XM Satellite Weather

[Zednotzee]

I've read quite a bit about this in the aviation magazines- it's pretty popular in light planes that aren't capable of carrying their own weather radar.
Since XM offers a similar service for boaters, I was curious as to 1) is anyone using this on the water & 2) how does it compare to more traditional sources (SSB, weatherfax, etc)?
It does seem to be limited to North America.

XM WX Satellite Weather


Sorry if this has been posted before, but my forum search revealed nothing.

[Fishman_Tx]

Here are some XM Sat footprints for 4 sats.

XMFan.com :: #1 Fan Site of Sirius XM Satellite Radio :: New XM satellite footprint maps=

[jdoe71]

I contacted XM last Feb and they said it's not available to Canadians and they had no plans to make it available any time soon. I just checked their .ca website and they now seem to indicate it's available to Canadians, but there is only one package offered at $55 a month whereas residents of the US of A can get 4 packages from between 10 bucks and 50 bucks a month. Plus don't seem to have any Cdn sources for the hardware. Not quite ready for prime time I think.

[Fishman_Tx]

Too bad, just cuz they say it's unavailable doesn't mean it won't work in the area. But the availability of WX data may or will not be for the area you sail in..

Was it just the WX service that was unavailable? If one had a US address, or PO Box (or a handy relative to forward the mail) then.......

[Zednotzee]

So it sounds like nobody is actually using it!
Seeme to me it would be nice to have weather info spit out of one device instead of having to use multiple systems. The weak link with XM appears to be the limited area coverage, plus the recurring subscription fee.

[Fishman_Tx]

Actually, it's used by a lot of Storm Chasers, amateur and pro alike. It's wonderful stuff. Sirius also offers MarineWX. You can get recievers for various brands of systems such as Furuno and Raymarine tho Lowrance seems to have a wider mention(sponsor?).

SIRIUS Satellite Radio - SIRIUS Marine Weather Service

but for Canada? I don't think so......

[Fishman_Tx]

"In November 2004, Canadian Satellite Radio filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to bring the XM service to Canada. Along with Sirius Canada and the consortium of CHUM Limited and Astral Media, CSR was one of three applications for national subscription radio services submitted to the CRTC.
On June 16, 2005, the CRTC approved all three applications. The decisions were appealed to the Canadian federal cabinet by a number of broadcasting, labour, and arts and culture organizations, including the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, CHUM Limited, and the National Campus and Community Radio Association. The groups objected to the satellite radio applicants' approach to and reduced levels of Canadian Content and French-language programming, along with the exclusion of Canadian non-commercial broadcasting. After a lengthy debate, Cabinet rejected the appeals on September 9, 2005.
XM's Canadian channels appeared on US receivers on November 17, 2005. On November 29, 2005, XM Canada officially launched."


Check these..
http://www.xmradio.ca/weather/overview/index.cfm
http://www.xmradio.ca/weather/marine/

Oh and this..
http://www.xmradio.ca/weather/marine...-solutions.cfm
and this...
http://www.xmradio.ca/weather/marine...ce-pricing.cfm

[Fishman_Tx]

Originally Posted by jdoe71

I contacted XM last Feb and they said it's not available to Canadians and they had no plans to make it available any time soon. I just checked their .ca website and they now seem to indicate it's available to Canadians, but there is only one package offered at $55 a month whereas residents of the US of A can get 4 packages from between 10 bucks and 50 bucks a month. Plus don't seem to have any Cdn sources for the hardware. Not quite ready for prime time I think.

Might have gotten a newbie at XM. All else ask for a senior rep...

[sandy daugherty]

Thousands of boaters use XM weather. I won't sail without it. Here on the Chesapeake Bay, small but intense squall lines blast across the normally placid Bay, hidden in the haze of summer until they are about to pounce on the unsuspecting sailor, who probably has every stitch of sail up. Many small radars lack the control, range and definition to offer much warning, and a far larger number of boats don't have radar at all. XM give me the advance warning. It tracks thunderstorm cells, giving me either a simplified, easy to understand weather picture, or all the detail I want. It displays current wind information thats regularly updated from NOAA resources, as well as a rich menu of other data.

I was an early adopter, and paid $800 for the receiver. Today the circuitry is built in to virtually every chart plotter from the little 400 series up to the 15" mother of all gps's. Even the bimodal 640 can display weather with a dirt cheap antenna. Good for you, pain for me.

Its great to anchor out for the night, and actually study the weather hundreds of miles away, to get a very good idea of what might be coming later. Comforting. Now with Garmin's just introduced new models, with N2K networking capability, the power of good information, well presented is even better, a heck of a lot of bang for the buck.

XM and Sirius are the same company now, but with different satellite systems. There used to be a lot of difference in the quality of their meteo products, but I think those differences will disappear over the next two or three years. Boaters will be the winners.

[redcobra]

It was nice to have but as time went on I used it less and less (Cheapeake) as the VHF Weather Radio does a good job. I also got tired of paying the monthly during the 5 or 6 months I didn't sail and if you cancel you have to pay an activation fee to turn it back on. It was hard to read on my Garmin 376 with it's small screen. If I upgrade to large chartplotter I may try it again.

[mnrsail]

Does anybody know if the Serius Satellites are further afield? Do they cover the Carribean, and down to South America?

[sandy daugherty]

Sorry to hear that Red Cobra. I have had no problem suspending my subscription in the winter. I've done it twice so far, and there's no additional expense starting it back up. You possibly didn't call the right number.

Coverage beyond the US is problematic for both XM and Sirius weather. Much of the information provided requires some pretty sophisticated weather stations, beyond the budgets of most Island Countries. The Service must be licensed with a Government Entity, and it took three years to mow through the tangle of interests in Canada; who knows what it would take for a Satellite Company to get a Caribbean Government to build a weather bureau and license its product to a foreign national!

Some of the transmitted data is derived from US weather satellites, and that information will show on your chart plotters a little further south and east. Check this out on someone's subscription by just scrolling over to the area in question to see what's there!

[Intentional Drifter]

I've been using Sirius WX along the E. Coast and Bahamas. Really like the service and integrates well with the Raymarine plotter. Good coverage through the Bahamas, but it gets less good as you get into the Turks/Caicos and is useless further south than that.

While I like the product, the customer service is terrible, though. Really, really bad.

ID