New Panel: Save the WX-900?

[PeytonM]

Next month, panel-ectomy! Keep your eyes on the ForSale!

I’ll continue to have ADS-B in of course, but I wonder if I should jettison the WX-900, or keep it? 30 years old, so maybe a software update when it’s out? I know it’s real-time lightening vs delays with FIS-B, but neither area suitable for tactical decisions. Downside of keeping it: if it goes paws-up in a week/month/year, I’ll have to yank it out, and probably toss it, then plastic surgery on my new panel! Hmmm

[David Lloyd]

Wondering the same thing about a WX-8 in my panel.  Don't laugh, have 5000+ hours behind one and it has been worth it's weight in gold.  Since ADSB, it is now devalued somewhat.

[LANCECASPER]

4 minutes ago, PeytonM said:

Next month, panel-ectomy! Keep your eyes on the ForSale!

I’ll continue to have ADS-B in of course, but I wonder if I should jettison the WX-900, or keep it? 30 years old, so maybe a software update when it’s out? I know it’s real-time lightening vs delays with FIS-B, but neither area suitable for tactical decisions. Downside of keeping it: if it goes paws-up in a week/month/year, I’ll have to yank it out, and probably toss it, then plastic surgery on my new panel! Hmmm

While they are in there . . . find a used WX-500 and have it display on whatever you're planning on for the new panel. Sell the WX-900 for a few bucks to  someone's whose just went paws-up.

[StevenL757]

21 minutes ago, PeytonM said:

Next month, panel-ectomy! Keep your eyes on the ForSale!

I’ll continue to have ADS-B in of course, but I wonder if I should jettison the WX-900, or keep it? 30 years old, so maybe a software update when it’s out? I know it’s real-time lightening vs delays with FIS-B, but neither area suitable for tactical decisions. Downside of keeping it: if it goes paws-up in a week/month/year, I’ll have to yank it out, and probably toss it, then plastic surgery on my new panel! Hmmm

Lose the WX950.  Get your lightning information from something like a GDL69, or other XM weather source and free up an antenna location as well as some panel space.  As @LANCECASPER pointed out, if you really want to keep that functionality, find a WX500 to mount remotely, keep the antenna, and connect it to a compatible display.  I didn’t miss my WX950 SS when it came out in an early upgrade in my Ovation.

[Danb]

3 hours ago, StevenL757 said:

Lose the WX950.  Get your lightning information from something like a GDL69, or other XM weather source and free up an antenna location as well as some panel space.  As @LANCECASPER pointed out, if you really want to keep that functionality, find a WX500 to mount remotely, keep the antenna, and connect it to a compatible display.  I didn’t miss my WX950 SS when it came out in an early upgrade in my Ovation.

Probably not a great idea, the lightning info on ADSB andXM is a few 10+ minutes old whereas the Scope is real-time. I had a bad encounter with storms this summer with XM providing info drastically poor albeit I was to close while the stormscope provided real-time info enough to navigate me out of Dodge.
 

[ArtVandelay]

Probably not a great idea, the lightning info on ADSB andXM is a few 10+ minutes old whereas the Scope is real-time. I had a bad encounter with storms this summer with XM providing info drastically poor albeit I was to close while the stormscope provided real-time info enough to navigate me out of Dodge.
 

But don’t forget the required placard:

Stormscope not to be used for thunderstorm area penetration.

[toto]

I really like the combination of ADS-B weather to watch trends and the Stormscope as the real-time confirmation. I’ve wrestled with this same thing, since my Stormscope is an early-90’s vintage. But I hate the idea of replacing a real-time display with a delayed-for-an-unknown-period-of-time display. So I keep keeping the antique green scope in the panel

[PT20J]

The problem with the WX 900 is the display and the backlight. Both are failure prone according to Valentine  https://www.stormscopes.com/home-page.html

Mine was inop with dead display when I bought the airplane. I bought a used one on eBay for $500 and it lasted a year before the backlight crapped out. I thought to swap parts between the two and would have until I decided I wanted a new reliable panel with the failure prone old stuff gone.

Skip

[toto]

11 minutes ago, PT20J said:

The problem with the WX 900 is the display and the backlight. Both are failure prone according to Valentine  https://www.stormscopes.com/home-page.html

Mine was inop with dead display when I bought the airplane. I bought a used one on eBay for $500 and it lasted a year before the backlight crapped out. I thought to swap parts between the two and would have until I decided I wanted a new reliable panel with the failure prone old stuff gone.

Skip

I'd love to trash the display and do a remote to a more modern MFD, but it doesn't sound like there's really a path forward there - short of buying a brand new remote sferics device. Hard to imagine spending 10 grand on a Stormscope today, but I really do appreciate the data. 

[LANCECASPER]

3 hours ago, toto said:

I'd love to trash the display and do a remote to a more modern MFD, but it doesn't sound like there's really a path forward there - short of buying a brand new remote sferics device. Hard to imagine spending 10 grand on a Stormscope today, but I really do appreciate the data. 

 

9 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

While they are in there . . . find a used WX-500 and have it display on whatever you're planning on for the new panel. Sell the WX-900 for a few bucks to  someone's whose just went paws-up.

 

[carusoam]

If you fly in IMC…

There are two types of weather equipment to have on board…

1) Lightening detector…. Real time…

2) XM or ADSB in… unknown delay, longer than noted from the system… great color graphics, easy to get the full picture…

 

To avoid the challenge of cutting up the new panel….  
3) Follow Lance’s key advice above….  Use the sensor that displays an overlay on one of the new screens being installed….   

 

PP summary only, great ideas..!

Best regards,

-a-

[DCarlton]

I took mine out and sometimes wish I hadn't.  Nothing really forced me to take it out; I had the panel space.  It was working fine.  

[kortopates]

I sure wouldn't want to keep an old ugly stormscope in a modern glass panel, but you couldn't pry my Wx-500 out of my hands under any circumstances. Modern spherics needs to be displayed on the glass MFD - wasn't that the point of the nice MFD and investment in glass?


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[rbp]

10 hours ago, carusoam said:

If you fly in IMC…

 

should be: "if you fly in convective weather"

[toto]

11 hours ago, LANCECASPER said:

 

 

I looked around a little bit just now, and it seems like a used WX-500 is still five or six grand, and I understand that I can’t use my old WX-1000 antenna - so installation might be expensive. It may come in under 10 grand, but still not cheap. 

If it were possible to reuse the antenna and just swap out the head unit, I might bite. 

[LANCECASPER]

14 minutes ago, toto said:

I looked around a little bit just now, and it seems like a used WX-500 is still five or six grand, and I understand that I can’t use my old WX-1000 antenna - so installation might be expensive. It may come in under 10 grand, but still not cheap. 

If it were possible to reuse the antenna and just swap out the head unit, I might bite. 

From personal experience, if you’re patient, you can do a lot better than that.

[toto]

3 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

From personal experience, if you’re patient, you can do a lot better than that.

Fair enough. I'll keep an eye out

[Marauder]

47 minutes ago, toto said:

I looked around a little bit just now, and it seems like a used WX-500 is still five or six grand, and I understand that I can’t use my old WX-1000 antenna - so installation might be expensive. It may come in under 10 grand, but still not cheap. 

If it were possible to reuse the antenna and just swap out the head unit, I might bite. 

I picked up a used unit from someone on MooneySpace. Like Lance stated, they can be had for less. I agree with the value of the WX-500 used in conjunction with XM and ADS-B. There is nothing like seeing real live data to support what you are seeing on the other sources of weather. The nice thing about the WX-500 is that it interfaces with almost everything. I have a GTN 650, Aspen 2000 and a Lynx 9000. On the Aspen it overlays on top of the FIS-B weather. Adds a lot of value to the radar returns.