SiriusXM And WSI Unveil Wireless Weather For iPad

0

Hoping to compete in a market flooded with portable ADS-B weather and traffic receivers, SiriusXM Aviation is out with the new $699 SXAR1 portable broadcast weather and entertainment receiver. The SXAR1 wirelessly streams WSI weather data directly to the iPad, eliminating the need for a panel display or a portable GPS.

An integral part of the interface is WSI’s Pilotbrief Optima app for iPad, a program that supports WSI’s own weather data. Pilotbrief Optima for iPad was born from WSI’s desktop programs, which are used for commercial flight planning.

Roughly the size of a thick smartphone and with a nonskid base, the SiriusXM SXAR1 Bluetooth WAAS GPS/satellite broadcast receiver is intended to rest on top of the aircraft instrument panel. It has an integral rechargeable battery with roughly seven hours of endurance, supports external antennas and can wirelessly stream optional SiriusXM Radio that’s controlled in the Pilotbrief app. It also has audio output to Bluetooth headsets.

The Pilotbrief app has three independant connectivity modes-Internet (or 3G/4G data), the SXAR1 receiver or ADS-B (through the Dual Electronics XGPS170 portable ADS-B receiver), although the app won’t display ADS-B traffic. The app has limited navigational capabilities compared to other tablet navigation apps, but it will display IFR enroute charts and VFR sectional maps with ownship and weather graphics overlay. It also displays approach charts, but they aren’t georeferenced.

The SXAR1 receives WSI’s lightning data,graphical winds aloft, SIGMETs-including convection, icing, turbulence and volcanic ash- plus WSI graphical turbulence reporting. There are also METARs and TAFs for the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.

The SXAR1 receives SiriusXM Aviation’s new three-tier weather subscription packages which bundle more weather graphics in the $34.99 per-month base subscription, including base reflective radar, Nexrad storm cell attributes, winds aloft and TFRs. The mid-level package is $54.99, while the flagship Pilot Pro subscription is $99 per month and adds composite reflectivity radar, WSI’s Icing Nowcast product and convective outlooking, to name a few products.

The SXAR1 won’t receive the WxWorx XM Weather data that is provided by Baron Services. It is unknown how long older broadcast receivers-including the first generation Garmin GXM-series receivers that interface with older Garmin portable GPS systems-will continue to work.

As we go to press, Garmin announced the GDL69 SXM receiver, the next-generation unit that will receive the new weather packages.

The SXAR1 is compatible with the iPad 2 and newer Apple tablets, including the mini. During a recent evaluation, we discovered that the interface suffered from random app crashes and Bluetooth connectivity issues when running on iOS 8.0. This was solved with a iOS 8.1.2 upgrade.

For now, the SXAR1 receiver is only compatible with the WSI Pilotbrief Optima app, but SiriusXM said it is working on other interfaces. SiriusXM Aviation is currently offering a $300 hardware rebate for new subscribers.

VisitSiriusXM.com/SXMaviationand WSI.com.

LEAVE A REPLY