CSOB XM Nexrad Cockpit Weather Solution Under $800!

Click HERE for more info on mounting the 296/376C/396/496 to the Cygnet Dual Yoke, screen shots and the GXM30 Magnet Removal procedure.

CSOB1 (yours truly) has been flying behind the Garmin 376C Weather Box in my B55 cockpit since 2006 and I'm completely satisfied with the Wx situational awareness I get from this box and the extra coin I made available to buy 100LL to feed that other engine of mine <vbg>.

Heck, I already had enough aviation specific GPS gear mounted in my panel and I just wanted a geo-synchronized Nexrad radar picture in the cockpit for strategic weather avoidance and decision making. And for me - this is the CSOB ticket!

See the details on the XM Sailor Weather package ($29/month) that I use HERE

Now look at the XM Aviator Lite product details HERE

CSOB1 reports, You decide!

Don't spend $1,000 for the used Garmin 396 or $1,200 for a used 496 (unless you really really want to). Look what you can do with the Garmin Marine GPSMAP 376C for in the neighborhood of $500 brand new on EBay!

This is enough info for me to make a Wx decision in the picture below? Which is what I get with my Sailor Wx subscription.

This unit gives me great fundamental weather awareness in my cockpit for a CSOB price. Heck, for the life of the database subscription money alone Garmin should GIVE every aviator a 496!

Click the image below for a   EBay auction of $389! (Auction quote as of 7/10/2009. PS: I have no financial interest in this auction or the seller).

Add the auto kit with the mapping software for $200 and you have a perfect CSOB Nexrad box for your cockpit and auto travels! You'll need the auto mapping to lay all the airports onto the base map of the unit (assuming you want to put the airports there and use it as a land GPS for your car) as well as all the other automotive street mapping and Points of Interest details.

See a complete customer review of the 376C Land & Marine Features: HERE

Read my January 2008 ABS Magazine Article, entitled: Nexrad on a Budget.

Search EBay Right Now for a 376C - New in Box units can be found for around $500, from what I have seen.

NEWS FLASH:

Check out this Airport and VOR database upload discovery from a site called Navzilla that makes it easy to upload the US Airports and VORs to your 376C

You have to become a member of the site to download the latest Airport and VOR database files.

Once you sign up with Navzilla, this page will have lots of 376C info HERE

You download the little utility called G7toWin and use that utility to load the Airport or VOR database you got from Navzilla (after you sign up) thru the USB connection to the 376C. When you use the G7toWin "File Open" command, you must open the menu box for files of type "txt" because that is the file type of the Airports and VORs database.

Read about the G7toWin utility and the developer HERE

Caution: Your 376C has room for 3,000 Waypoints. There are ~4,900 airports and ~1,000 VORs, so you have some choices to make.

I decided to load all the VOR's onto my 376C and the G7toWin utility with Navzilla's VOR data file and it works great. I now have every VOR in my CSOB 376C so in a pinch I could navigate to any VOR and most all public airports. The VOR database .txt file download is HERE

Enjoy the money you did not spend on the 396 or 496 and welcome to the CSOB Club!