Wanting opinoins from current users.

Crane Pilot

Crane Pilot

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Jun 26, 2015
Messages
140
Location
central florida
Display Name
Display name:
crane pilot
I'm looking at the garmin GDL 50,51 or 52 for a gift/present for myself after I pass the instrument check ride. I'm looking for pros and cons for them. I rent different aircraft so hence the need for portability is key. I'm not really in love with the $1200 buck one for obvious reasons. I would like to hear the good and bad with the ADSB weather one. As a little added info I do all my flying in the southeast, fl,ga,al,miss,sc, and so on. I am currently using the dual GPS 150 and it works great just no weather or traffic. Thanks in advance.
 
Last edited:
Well...something I "knew" but then "learned" from a recent flight into an area of MVFR with some IFR also being indicated. ADSB wx alone is just too slow for some decisions. And if you are down lower such as below 3000agl you might not receive the ground trasnsmission even if the data is new.

So...that brings me to the GDL option with Sirius XM weather. I have no clue but am wondering...do you get reception at all times? If so I could see it being more reliable than ADSB broadcasts...just more expensive.

Also, does the Sirius XM weather contain more useful info thsn the ADSB wx?

Maybe if the answer to both of those is yes, the more expensive GDL is worth consideration. Put another way, is Sirius weather worth it?
 
I have the GDL 39.
Works great.
ADS-B weather is more than adequate for the speeds and ranges you likely fly in a single engine piston plane.
Unless you are scud running or flying in valleys in the Rocky mountains you can get weather just fine. Sure, you may have to climb to 3k feet to start getting weather, but I hope you got it before getting in the plane
If weather is changing that fast that losing access to it for fifteen minutes as you complete the runup and climb, you are likely pushing it too hard and will eventually end up as an NTSB report.

Tim

Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
 
I flew with XM weather for a while and it was nice, but it wasn't nice enough to maintain the subscription. I liked that I could pick up the weather on the ground, but I'm not generally flying in places without cellphone coverage, so I could lookup the weather on my phone instead. If you're flying into remote areas, that might be a nice advantage, but it wasn't for me. XM also doesn't solve the delay problem, they still have to process the data and get it to your display device, so it had the same disadvantage as ADS-B did in that regards. XM did have some additional data previously, like lightning strikes, but the ADS-B streams now include lightning and some other things they didn't originally have, so that gap has been narrowed as well.
 
@Crane Pilot , not trying to hijack your post. Just curious if the XM version of the GDL might offer something substantial enough to warrant the extra unit cost, let the subscription.

The coolest way to solve the METAR delay issue would be if someone started a service where you sent a text to the service, the service called (via land line) the distant AWOS 1 minute weather and texted back.
 
Sinistar said:
@Crane Pilot , not trying to hijack your post. Just curious if the XM version of the GDL might offer something substantial enough to warrant the extra unit cost, let the subscription.

The coolest way to solve the METAR delay issue would be if someone started a service where you sent a text to the service, the service called (via land line) the distant AWOS 1 minute weather and texted back.
Click to expand...
This exists. I do not recall the number though.

Tim
 
About a month or two ago somebody posted a link to the SMS version for METARS and I use it. But once again that can be as old almost an hour, but typically 20-30 minutes.

If you come across the one that calls in the one minute weather and codifies it back into a text, that would be very interesting to me. I would much rather text it than call in and listen to it, especially if you catch it halfway through or its busy.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top