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Using car XM satellite radio

2006-06-06 00:26:17

Using car XM satellite radio

Has anyone tried using car systems in their plane? They have pretty nice portable models now in the 200-300 range (much cheaper than aviation products).

Just curious if it is reliable and/or might be a legal issue

Anyone with input on this, please feel free to share.

Thanks

Denis Beausejour: Guest; Posts

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2006-06-07 05:18:23

Re: Using car XM satellite radio

Yes it is legal. As long as you do not hard wire it into the airplane you should be OK. I have been using the XM Mifi for over a year now. I got one of the first units when they came out. It works pretty good. I think XM says that the limitions are that you have to be within the U.S. and have to have a clear view of the sky. Of course that is not a problem in an airplane, but apparently the sats are in the southern sky, so going north can be a bit of a problem and you might have to move the antenna around to get a signal.

Bryan Ward: Guest; Posts

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2006-06-09 13:29:18

Re: Using car XM satellite radio

Denis:

I put the car XM in my plane and it works great. Been all over the country and always have coverage. I have the garmin audio panel which has external music input pins already in place. I wired a set of audio jacks to the music inputs and I can put XM or CD player directly to the audio panel. This is the best way to install it because it will automatically cut out the music when the radio is keyed or when there is any communication on the radio, or between passengers. The power is supplied by the cigarette lighter. This was one of the cheapest yet best mods that can be done. My teen daughter loves it, but I usually have to isolate her from my headset cause she flips stations every 10 seconds.

Sal