying the money, but the information is better. $39.00 a month, but you can pause it for a month or more if you aren’t going to need it. We just use recorded music on long trips.
 
texdog said:
I think xm works better in the mountains or low level. ADS-B doesnt seem to work low because of line of sight. I don’t like paying the money, but the information is better. $39.00 a month, but you can pause it for a month or more if you aren’t going to need it. We just use recorded music on long trips.
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Yeah I'm fairly rural and mountainous so XM may be the ticket in certain areas vs ADS-B. I think I will try the AOPA 3 month free trial and then decide. Smart people they are....it'll probably get me sucked in and be hard to stop after that point. Good marketing strategy
 
Ironflight said:
When XM weather first came out, it was te greatest safety enhancement for cross-country flying since the invention of the wing! We had two portables with subscriptions for both - and could listen to music and endless Car Talk episodes to boot. Then along came ADS-B for weather, and my iPhone gives me books, tapes…and endless Car Talk podcasts, so we reduced the monthly bills and skipped XM receivers in all our most recent avionics purchases.

Technology improves…or at least it advances.
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Paul how does the ADSB stack up in comparison to XM as far as lag time etc? Not an issue?
 
eavila1 said:
Paul how does the ADSB stack up in comparison to XM as far as lag time etc? Not an issue?
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Not really an issue considering that you’re not using it (or shouldn’t be using it) like airborne weather radar, assuming that you can poke through a yellow band in a mass of orange or red.

I was always a huge fan of XM….but I have gotten confidence in ADS-B weather. We’re in the mountains, and surprisingly we get it pretty much all the time (except where there no NEXRAD stations to get echoes for EITHER ADS-B or XM). Just don’t plan on using it in fast-changing conditions - no matter which service you get.
 
Ironflight said:
….but I have gotten confidence in ADS-B weather.
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Flying to Sun 'n Fun 2023 there were constant bands of storms crossing West to East along Southern Georgia and South Carolina. ADS-B showed a 30 to 40 mile wide band of light green coming. Monitoring the speed the weather was moving and adding the appropriate amount the band would've moved in 10 or 15 minutes (lag time of ADS-B) I was able to see the lighter weather between heavier muck and was able to time it perfectly to pass through with just a mist of rain. XM would've been easier to see real time but anticipating the movement isn't too tough.

If I flew in weather often then it would be a different story; XM would be well worth it.
 
I stayed with XM until a year or two ago. It was a better product. Hard to put a finger on it exactly, but the display seemed to be more detailed. I was always amazed at the accuracy of the depiction, with allowances for time lag.
 
We were in out Islands of Bahamas this weekend. Going the 50 miles over water from Abaco to Eleuthra there was significant weather we unsuccessfully tried to get around. ADSB data disappeared at some point (no towers) and we were uncomfortably blind to what was ahead and beside us so we did a 180 and landed in Marsh Harbour back on Abaco. First time that I wish I had XM weather. We'll be traveling there more so I think I'll get it. Don't need XM Radio as we download music on Spotify. Hopefully I can pause XM when we don't need it as ADSB has always worked well for free in most places.
 
x2 for the Starlink option, though I need to play around with ForeFlight. It seems being in flight it limits the radar options to ADS-B and Classic. I haven't been able to get it to display newer radar and lowest tilt
 
I also included a GDL51R in my build but so far, in two years of flying, I have not used the weather at all, and only use the music when Sirius (occasionally) makes a channel or two free for a weekend. The "Taylor Swift Free Weekend" thing they did a few month ago was very popular with my young daughter o_O

Every time I think that maybe I should make use of that extra weight behind my panel, I look up the subscription prices and calculate how much gas that would buy me instead.
 
GDU 465 and GDU 460 -- Active SiriusXM weather and audio. The audio is "meh", I could do without it...the WX is still the bees-knees however.

The NEXRAD imagery is "better" than FIS-B; More up-to-date, less "blocky" in the case of precip. I've noticed quite a delay in receiving FIS-B data vs XM. Also, FIS-B is only available over UAT (978MHz) -- there are occasions where FIS-B is not available due to geography/location.

I would >never< attempt to penetrate an area of weather with either product, but when I find myself enroute and I want to come up with a plan, the XM weather is much more useful...
 
bjdecker said:
GDU 465 and GDU 460 -- Active SiriusXM weather and audio. The audio is "meh", I could do without it...the WX is still the bees-knees however.

The NEXRAD imagery is "better" than FIS-B; More up-to-date, less "blocky" in the case of precip. I've noticed quite a delay in receiving FIS-B data vs XM. Also, FIS-B is only available over UAT (978MHz) -- there are occasions where FIS-B is not available due to geography/location.

I would >never< attempt to penetrate an area of weather with either product, but when I find myself enroute and I want to come up with a plan, the XM weather is much more useful...
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10 years ago I had two XM receivers in the plane - one for music, one for wx. Every so often (6 months?) one or the other would quit working, until I went onto the XM web site and had a "refresh" signal sent down. I had one trip across the desert SW with scattered TW in the forecast, and - you guessed it- my WX receiver needed to be refreshed. Our fuel stop was so remote in AZ that it had no internet nor cell service, so I couldn't use my iPad to get that damned refresh sent. Dodged a few Tw visually. I was pretty unhappy. As soon as ADSB became available, I pulled the plug on XM WX, and have never regretted it. Still have the music, and still need to refresh it once in a while. I wish I understood the issue. BTW: XM radar looks better (especially at long range). But given the latency in both products, it's just an illusion. The added detail cannot be trusted.
 
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