New Garmin 396

What XM issues?

I used WeatherWorx on Wings for 2 years and now have XM on my EX500 and with
both coverage is rarely more than 5 minutes old.

--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

"Richard Kaplan" wrote:
What XM issues?

There have been a few that have required software revisions. I have had
to reboot a few times in the past. Right now it seems nearly bug free on
my gear.

I used WeatherWorx on Wings for 2 years and now have XM on my EX500
and with both coverage is rarely more than 5 minutes old.

When I was using it Friday, the radar button went red for nearly 20
minutes, even though I had a good locked satellite and other features
continued to work. That was the first time I've ever seen that happen.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

In article 1121145299.5ff82c7a61b1b3c0c826f2d0c4394000@teran ews,
"Richard Kaplan" wrote:

What XM issues?

I used WeatherWorx on Wings for 2 years and now have XM on my EX500 and with
both coverage is rarely more than 5 minutes old.


There have been issues with retaining activation, so you fire up your
system and find it not activated, requiring a call to XM to have the
receiver re-activated before you can receive weather. Apparently the
issues are XM issues, but I'm not sure whether the problem is with the
service side or with the receiver. If it's with the receiver, Garmin
may have found a way around the problem if they built their own receiver
or via their code to drive the receiver.

I've heard of the activation issues from both Control Vision and WxWorx
on Wings customers, both of which use the WxWorx receiver hardware. I
haven't ever experienced them myself.




JKG

My understanding is that the activation issue occurs when the XM receiver is
not used for 90 days and the XM system thus suspends the account.

Regardless of whether this is an appropriate "feature," it does speak to my
point about the wires etc. being inconvenient. I suspect a good number of
the affected pilots fly more than once in 90 days but only turn on the XM
receiver on days when significant weather is forecast because it is too much
of a hassle otherwise.


--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

In article 1121204022.4aa10b5a2edbb1bcd2266fd346218c74@teran ews,
"Richard Kaplan" wrote:

My understanding is that the activation issue occurs when the XM receiver is
not used for 90 days and the XM system thus suspends the account.


I'm not sure about this particular "feature," but all of the pilots I've
heard mention this issue claim that it can change from day to day.
Activate it today and receive weather, and tomorrow it shows as
unactivated and needs to be re-activated. This seems to be a problem
that's been mentioned on a number of different forums by users with the
WxWorx receiver. However, some users seem to experience it and others
don't, and some of those who have experienced it chronically have had
their XM receivers replaced and no longer have the problem. I've heard
various theories as to what the problem is, but it sounds like it could
be an XM problem that the newer receivers are working around.


JKG

"Richard Kaplan" wrote:
My understanding is that the activation issue occurs when the XM
receiver is not used for 90 days and the XM system thus suspends the
account.

It's happened to me one week after a previous use. Very disconcerting
when there's convective stuff about.

I believe this is an XM, rather than WxWorx issue.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Dan Luke" wrote in message

I believe this is an XM, rather than WxWorx issue.

Yes, that is disconcerting. But how can it be an XM issue if it only
happens with certain brands of hardware?


--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

"Richard Kaplan" wrote:

I believe this is an XM, rather than WxWorx issue.

Yes, that is disconcerting. But how can it be an XM issue if it only
happens with certain brands of hardware?

Is that so? A WxWorx person on the phone led me to believe it is
something to do with the XM system.

I do not understand the technical issues. I'll call WxWorx again and
see if I can get more details.

BTW, re. Bluetooth issues: I just got my WxWorx receiver back from being
converted. I spent a couple hours setting the system up, including a
Holux 230 Bluetooth GPS. WxWorx kindly includes a 120v power supply
with the conversion so this can all be done at home. That was a good
thing, as it took considerable fiddling to get everything to work,
although I never had to resort to calling WxWorx.

Everything seemed to be working fine at last, but I failed to make a
critical test before I put it all in the airplane: I did not do a cold
start of the whole system. Upon starting everything up in the airplane,
I found that WxWorx could not communicate with the GPS. Nothing I tried
worked until I deleted the GPS from Bluetooth devices in the Windows
Control Panel and added it back again. Then, everything worked fine
until I cold started again, whereupon WxWorx again could not find the
GPS.

*sigh* That will be the other thing I'll be talking to WxWorx about
today.

--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Dan Luke" wrote in message

Is that so? A WxWorx person on the phone led me to believe it is
something to do with the XM system.

I have certainly heard and read that if you do not use an XM receiver for 90
days then it needs to be re-activated. There is no doubt that is an "XM"
issue.

I have not heard of any such deactivation issue for a unit used more often
than every 90 days; if that is the case, that is certainly not common to XM
receivers overall.

The Bluetooth situation you describe is indeed an excellent example of why a
solution like the 396 is more appealing than a PDA solution. The less
potential in-flight issues to diagnose the better. I love tinkering with
computers but not while I am flying.


--------------------
Richard Kaplan

www.flyimc.com

In article ,
"Dan Luke" wrote:
Everything seemed to be working fine at last, but I failed to make a
critical test before I put it all in the airplane: I did not do a cold
start of the whole system. Upon starting everything up in the airplane,
I found that WxWorx could not communicate with the GPS. Nothing I tried
worked until I deleted the GPS from Bluetooth devices in the Windows
Control Panel and added it back again. Then, everything worked fine
until I cold started again, whereupon WxWorx again could not find the
GPS.


I haven't had any of these issues on the PDA, so it makes me wonder if
the Bluetooth issues are related to WindowsXP. I know that I can't get
my WindowsXP laptop to maintain a steady WiFi connection no matter what
I do... it's good for a random period of time, and then it drops and
resets. Have no such problem with WiFi on the iPaq or with my
Apple-branded laptop.



JKG