Viperdoc wrote

It is also supposed to provide text metars, but this will not be available
until "sometime in the future"

Get an MX20.

Worst, I have to subscribe to XM radio, which is excellent.

You don't have to subscribe to the "radio" part of XM. Your unit has
a separate and independent auth code for the radio part as opposed to
the weather.

Unfortunately,
there is no way to change the channels, identify the stations, or alter the
volume through the 530. My radio shop installed a removable box that allows
me to increase or decrease channels or volume (it's a guess what you're
listening to out of 110 channels).

Get an MX20. Not only does it allow you to tune and adjust the volume,
it also lists the stations and what's playing on each of them (as
opposed to the ones in my car and my wife's car that only shows me
what's playing on the station I'm listening to).

So Garmin blew it again- they deliver a product that does not allow the user
to listen to the satellite radio or get text metars. Does anyone think that
the new owners will also have to pay for an upgrade to be able to do this,
even after already paying for the GDL69?

There's nothing wrong with the GDL69/69A that I've noticed so far. It's
the 530 which appears to be useless.