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Avionics Editorial

XM Weather: Still A Proprietary Protocol

Subscription-based satellite broadcast weather data still beats ADS-B FIS-B data for tactically threading the needle through real weather. SiriusXM delivers more data, it works on the ground and has tighter image resolution. But when ADS-B got rolling, the budget-driven market generally favored subscription-free FIS-B, accepting its limitations rather than forking over $1000-plus per year on an XM subscription. Still, that didnt stop recent letters and phone calls from readers complaining that Garmins GDL69 SiriusXM weather system wont work with the popular ForeFlight tablet app, but it does with Garmins own Pilot app.

Larry Anglisano
Verified

Foreflight sirius xm with sxar1 radar

Subscription-based satellite broadcast weather data still beats ADS-B FIS-B data for tactically threading the needle through real weather. SiriusXM delivers more data, it works on the ground and has tighter image resolution. But when ADS-B got rolling, the budget-driven market generally favored subscription-free FIS-B, accepting its limitations rather than forking over $1000-plus per year on an XM subscription. Still, that didn’t stop recent letters and phone calls from readers complaining that Garmin’s GDL69 SiriusXM weather system won’t work with the popular ForeFlight tablet app, but it does with Garmin’s own Pilot app.

Larry Anglisano

Editor in Chief Larry Anglisano has been a staple at Aviation Consumer since 1995. An active land, sea and glider pilot, Larry has over 30 years’ experience as an avionics repairman and flight test pilot. He’s the editorial director overseeing sister publications Aviation Safety magazine, IFR magazine and is a regular contributor to KITPLANES magazine with his Avionics Bootcamp column.