IFD & Sirius/XM weather

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   I realize that Sirius/XM weather is not in the hearts and minds of most US pilots anymore, but for those that prefer to have the additional features and in particular who fly outside of the US FIS-B areas, it is very much de rigueur.
The old Garmin GDL-69 would serve that purpose, but apparently the latest shipping GDL-69A's are no longer compatible. This I heard from my avionics shop, who is generally very reliable with information and in fact is Avidyne friendly.

What options are there now for the IFD, vis a vis satellite weather?

* Orest

Edited by oskrypuch - 18 Jul 2016 at 11:02am

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oskrypuch Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 09 Nov 2012 Location: CYFD Status: Offline Points: 3061	Post Options Post Reply Quote oskrypuch Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: IFD & Sirius/XM weather Posted: 18 Jul 2016 at 10:36am
	I realize that Sirius/XM weather is not in the hearts and minds of most US pilots anymore, but for those that prefer to have the additional features and in particular who fly outside of the US FIS-B areas, it is very much de rigueur. The old Garmin GDL-69 would serve that purpose, but apparently the latest shipping GDL-69A's are no longer compatible. This I heard from my avionics shop, who is generally very reliable with information and in fact is Avidyne friendly. What options are there now for the IFD, vis a vis satellite weather? * Orest Edited by oskrypuch - 18 Jul 2016 at 11:02am

Apiaguy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 05 Jan 2016 Location: Usa Status: Offline Points: 35	Post Options Post Reply Quote Apiaguy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 18 Jul 2016 at 10:43pm
	MLB700 They are available all over the place used and cheap.

310pilot Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13 Apr 2015 Location: Louisville, KY Status: Offline Points: 102	Post Options Post Reply Quote 310pilot Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jul 2016 at 10:18am
	I am a big fan of WSI weather as my primary datalink source. I had an in depth conversation with the GM of WSI when I was putting in my IFD, as I wanted to figure out the best set up going forward. At that time (18 months ago) he told me that XM had awarded the contract to WSI, so XM weather will actually be provided by WSI. So irregardless which box you find it probably has the same weather provider. Now here's the kicker though...at that time (as part of the XM contract) the agreement was to only maintain the WSI boxes through 2016. I have the AV-300 but believe it is pretty much the same thing as the MLB700 (made by same people).... I do not know the current status of this however and whether that will get extended or they will make a new box etc....so if you find something out please let me know .... Also, as I stated in a previous post, Avidyne has chosen to only use 4 colors in displaying datalink which sells the WSI feed short.

oskrypuch Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 09 Nov 2012 Location: CYFD Status: Offline Points: 3061	Post Options Post Reply Quote oskrypuch Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jul 2016 at 2:36pm
	That is quite the kicker. * Orest

TangoCharlie Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 31 May 2016 Location: KISP Status: Offline Points: 17	Post Options Post Reply Quote TangoCharlie Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jul 2016 at 3:43pm
	It is a shame about the new GDL-69A. We had ours installed early this year with an IFD540, and according to what we were told, we got one of the new units (Sirius) that replaces the old (XM). It turns out the weather portion does display, but the audio section is not usable--the IFD540 keeps turning the unit back to channel 1. (If we turn the IFD540 off, we can tune the audio and listen, but that kind of defeats the purpose.) I hope this can be made to work in the near future.
	--Mark M

310pilot Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13 Apr 2015 Location: Louisville, KY Status: Offline Points: 102	Post Options Post Reply Quote 310pilot Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jul 2016 at 5:31pm
	Just spoke with WSI. The latest is that WSI will no longer support its inflight weather system after March 2017. At that time the support will be taken over by Sirius/XM. No one knows or is sharing whether that means we will need new hardware at that point!!

Apiaguy Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 05 Jan 2016 Location: Usa Status: Offline Points: 35	Post Options Post Reply Quote Apiaguy Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jul 2016 at 5:56pm
	Can you be more specific? Are you talking about the xm weather boxes from wsi or the newer sirius boxes? Is your current subscription thru avidyne?

bellanca1730a Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 04 Jul 2013 Location: Tampa Status: Offline Points: 63	Post Options Post Reply Quote bellanca1730a Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 19 Jul 2016 at 8:11pm
	We installed a GDL-69A as well because it was the only unit specifically called out in the 540 Pilot Guide as compatible. Concur that this is important to get figured out.
	Sean Andrews Bellanca Super Viking

310pilot Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 13 Apr 2015 Location: Louisville, KY Status: Offline Points: 102	Post Options Post Reply Quote 310pilot Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 20 Jul 2016 at 7:57am
	They said it should only affect AV and MLB series receivers and that when they get more details they will pass them along.