Andy wrote:
I have a Garmin 396. I also had the lite weather, upgraded to full
for Oshkosh last year and have not reverted to Lite. The winds aloft,
cloud cover, and storm cell depictions were very nice to have on the
return from Oshkosh to Phoenix.

I have not used it in the glider mostly because I didn't do much
soaring last year. I think its use in contests is prohibited, but I
think it would be very helpful for non contest XC.

The Garmin XM antenna is a power hog though. You can run the 396 all
day on batteries without it but you need external power if the XM
antenna is connected. I have found no way to turn off the antenna and
leave it connected.

One can also get XM weather using a PDA and Anywhere Weather. It's much
cheaper solution than a 396, and could serve as a backup soaring
computer. Possibly, one could switch between the two programs and get by
with only one PDA in the cockpit. I don't know what draws for power. Can
anyone comment on Anywhere Weather?

--
Eric Greenwell - Washington State, USA
* Change "netto" to "net" to email me directly
* "Transponders in Sailplanes" http://tinyurl.com/y739x4
* "A Guide to Self-launching Sailplane Operation" at www.motorglider.org