Van's Air Force
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Who uses Sirius XM Weather and Entertainment. Worth it?
- Thread starter eavila1
- Start date
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.
They will negotiate.
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.
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".
walkman
Well Known Member
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.
MacCool
Well Known Member
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.
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.
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.
eavila1
Member
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
eavila1
Member
Paul how does the ADSB stack up in comparison to XM as far as lag time etc? Not an issue?
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.
Amadeus
Well Known Member
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.
Prescott Flyer
Member
There are big gaps in ADS-B coverage between Prescott, AZ and Texas. Yeah the $63/mo subscription kinda bugs me but I like to have a reliable weather back up.
XM isn’t real time either; it updates faster than adsb but isn’t real time.
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
