Satellite data made further inroads into GA cockpits last week, when Garmin introduced the GDL 69, a remote sensor that receives broadcast weather data from XM Satellite Radio and delivers the data to Garmin’s avionics systems. The GDL 69 brings reliable, near-real-time weather information to the Garmin cockpit, Garmin said on Thursday. “The GDL 69 … offers a broad array of weather services and a high level of detail graphically depicted on the displays of our most popular systems,” said Gary Kelley, Garmin’s director of marketing, in a news release. “As a next-generation weather receiver, the GDL 69 provides greater situational awareness to pilots flying Garmin-equipped aircraft and enables them to make safer, more strategic decisions in flight to avoid potential weather hazards.” The XM WX Satellite Weather service is broadcast in the S-band frequency over two geosynchronous satellites to the GDL 69 for rapid-update, high-resolution weather information directly into the cockpit, at any altitude across the continental United States. The weather data suite available through XM WX is supplied by WxWorx. XM charges a monthly fee for access to its services. Avidyne also recently certified an XM weather datalink system.
