XM Weather Service/ Sea Temp??

[msbarker42]

Was wondering if any body has used the XM satilete radio weather feature. They have a fisherman package that says it gives you up to date weather and sea surface temps where ever you are through your chart plotter screen. Would like to know if it would be worth getting?

[Sweet Caroline]

I am pretty sure the XM version is through your computer not the chart plotter, unless you have a laptop that you are running everything from. Sirius did hook up with the C-Map chips to do an overlay on your plotter. Nothing available for Navionics yet. Navionics is supposed to come out with something in the summer. I have not used any of the services mentioned above but they seem like the offer a lot of information and I will be signing up once it is available for the Navionics chip.

[WhiteMarlin]

I wasn't too happy with the resolution or format that they give seatemp shots in....the weather however is great!

[Tuna Taxi]

Talk to Lucian 'Fishin Fool", he has the XM wx on his Furuno plotter and the last I heard he thought it was pretty good. I'm sure it is going to be a case where you have to spend the $$ for the service, the big $$ for a plotter screen that can give you the info.

If you have a protected helm area, a laptop is probably better, and cheaper.

[Fish Dad]

I have the XM weather over my Garmin 478. The weather service is outstanding showing all nextell radar as well as marine forecasts, buoy data, etc. But the sea temps do not help us tuna chasers looking for breaks. It shows general contours of what the temps should be generally in the area you are fishing. It does not show breaks. I don't see why they can't link up an SST service with the XM weather but it's not there now. My little Garmin 478 has both marine mode and car mode with all coastal marine charts built in the hard drive as well as all U.S. street level maps so it goes from the dash of my car to the boat. Very cool and gives comfort when offshore (or inshore).

[Seaker]

I have been looking real hard at this then what I have on board. I have the older version navnet so would need to replace the display head, order the weather module and then buy the service....seems like it's way too much to spend when everything else is working fine.

I think we have two logical choices left:
Go with a garmin unit exactly the way Fish Dad has it and bring it up to replace the unit on the tower..as I really don't want to start hackin up the console..

Plan B: Keep a laptop in the salon and get a USB hookup from the weather antenna ...run it as needed

I am going to watch the thread closely as I am very interested in what others are seeing and recomending.

Thaks for bringing this topic up

[Fish Dad]

The other reason I like the Garmin 478 is it serves as a backup GPS for my boat should my Raymarine C120 go down. Now if I got the XM weather for my C120 (which they are coming out this month), I would not have a backup GPS for the boat, plus I would not have a unit to take on road trips for my car. While not as critical while driving, it's nice to see rain on the radar while driving (or snow/ice).

[Caveman Sportfishing]

We have the weather and sea temp on the Raymarine E120 screens and it works great. It is has worked out great for us and used it this past weekend fishing off the OBX on a overnight trip. We have the Sirus Sat radio and hook-up thur Raymarine I believe. Not sure if it is exactly real time sea temps but it has been right on the money following the temperature breaks for us the past 8 months. Great tool to have on board.

[Jthib]

Awesome for the Nexrad weather! Sucks for anything else.

[JD5652]

I've had the XM Mariner weather package on my Garmin 3010 for the last two seasons and love it. The unit does not identify "temp breaks" in the fashion you're used to on a SST service. You have to look at the data displayed and interpret it for yourself. Also, the temp data is raw data, it is not interpolated through any algorithms that SST services provide.

It is a great tool for avoiding weather if you fish offshore.....no more relying on NOAA...you have the REAL picture in REAL time including wave height, wave period, wind speed, wind gusts, NEXRAD radar, buoy data, etc.. The Mariner package runs $50/month and if you're a seasonal fisherman, you can turn the service off in the winter and reactivate it in the spring with no additional sign up fees.