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Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service

 
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ronko(at)att.net
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PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 11:03 am    Post subject: Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service Reply with quote

Pulsar Friends,

If you have a Garmin 396 or 496 this may be of interest to you.
 
I have a Garmin 396 and being predominantly a fair weather, very limited long distance flyer, I have a hard time justifying the $34.95 for XM's entry level weather service for pilots, called Aviator LT.

I got to know and ask allot of questions with a marine and aviation products manager for XM at Sun N Fun this year. I asked if the other weather services could work on our Garmin 396/496 like NavWesther $9.95/month. Well, this lead to a couple weeks later he granted me a trial and test to see which of these services could work.

The NavWeather did not work, but he had me try another $10/month weather package called "Skywatch" and it did work. Skywatch includes Nexrad Summary which is the low resolution (4-kilometer), 15 minute updated version of the high resolution Nexrad (2-kilometer), 5 minute updated, of the Aviator series. Skywatch also includes Metars and a couple other weather alert services.  On XM's web site, Skywatch is under marine services. Do boaters watch inland Metars?

I thought the Metars were cool ... simply just run the Gramin's cursor over the added little blue triangles on the screen (next to reporting airports) and you got the recent airport's Metar report (translated). I was only marginally impressed with the Nexrad and not because updates took 15 minutes, but the 4-kilometer square resolution seems to be quite a large area, so much so I wondered if the doubling it with their high resolution 2-kilometer version adds much more value. To make meaningful use of the Nexrad I had to zoom out several levels to make better sense of weather cells.

I am not posting this to provide a comprehensive evaluation, but merely to make more pilots aware that their Garmin 396/496 with XM receiver can be enabled with a lower cost $10/month weather service called SkyWatch that does have its application to flying. I don't know why Garmin or XM don't make this service option better known. Maybe afraid too many $34.95 customers will go cheep on them verses gaining incrementally more pilots to start using Skywatch.

Best regards,

Ronko

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jerry(at)craftworks.biz
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PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 2:35 pm    Post subject: Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service Reply with quote

Ron, That is a great thing to know, I have had a 396 for years and have always done the $50 a month plan…. when flying and would suspend it when not flying…. XM calls it seasonal? that has worked but its still $50 when I do have it on so I plan to check this out, Thanks. Jerry

From: owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com [mailto:owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of Ron Koval
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 3:01 PM
To: Pulsar Builders; Pulsar-Aviators(at)yahoogroups.com
Subject: Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service

Pulsar Friends,



If you have a Garmin 396 or 496 this may be of interest to you.



I have a Garmin 396 and being predominantly a fair weather, very limited long distance flyer, I have a hard time justifying the $34.95 for XM's entry level weather service for pilots, called Aviator LT.



I got to know and ask allot of questions with a marine and aviation products manager for XM at Sun N Fun this year. I asked if the other weather services could work on our Garmin 396/496 like NavWesther $9.95/month. Well, this lead to a couple weeks later he granted me a trial and test to see which of these services could work.



The NavWeather did not work, but he had me try another $10/month weather package called "Skywatch" and it did work. Skywatch includes Nexrad Summary which is the low resolution (4-kilometer), 15 minute updated version of the high resolution Nexrad (2-kilometer), 5 minute updated, of the Aviator series. Skywatch also includes Metars and a couple other weather alert services. On XM's web site, Skywatch is under marine services. Do boaters watch inland Metars?



I thought the Metars were cool ... simply just run the Gramin's cursor over the added little blue triangles on the screen (next to reporting airports) and you got the recent airport's Metar report (translated). I was only marginally impressed with the Nexrad and not because updates took 15 minutes, but the 4-kilometer square resolution seems to be quite a large area, so much so I wondered if the doubling it with their high resolution 2-kilometer version adds much more value. To make meaningful use of the Nexrad I had to zoom out several levels to make better sense of weather cells.



I am not posting this to provide a comprehensive evaluation, but merely to make more pilots aware that their Garmin 396/496 with XM receiver can be enabled with a lower cost $10/month weather service called SkyWatch that does have its application to flying. I don't know why Garmin or XM don't make this service option better known. Maybe afraid too many $34.95 customers will go cheep on them verses gaining incrementally more pilots to start using Skywatch.



Best regards,



Ronko

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jerry(at)craftworks.biz
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PostPosted: Wed May 18, 2011 4:06 pm    Post subject: Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service Reply with quote

Ron… went to XM and after spending 1 hour on the phone finally came away with your $10 a month plan! and got the first 3 month FREE! This is where the Pulsar group really comes in handy! Although I don’t use it much in the plane these days I do use it in the motor home where I can listen to XM music, use the GPS and now see the weather! $$$$ Jerry

From: owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com [mailto:owner-pulsar-list-server(at)matronics.com] On Behalf Of Ron Koval
Sent: Wednesday, May 18, 2011 3:01 PM
To: Pulsar Builders; Pulsar-Aviators(at)yahoogroups.com
Subject: Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service

Pulsar Friends,



If you have a Garmin 396 or 496 this may be of interest to you.



I have a Garmin 396 and being predominantly a fair weather, very limited long distance flyer, I have a hard time justifying the $34.95 for XM's entry level weather service for pilots, called Aviator LT.



I got to know and ask allot of questions with a marine and aviation products manager for XM at Sun N Fun this year. I asked if the other weather services could work on our Garmin 396/496 like NavWesther $9.95/month. Well, this lead to a couple weeks later he granted me a trial and test to see which of these services could work.



The NavWeather did not work, but he had me try another $10/month weather package called "Skywatch" and it did work. Skywatch includes Nexrad Summary which is the low resolution (4-kilometer), 15 minute updated version of the high resolution Nexrad (2-kilometer), 5 minute updated, of the Aviator series. Skywatch also includes Metars and a couple other weather alert services. On XM's web site, Skywatch is under marine services. Do boaters watch inland Metars?



I thought the Metars were cool ... simply just run the Gramin's cursor over the added little blue triangles on the screen (next to reporting airports) and you got the recent airport's Metar report (translated). I was only marginally impressed with the Nexrad and not because updates took 15 minutes, but the 4-kilometer square resolution seems to be quite a large area, so much so I wondered if the doubling it with their high resolution 2-kilometer version adds much more value. To make meaningful use of the Nexrad I had to zoom out several levels to make better sense of weather cells.



I am not posting this to provide a comprehensive evaluation, but merely to make more pilots aware that their Garmin 396/496 with XM receiver can be enabled with a lower cost $10/month weather service called SkyWatch that does have its application to flying. I don't know why Garmin or XM don't make this service option better known. Maybe afraid too many $34.95 customers will go cheep on them verses gaining incrementally more pilots to start using Skywatch.



Best regards,



Ronko

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skipper144(at)juno.com
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PostPosted: Fri May 27, 2011 5:58 pm    Post subject: Garmin 396/496 $10/month Weather Service Reply with quote

Ron...Thanks for the Garmin weather service update.
Be well,
Skip La Police
Pulsar III


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