Recently the Board made a financial decision to end our subscription to XM weather, which was displayed on the yoke-mounted Garmin GPSmap396 in both the C-172 and C-182. The decision was made after an online poll of the membership indicated overwhelming support, since the same weather information is accessible through FIS-B, a component of ADS-B – albeit with some differences. NOTE: “ADS-B Weather” and “FIS-B Weather” are commonly used interchangeably.
At a recent membership meeting it seemed that there was some confusion about exactly how to access the ADS-B weather. Some of these inflight weather products are relatively new. I put together a pdf that is meant to shine some light on these weather features and how to access them. Click on the image/link below.
If you are using an EFB (Electronic Flight Bag) e.g. Foreflight or Garmin Pilot connected with the Flightstream 210, you will have access to the weather without using the weather features in the GNS430 or GNS530. However, some of the most important and useful information is also available through the Garmins and knowing how to access it is very useful when your EFB quits – for whatever reason. (It happens.)
In aviation, we never stop learning and I definitely learned some stuff researching this. A big thanks to Paul D’Auria for helping with research and understanding the system.