(long) WxWorx arrived...(and NavAero)

Thanks for the good product review Dan. I have had the same
experience with my setup. The install was easy and once you convinced
the XMRadio Customer Service Rep that they had the package you wanted
things went smoothly. I had a Fujitsu Tablet PC that had a great
screen, but it was just too clumsy in the cockpit. I have a T-Pad 800
on order from www.navaero.com. Has anyone else seen this product. It
looks pretty small and compact, and you can hide your laptop in the
backseat or under your seat. Anyway, I give WxWorx two big thumbs up.
The best in cockpit weather I have seen to date.

"Dan Luke" c172rgATbellsouthDOTnet wrote in message ...
...at my office yesterday afternoon and, of course, I had to drop everything
to hook it up and check it out. It consists of the receiver, software,
remote antenna, receiver USB cable, 12vdc power adaptor (optional) and
USB-powered GPS receiver (optional).

The receiver ( http://www.wxworx.com/index.html ) is a domed plastic box
about 7" x 7" x 2". The remote antenna and GPS can be seen he
http://www.wxworx.com/hrdw_accessories.html

Hooking the components together was simple. The software refused to attempt
a load on my old W98 IBM laptop, but loaded painlessly on an XP desktop.
Windows recognized the receiver when I plugged it in, but was initally
confused about the port address. Clicking "Yes" on the request to
reconfigure took care of that. The app established communication with the
receiver and recognized the unique receiver code number. Installation
checklist complete, GPS to go.

The next step was to call the XM radio people to get the service turned on.
This got a bit frustrating, as the first person I talked to was a real
"squirrel," as we say down South. In giggling, heavily accented English, he
incorrectly read back nearly everything I told him and actually argued with
me that the password I gave him was two words. When we finally got through
all that, he wanted to argue with me about the type of service I wanted,
insisting that I must want some kind of music. Enough of this! I insisted on
speaking to a supervisor. This person at least did not seem to suffer from
any obvious personality disorder, but she had never heard of the aviation
weather service. After a minute or two on hold while she went to ask
somebody, she told me my service authorization was being broadcast and I had
36 hours to get my receiver linked to the satellites. Whew!

With the antenna next to my office window, the receiver couldn't get a
satellite. By this time everyone had gone home so I loaded the whole shebang
on a dolly and moved it out to the foyer so I could put the antenna
outdoors. Bingo - solid lock. After about a 30-minute wait (which the
instructions warn you to expect), the proper authorization appeared in the
dialog box, I clicked "Done," and we're in business.

The WxWorx application screen is very uncluttered. There are large buttons
down the left side and across the top. Top buttons are for zoom and move,
side buttons represent types of data available - radar, winds, warnings, wx
reports, etc. When a button turns blue, that particular data is available
(this took 5 minutes or so for all the buttons). When a button is clicked,
it turns green and the data is displayed on the map. Default map 1 is the
conus. Maps 2 and 3 can be saved as particular zoomed views preferred by the
user.

My first impression is that WxWorx is very easy and intuitive to use. Since
it's a continuous broadcast system, you can set it and forget it; button
pushing in turbulence is not a worry.

Talking to the WxWorx people, I learned that users are reporting good
viewing in daylight on the Sony VAIO PCG-TR1 notebooks. These machines have
Sony's 10.6" Xbrite LCD screen. I have one on order, and my next report will
be about how that looks and how the WxWorx GPS map option works.

"Lenny Sawyer" wrote:
Anyway, I give WxWorx two big thumbs up.
The best in cockpit weather I have seen to date.

Yeah, I looked at everything at OSH, and WxWorx had the best
combination. Not perfect, but better than the rest.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM.