[apatti]

All,

With the advent "air data cards" that give your laptop access to the internet from "anywhere", why do we need a separate data link for things like weather in our cockpits? I am not sure how "integratable" the data would be, but you can access composite radar loops from the National Weather Service online. This would also give you the ability to send/receive emails and surf the web. It would not have to be an incremental cost. When you hop in the plane, plug in your air data card. When you aren't flying, you could use the same card for your laptop. No need to pay an extra fee to XM. At least that is the way I would design it.

Just think of the possibilities...


Tony

 

[RV7Factory]

With the advent "air data cards" that give your laptop access to the internet from "anywhere"...

By "anywhere" you mean Starbucks, the office, or your back deck, right?

Broadband access cards only get reception where there is coverage. Fly yourself over unpopulated territory and you are out of luck (no bars ). Chances are that will be when you really need weather data.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, but there are still vast expanses of this country with no coverage.

 

[Jamie]

Yeah, but all of the air data cards are using the cdma/gsm/et al networks. The coverage is abismal in the air. Ever try to get a signal on your mobile phone in the air?

I have thought about the same thing. The data that we pay big bucks to XM for is all publicly available (notice I didn't say free -- you pay for it every April 15th).

Anyway, there may be a solution. Aircell has come out with an internet service for the airlines. I'm not sure if it will work in a GA airplane because it may need the additional altitude of airliners to avoid dead areas. Maybe aircell will expand the service to us GAers by selling us equipment that would work in our planes. That would be awesome. The possibilities would be endless then.

Here's their website -- no technical information but the last video does show the location of all of their ground based transceivers.

http://www.gogoinflight.com/

 

[RV10inOz]

By "anywhere" you mean Starbucks, the office, or your back deck, right?

Broadband access cards only get reception where there is coverage. Fly yourself over unpopulated territory and you are out of luck (no bars ). Chances are that will be when you really need weather data.

Don't get me wrong, I like the idea, but there are still vast expanses of this country with no coverage.

How do you get by.........

WAAS is in my opinion a much greater leap forward in technology, so spend the money on a 430W or 530W. I feel XM weather is great, and I wish we had it too, but in some cases it just encourages folk to try threading the needle when really they should be on the ground anyway.

Dont misunderstand me though, its all good and better than the old days, but bang for buck, go the Nav gear first.

DB

 

[AlexPeterson]

SNIP

The data that we pay big bucks to XM for is all publicly available (notice I didn't say free -- you pay for it every April 15th).

SNIP

It isn't yet publicly available for free where we need it - in our planes. Big bucks maybe, but neither Sirius or XM has been profitable yet - maybe they will survive now that a merger is underway. Takes a lot of those $30/$50/$12 subscriptions to pay for heaving a satellite or two up there.

 

[ddnebert]

Broadband everywhere

There are several possibilities for data access in the cockpit, but we'll have to see what's most affordable for GA before it could become ubiquitous:

1. Wi-Max: a long-range derivative in the family of 802.11 WiFi with up to 50 mile line of sight range. It is being deployed outside the U.S. but Sprint and Clearwire are slowing down plans for a domestic deployment. Conceivably a relatively small number of transmitters (think NEXRAD or VOR placement) could cover low and high route aviation, cars, and boats - mobile IP. Unfortunately, the existing expensive infrastructure may make WiMax deployment from scratch infeasible (especially as Sprint/Nextel lose customers every month).

2. Satellite: XM and Sirius offer satellite broadcast, but not two-way. The old Direcway (relative of DirectTV) allowed roughly 768KB speeds both ways, so sending email and checking web pages in truly remote locations was possible, but the antenna was directional. Aircraft would benefit from an omnidirectional and small antenna, so satellite 2-way is not currently a good possibility, but broadcast one-way works so nicely on the 496!

3. Carrier frequency and digital radio: Automotive navigation companies are using FM radio to transmit data 'between' the frequencies to move traffic data to your car's GPS display and help define a new route. Why not use the existing network of AM, FM, or Digital Radio stations to broadcast data to planes? NOAA Weather Radio already covers much of the US for voice alerting about weather, wouldn't a public transmission of raw weather data (that we've already paid for) be a nice thing to consume in aircraft? It'd still create a market for device and interface manufacturers and software to do the best job with it. If not NOAA, then some company or a network of public radio stations could serve up the data for a small fee or as a 'public service announcement'. It'd still be one-way but could provide some alternatives and competition that might open new doors (markets) if we think beyond GA.

 

[w1curtis]

The simple answer is that air data cards, due to the cell phone network geometry that they use, don't work above about 2,000 feet, even in populated areas. Personally, I think $12.95 (XM radio) + $50 (Wx service) per month is highway robbery for this service. I know the pilot market is small but they also charge this same amount for boating weather.

If the FAA really wants to improve safety, reduce calls to the infamous Lockeed-Martin Flight Service, they should include basic weather and traffic in ADS-B up-link. I'd much rather pay $5000 for a transponder type box that provides those functions than dishing out $750 per year to XM and the WX service vendors--but this makes too much sense so I'm sure it won't happen.

 

[Jamie]

It isn't yet publicly available for free where we need it - in our planes. Big bucks maybe, but neither Sirius or XM has been profitable yet - maybe they will survive now that a merger is underway. Takes a lot of those $30/$50/$12 subscriptions to pay for heaving a satellite or two up there.

Exactly...which is why I'm saying if we could have internet in the cockpit all of that would be nullified.

I love my XM service, but I do think it's overpriced. I do believe they could sell more subscriptions if the monthly rate were a little cheaper, but obviously the suits and bean counters at XM disagree.