Radar or Satellite Weather ?

[brianontheroad]

If money was not an object but you could only choose one or the other -- would get a radar or XM Satellite radio?

I have a birthday coming up and have been offered the choice the radar is a refurbed Garmin unit that interfaces with my GPS for ~500 or the Sirius/XM satellite radio with 1 year service

we're currently cruising the east coast and will be in maine for the summer, so radar would be a nice to have for fog navigation, but having weather info available when offshore, or even off the grid would be awesome and the big picture of what a storm is doing and where it's going is exceptionally helpful...we've gotten caught in a few of the summer thunderstorms so far here in NC and it's not such a pleasant experience

thoughts?

thanks!
Brian

[Pelagic]

No Brainer.... Radar..... there are many other ways to get weather reports and with study, you can be your own weatherman

[jackdale]

I would get radar before I got a chartplotter, let alone XM satellite radio.

I agree with Pelagic - learn to understand the weather.

Get a barometer - preferably one that shows trends.

[chuckr]

going to maine -- radar - that xm will be of little use when the fog rolls as you are sailing across a sound that was clear a few minutes ago - do not forget you can also see storm cells on your radar - at least we can - to prepare or try to avoid them - get a wifi card and a computer for your weather -
by the way the only wifi that worked everywhere in maine for us last year was verizon - folks we were with using other systems just did not get a signal and we always did

chuck patty and svsoulmates
svsoulmates@hotmail.com
on the hook wrightsville beach

[brianontheroad]

is a GMR 20 worth getting? they're the low end of a discontinued product range

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?pID=6407#featureTab

[Broomfondle]

Radar

[ActiveCaptain]

I'd beef up my internet capabilities (cellular amplification, WiFi range extending) long before I'd get satellite weather. With an internet connection, you can get much better weather info along with so much more.