XM vs ADSB

[NewMoon]

Have kept my XM subscription. Wondering if others have cancelled and gone only to adsb data. I have the gtx345. I am sure a thread exists but could not locate an answer. Thx!

[Paul Thomas]

I only do ADSB. You should be able to display the ADSB feed on your other avionics and your iPad.

[toto]

I cancelled XM about six months after getting the 345. People definitely prefer XM for the higher resolution, refresh rate and satellite vs ground source. But I had two separate displays, one showing XM weather and one ADS-B, and I really did not like having two different depictions of the same weather. 

[NewMoon]

11 minutes ago, toto said:

I cancelled XM about six months after getting the 345. People definitely prefer XM for the higher resolution, refresh rate and satellite vs ground source. But I had two separate displays, one showing XM weather and one ADS-B, and I really did not like having two different depictions of the same weather. 

Understand, and my opinion is neither should be used to save your life. Just a macro and an ability to bring up the latest WX at your destination prior to getting the recorded atis

[toto]

5 minutes ago, NewMoon said:

Understand, and my opinion is neither should be used to save your life. Just a macro and an ability to bring up the latest WX at your destination prior to getting the recorded atis

My opinion at the time was that having conflicting NEXRAD depictions was worse than having no radar picture at all, so I dropped the XM in favor of ADS-B.

I’m not quite sure what you mean about getting weather prior to ATIS. A continuously updating NEXRAD depiction is quite a bit different from the information I would get from an ATIS recording. If I’m flying anywhere near weather, I have the NEXRAD overlaid on my moving map, and I find it invaluable. 

The danger with NEXRAD is that there’s always a delay between the observation and the update on your screen. So don’t use it to pick your way through a storm. But it’s fantastic for a picture of developing weather when you’re a half hour away. 

[bigmo]

I had XM displayed on my panel (older GMX200). My a/c does not have ADS-B in, besides my Sentry, so the weather was in isolation from other situational awareness. Now I have an iPad Mini on my yoke and find it far preferable for my single source of info. My Mini is the cellular version and I was able to add an unlimited data line for like $10 a month. With the Sentry providing traffic, enroute weather, and the cell updates the weather on the ground, I have the very best solution (for me at least). 

I will say that having the cell option is pretty important as it really helps provide a complete picture. Having good quality weather on the ground is really important to me. I have also found that for normal cruise altitudes for me 7k-10k, I pick up partial signals enough that the cell weather stay pretty current. When it doesn't, the ADS-B is good enough for enroute. I don't know this for a fact, but it appears the iPad's cellular receiver is better than my phone as I frequently have a LTE signal quite a bit on the iPad and my phone has 'no signal',

When I canceled with XM, I assumed they'd offer me some kind of deal to stay. I was pretty polite and just offered that I can get pretty much the same thing for free and it's not worth $40 a month. I'm not sure where I see the value...but probably like $10-15 a month and I'd stay. I guess they prefer my $0 lol.

[TangoTango]

19 minutes ago, toto said:

I’m not quite sure what you mean about getting weather prior to ATIS. A continuously updating NEXRAD depiction is quite a bit different from the information I would get from an ATIS recording. If I’m flying anywhere near weather, I have the NEXRAD overlaid on my moving map, and I find it invaluable. 

I'm an FIS-B weather user (never had XM, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing), but I bluetooth my phone running Garmin Pilot to my GTX-345, and it allows me to pull up on Garmin Pilot the current METAR at any airport in the US, as well as TAF, NOTAMS, etc. I don't use cell service while airborne - in fact, I put my phone on airplane mode just to allow it to charge faster with the screen on all the time while flying.

With this, I'm constantly monitoring my destination and several alternates while in cruise, even several hours away from picking up the ATIS.

[toto]

10 minutes ago, TangoTango said:

I'm an FIS-B weather user (never had XM, so maybe I don't know what I'm missing), but I bluetooth my phone running Garmin Pilot to my GTX-345, and it allows me to pull up on Garmin Pilot the current METAR at any airport in the US, as well as TAF, NOTAMS, etc. I don't use cell service while airborne - in fact, I put my phone on airplane mode just to allow it to charge faster with the screen on all the time while flying.

With this, I'm constantly monitoring my destination and several alternates while in cruise, even several hours away from picking up the ATIS.

Within a few minutes of publication, the text weather from ADS-B and XM should be identical. There is absolutely no reason to spend money on an XM subscription for text weather.

I honestly didn’t understand that the question was about text weather. The difference I see between XM and ADS-B is in the graphical depictions, particularly the NEXRAD depictions. I would never pay for an XM subscription for text weather, and as you said, you can review text publications using an ADS-B receiver for distant airports. 

[NewMoon]

Great input here everyone. I guess i will cancel my $70/mo XM sub. Will fly a bit with just adsb, worst thing I just subscribe again. 

[Marc_B]

I'll be the contrarian...when I upgraded my panel I put in a SXM 69A so that I could have XM weather on my panel as well as XM music.  For context, I have an all glass panel and so can use XM on G500TXi and GTN 750Xi.

I've found that XM always bumps up the cost at renewal, so it always requires calling to find out what the best package they are offering (NEVER let XM autorenew!).  Usually try to get a 6- or 12-month package to see what the best price break will be.  Also if you're planning on being down for a bit (maintenance or just not flying) you can put your subscription on pause so you're not paying for it during that time a simple call lets you choose pause and choose reactivation vs leave it indefinite and have to call back to restart.  I usually go with the XM pilot express

There are some product difference and in general the radar data is usually more current.  The coverage map is different which is important for trips down to Caribbean/Mexico/Canada.  The satellite vs ground line of sight reception is different.  But there's also overlap with ADS-B/FIS-B.

If you're a VFR only pilot and usually have short flights around your local area, FIS-b is great.  I don't think that XM is orders of magnitudes better, but there are a couple of times that XM feed worked/works better for me.  Given weather is a GA pilot equalizer, it's nice to have a little more enhanced and timely product.  But as anyone will tell you, neither products are useful for navigating storm cells and aren't near the same as in flight radar.  Sometimes 2 is1, 1 is none...meaning it's nice when I need it to have a back up.

Of course I'm usually doing most of my weather prep on the ground using ForeFlight Imagery and https://aviationweather.gov/  So in flight this is more confirming that things have changed as I expected or moving the same direction and speed as anticipated.  Occasionally it encourages me to take a fuel stop...but usually it just confirms that my plan is still GTG.  I'm not flying on the ragged edge of weather anyways.

https://www.sportys.com/blog/datalink-weather-for-pilots-ads-b-vs-siriusxm/

https://www.siriusxm.com/aviation/packages

https://www.siriusxm.com/aviation/siriusxm-ads-b?intcmp=Global Nav_NA_www:aviation:overview_SXMvsADSB

For the ADS-b vs XM discussion it's more dependent on HOW you use it and WHERE.

[Pinecone]

One big difference is the higher resolution of SXM out past 200 mile range.

I have both.

 

https://ipadpilotnews.com/2020/07/ads-b-weather-vs-siriusxm-satellite-weather-comparing-the-options/

https://www.cessnaflyer.org/magazine/article-archives/avionics/ads-b-vs-siriusxm.html

 

https://siriusxmcommunications.com/sxmaviation/daretocompare.html

https://www.aopa.org/about/aopa-partners/siriusxm-aviation/infographic

 

[PT20J]

A couple of things about ADS-B weather that I've noticed:

1. Unless you are at an airport that has a ADS-B ground station, you can't get the weather until airborne. This isn't an issue for me because I like the weather depiction on my iPad with Foreflight better than the Garmin equipment and Foreflight will cache the weather data from the internet and then switch to ADS-B once it's available.

2. Be mindful of the ADS-B look ahead ranges because if you zoom way out there may not be data available and radar loses resolution as you zoom out.

3. I have found that it sometimes takes a long time for the graphical TFRs to show up. I always get them from Foreflight connected to the internet before launching as I don't trust ADS-B to show them all.

Skip

 

[LANCECASPER]

4 hours ago, NewMoon said:

Great input here everyone. I guess i will cancel my $70/mo XM sub. Will fly a bit with just adsb, worst thing I just subscribe again. 

I keep the basic XM subscription ($29) and an xm audio infotainment subscription. For a long trip XM shows a nice nexrad radar picture across the country - much better than the blocks of farther out ADSB. In the grand scheme $29/mo. isn't even a rounding error on my aviation expenses.

Sirius XM plans: https://www.siriusxm.com/aviation/packages?intcmp=Global Nav_NA_www:aviation:plans_Plans

Legacy XM plans: https://www.siriusxm.com/content/dam/sxm-com/pdf/aviation/XMWX_Aviation.pdf

Differences between SXM and ADS-B: https://www.siriusxm.com/aviation/siriusxm-ads-b?intcmp=Global Nav_NA_www:aviation:plans_SXMvsADSB

[Danb]

5 hours ago, bigmo said:

I had XM displayed on my panel (older GMX200). My a/c does not have ADS-B in, besides my Sentry, so the weather was in isolation from other situational awareness. Now I have an iPad Mini on my yoke and find it far preferable for my single source of info. My Mini is the cellular version and I was able to add an unlimited data line for like $10 a month. With the Sentry providing traffic, enroute weather, and the cell updates the weather on the ground, I have the very best solution (for me at least). 

I will say that having the cell option is pretty important as it really helps provide a complete picture. Having good quality weather on the ground is really important to me. I have also found that for normal cruise altitudes for me 7k-10k, I pick up partial signals enough that the cell weather stay pretty current. When it doesn't, the ADS-B is good enough for enroute. I don't know this for a fact, but it appears the iPad's cellular receiver is better than my phone as I frequently have a LTE signal quite a bit on the iPad and my phone has 'no signal',

When I canceled with XM, I assumed they'd offer me some kind of deal to stay. I was pretty polite and just offered that I can get pretty much the same thing for free and it's not worth $40 a month. I'm not sure where I see the value...but probably like $10-15 a month and I'd stay. I guess they prefer my $0 lol.

I recently went to cx my xm, and they gave me 6 months for $79, after I told them I couldn’t even afford $10 a month..

[bigmo]

I would have taken that deal ($79 for 6). But I kind of get tired of the games and I’ll forget to call and cancel. If they can afford to retain me at that rate, just offer that rate for goodness sake. I feel thats about what I’d pay for the service.

[Danb]

28 minutes ago, bigmo said:

I would have taken that deal ($79 for 6). But I kind of get tired of the games and I’ll forget to call and cancel. If they can afford to retain me at that rate, just offer that rate for goodness sake. I feel thats about what I’d pay for the service.

I know it’s fricken game, I never tried but I got my Mercedes Xm dirt cheap also, the airplane division is separate so I called them after getting my car lowered and it took ten minutes presto, no I have to remember to call in six months 

[toto]

I haven’t had an XM subscription in a number of years, but the last time I had it, the “Aviator” plans were quite expensive relative to other XM offerings, and I remember hearing that you could order a marine subscription for about half the price and just give them the radio id for your aviation unit.. Has anyone tried that trick?

[LANCECASPER]

4 minutes ago, toto said:

I haven’t had an XM subscription in a number of years, but the last time I had it, the “Aviator” plans were quite expensive relative to other XM offerings, and I remember hearing that you could order a marine subscription for about half the price and just give them the radio id for your aviation unit.. Has anyone tried that trick?

The $10 Marine XM worked for Nexrad on the Garmin 396, 496 and the 696 (all GXM30 and GXM40 XM antennas), but I never got it to work on the Aera models. Everything since the GXM42 Antenna has been SXM(SiriusXM satellites), not the older XM.

[toto]

2 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

The $10 Marine XM worked for Nexrad on the Garmin 396, 496 and the 696 (all GXM30 and GXM40 XM antennas), but I never got it to work on the Aera models. Everything since the GXM42 Antenna has been SXM(SiriusXM satellites), not the older XM.

Interesting, thanks. I have a GDL52 but with no XM subscription. Sounds like the trick only worked when using a standalone XM antenna that was common to both the aviation and marine units?

[LANCECASPER]

Just now, toto said:

Interesting, thanks. I have a GDL52 but with no XM subscription. Sounds like the trick only worked when using a standalone XM antenna that was common to both the aviation and marine units?

Your GDL52 is SXM, not XM.

[toto]

Just now, LANCECASPER said:

Your GDL52 is SXM, not XM.

Understood. I was just using “XM” as a shorthand for “satellite receiver.”

But you’re saying that the marine subscription trick works only if you have an XM receiver that predates the Sirius merger?

[LANCECASPER]

37 minutes ago, toto said:

Understood. I was just using “XM” as a shorthand for “satellite receiver.”

But you’re saying that the marine subscription trick works only if you have an XM receiver that predates the Sirius merger?

yes

[Fritz1]

I have the XM on a 796 and the ADSB on a 530. I often compare the displays, my wife only sees the ADSB, typically looks worse than the XM, I like the XM better, feels more accurate, can't really put my finger on it why, ATC is typically very helpful when navigating around storm cells, thing to have would be a future radar function that covers the 15 min lag of the display, still not real time but getting closer, this exists on the weather channel nexrad and I often run it on the ground for planning purposes 

[bigmo]

I have the GDL69 (dated - XM only). I actually had heard about folks subscribing to a cheap marine plan since all I was really getting was the radar. Not sure if it’s just they don’t offer it any longer, but they pushed me to the option of the Aviator LT (if I recall) as a legacy plan. Still $30.

I can say that I found the XM far superior in every way. But my free ADS-B / cellular solution is a close second place.

For those on the fence, Ive not encountered a scenario where I wished I’d have not switched. If it were half the price, I’d probably had kept it…but it’s not and I don’t give it a second thought.

[Pinecone]

19 hours ago, PT20J said:

A couple of things about ADS-B weather that I've noticed:

1. Unless you are at an airport that has a ADS-B ground station, you can't get the weather until airborne. This isn't an issue for me because I like the weather depiction on my iPad with Foreflight better than the Garmin equipment and Foreflight will cache the weather data from the internet and then switch to ADS-B once it's available.

2. Be mindful of the ADS-B look ahead ranges because if you zoom way out there may not be data available and radar loses resolution as you zoom out.

3. I have found that it sometimes takes a long time for the graphical TFRs to show up. I always get them from Foreflight connected to the internet before launching as I don't trust ADS-B to show them all.

Skip

 

All points of why I have both SXM and ADSB.

And if they get a reasonable pricing and maybe a small antenna, I would love to have StarLink onboard.