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Date: Mon, 30 Jan 2006 12:49:07 -0500
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From: "F. Barry Knotts" <bknotts@buckeye-express.com>
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Subject: Re: [LML] Weather XM/WSI vs. ADS-B
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Douglas Brunner wrote:

> I have been thinking about how to get weather in my (soon to be 
> built?) Legacy. 

> Doug Brunner

I have a thing about weather.  I just returned to the Great Lakes region 
from California in my non-Lancair aircraft.  I've been using the 
AnywhereMap PDA WxWorks system with an HP4700, all Bluetooth, for about 
18 months.  It's great.  It's so good that it got to be a go/no-go item 
if there was any weather on the route.  So 3 months ago I re-did my 
panel and included a Garmin 530, GDL69A, and GX330.  The installation 
was painful to my wallet, but in some compensation the avionics shop 
"threw in" a Garmin 396 at cost for backup.  So in the last 40 hours of 
flying I've been using three WxWorks systems in parallel.  They are 
pretty different.  Here's my take on it:

The AnywhereMap PDA system:  Good use of WxWorks information.  GPS unit 
is poor and intermittent and that makes the system unreliable.  Setup is 
sometimes problematic and in-flight required reboots are common. 
Strangely, in the summer, in the hot cockpit the PDA would lock up 
refuse to work until physically cooled down.  Luckily, that's when you 
need weather information the least.  You get NextRad,  Echo Tops, 
Metars, TAFs and Lightning.  The age of the information is displayed 
(optionally) on a continuous basis...to the minute.  Coverage in the US 
is good in my experience.  (Coast to Coast, Michigan to Oklahoma.)  
Having NextRad in the cockpit is an amazing addition to safe flying.  
(I've flown a few hundred hours with a Stormscope and now fly with 
on-board radar.  No comparison.  NextRad is far superior to either...but 
also different.  I'd still use Stormscope and radar if available, but 
NextRad is a full cut above in accuracy and safety, IMHO.)

Garmin 530:  This was disappointing.  The reason is the 530 software is 
still based on the GDL49.  You get good display of NextRad images.  But 
they are the only thing that is available on multiple screens.  You can 
"request" graphical Metars within a 250 mi radius of your position.  
This is on the VFR / Marginal VFR / IFR / Low IFR type scale for both 
ceiling and viability.  Type of precip is also displayed. The age of the 
Metar is displayed in 15 minute increments.  The graphical Metars are 
available on a separate page so you don't get an overlay with your 
navigation page.  You can also "request" text Metars and TAFs by 
individual station.  It produces raw text only.  It's a poor system that 
requires lots of dial twisting.  That's it.  There is a promised soft 
and hardware update scheduled to come out in "third quarter of 2006" 
that will make the 530 WAAS certified.  I hope that they also address 
the weather display issues and come up with more of the available 
WxWorks products to display.  By the way, I subscribed to the music 
portion of the XM package.  Didn't think I would use it, but I was 
wrong.  It is used often and it is tended by my co-pilot...who, 
fortunately, likes the same music I do.  The terrain database is 
installed and works to satisfy the TAWS-B standard.  Haven't seen it 
work much, but I try to stay above the 1000 ft. above terrain threshold 
anyway.

Garmin 396:  WHAT A JEWEL!  No setup to speak of.  Displays NextRad, 
Metars (graphically and text, raw and with translations), TAFs (text and 
with translations), SIGMETS, AIRMETS, Lightning, Echo Tops with 
graduated altitude filters, Satellite Image, freezing levels, surface 
precipitation type, severe weather storm tracks, winds with altitude 
filters, city forecasts, surface weather depictions, along with all the 
usual navigation stuff.  The most useful weather products are available 
on the navigation page with a couple of key presses.  Oh, yeah, the 
terrain is displayed continuously in multicolor splendor.  Just run the 
cursor over any point on the screen and it will report the surface 
altitude, MSL.  Note that there are some wires to deal with.  (2 
antennas and a power cord.)  But what a unit!

What to do now:
1.  Dump the PDA system.  The Garmin 396 does it all and then some and 
is more reliable.
2.  Wait for the WAAS upgrade for the Garmin 530.  Hope for the best.
3.  Keep the Garmin 396 on my yoke until something better comes along.

Unfortunately, I have no information on the WSI units or products.  My 
impression is that I now have realtime weather in the cockpit that is 
superior to my preflight Internet or WSI weather check and FSS 
briefing.  The reasons I talk to a briefer now are really only 3 
things:  NOTAMS (so I don't have to figure out the weird codes in all 
that garbage), TFR's that can jump up and bite, and to CYA if I ever 
have a bad weather encounter.  I agree that WxWorks has a better 
business model and the products are comprehensive.  I think it will be 
the ultimate winner.

I've also been using the GX330 TIS mode.  It's displayed well on the 
530.  Good in the local region I fly from...but there are large regions 
not covered.  I decided I'd use this until ADS-B becomes useful...then 
decide if that needs to be added to my panel.  The GX330 has some other 
features that have become indispensable.  (Count down timer, digital OAT 
linked to the Garmin 530, flight timer)  I really like it. 

I don't really have room for a MX-20 but I don't have good access to 
terminal and enroute charts in the cockpit and I need that.  When given 
a re-route by Victor airway ("Depart runway heading, join V-xxx to 
XXXXX") or an instrument approach I struggle with a laptop, PDA or with 
paper charts.  I've flown the MX-20 and that would answer those needs.  
Still looking for an answer to that issue.

Hope my experience is helpful in your decisions.  Sorry for the long saga.

Barry Knotts
L-IVP building, Conti TSIO 550, Perrysburg, OH