Data Providers for ProLine 21

[Low and Fast]

We are considering switching to XM Wx for our Falcon 50 Proline 21 setup. Can anyone recommend us a good data provider other than Universal that is not only low in cost but still provides the needed data, such as Textual Wx, PDC and the like.

Our current provider is Universal for all of the above however like everyone else we are trying to save on cost.

Thanks for help

 

[Flyin Chicken]

We have the same issue. Universal costs an arm and a leg end then some..... We switched our PL21 Falcon 50 to XM about three months ago and we have not looked back. We still have another aircraft that does more heavy international that we keep on the Universal unlimited plan. Our biggest gripe with universal is that the grapical wx is not even close to what XM is capable of showing. If you are doing international, universal seems to be the only good option with PL21.

 

[Low and Fast]

What do you use for Textual Data such as text Wx, PDC, email, fax, and the like? similar to what you get with Universal.

 

[jet2work]

XM Weather is it's own subscription seperate from your Text services such as PDC and ATIS.

XM Weather Aviator is $50.00 a month. We recently switched to ARINC for a flat fee that was much less than Honeywell GDC or Universal (both of which were killing us with charges for stuff we were not requesting).

As a word of caution. When you first switch providers there will be some overlap. You will still get your ATIS and text just fine, HOWEVER you will be on both provider's PDC list (Universal and ARINC for instance). This will cause the FAA system to dump your PDC. Clearance will get the request and issue you a PDC, but when it goes back through the FAA computer system it will get dumped. It will take about 2-3 weeks to sort itself out as your old provider takes you off their list (sometimes they forget or try to make their competitor look bad and you have to wait another cycle - PITA). I have been happy with ARINC. You can still use Universal to file Oceanic clearances and get them to download the route through the FMS even if you have ARINC as your provider. Same is true for domestic flight plans, although I use fltplan.com exclusively and that is not an available option with them (but it's free and user friendly and support is great).

 

[Low and Fast]

Thanks for the help guys.