Sirius Marine Weather

[norbhat]

Andrew (or anybody smart),

I recall Jeff assuring me that Garmin 5212 would receive Sirius Marine Weather. But I can't confirm that on Sirius's web site nor in talking to Sirius. (All they do is read the stuff to me that I can read, too.) They list their weather as compatible with Raymarine, Furuno, Northstar, Nobeltec, and Wxmate. Garmin is not listed. Sirius said I should confirm with my dealer that Garmin, too, is compatible. So that's what I'm trying to do.

Anybody had experience with this?

Further, while Sirius guarantees coverage only for the 48 contiguous states, the voice on the line told me that their figure 8 satellite also offers coverage over most of the Western Hemisphere. They say coverage is good to 200 miles off shore and has been received up to 300 miles. Coverage can be assumed, he said, through British Columbia and Alaska, but they don't guarantee it.

Anybody had experience with this?

I'm interested in Sirius for summer navigation up the Inside Passage from Puget Sound to Skagway.

Thanks,

Norb Hattendorf
Two If By Sea

 

[Bruce Moore]

I've looked into it. You can feed weather data to the Garmin 5212, but Garmin did their deal with XM Radio.

"The 5212 connects easily to the high-speed Garmin Marine Network, so you can interface with additional MFDs and add remote sensors. Once connected, you can share information between the 5212 and other chartplotters on your boat. You can also add high-powered radar, sonar, and XM satellite weather and radio to your system."

http://www8.garmin.com/xm/
http://www.xmwxweather.com/marine/
http://www.xmwxweather.com/marine/data- ... icing.html

 

[norbhat]

Thanks, Moondance. I think Sirius and XM have joined so that should work. I'm partial to Sirius (they gave me a free cap) because they carry NPR and XM doesn't, or didn't.

Norb

 

[Bruce Moore]

You're right. They merged last July. Today (as announced by the Washington Post) they secured a $530 million loan from Liberty Media, which owns DirecTV. This will allow them to avoid what was considered imminent bankruptcy. Liberty will own 40% of the company and two board seats. EchoStar, owner of the Dish Network, had been buying Siruis's debt in hopes of taking control in a default. As a result, their stock jumped up 50% - from 10 cents to 15 cents. 🙁

They'd already begun consolidating channels (i.e. eliminating), and are dealing with receiver compatibility issues. They just introduced an interoperable receiver, in January, which allows subscribers to receive both Sirius and XM offerings. Haven't seen anything which addresses hardware and weather channel compatibility. According to a Garmin blog, there is a good bit of concern from users, especially in the aviation sector, and Garmin is tracking the issue. Probably more changes down the road. May not be a good time to get locked into a contract.

 

[Bruce Moore]

Interesting update from the Panbo marine electronics blog:

Some time in March XM's Fisherman and Sailor data packages, each $29.99, will become simply the Pilot service, same price but including all data currently available in both previous offerings...

What's really encouraging is that John Malone, who controls Liberty Media, apparently has a passion for classic motor yachts, like Ragtime, the 1929 64" commuter he totally restored and cruises in Maine. Gotta hope he wants to keep delivering the best marine weather data!

 

[captd]

The Lucky Fin is trying to do the weather with Sirius, but can't seem to get any where. I could use some help finding a post in the archives. Some one posted a web site that was terrific . I saved it on my home computor, now I can't find it when I need it. It had water temp, wave hieght, wind direction, plus. Radar on charts. Help will be apreciated.

captd