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Garmin 396 WX weather question

BlackRV7

BlackRV7

Well Known Member
I'm going to borrow Nordo's 396 for this weekend's flying but when he sold his 8, the new owner still has the GXM30A weather receiver/antenna. I have another (last one, I only have two) friend who is going to loan me his antenna. I can't get hold of Garmin to ask them, so here goes. If my second friend has a current XM weather subscription on his "receiver", will it also show weather on Nordo's 396 or do you have to mate the receiver/antenna with the unit in use??

Thanks,
 
The subscription lives inside the antenna, and will work with any 396 or 496.

cheers,
mcb
 
mburch said:
The subscription lives inside the antenna, and will work with any 396 or 496.

cheers,
mcb
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I don't think that is right.

I have heard this before, but it does not hold true with my Garmin 396 & 496. To activate the weather subscription you have to give XM the ID number of the GPS unit, not the antenna. My 496 has a current XM weather subscription. If I take the XM weather antenna and plug it in the 396 it does not recieve XM weather. If I plug any XM Weather antenna into the 496 I have weather.

Edited by Geico266: This info is not correct, read below.
 
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Geico266 said:
Sorry, but I don't think that is right.

I have heard this before, but it does not hold true with my Garmin 396 & 496. To activate the weather subscription you have to give XM the ID number of the GPS unit, not the antenna. My 496 has a current XM weather subscription. If I take the XM weather antenna and plug it in the 396 it does not receive XM weather. If I take the 496 and "plug" it into the panel of any plane with an Airgizmo we have weather. If I plug any XM Weather antenna into the 496 I have weather.

The subscription lives with the GPS unit.
Click to expand...


Sorry Larry, I have documented proof that Matt is right, at least for the 396's - I have used Louise's XM antenna on my 396, and my XM antenna on hers - they work just fine. They have different subscription levels Full and Lit), and the subscription level goes with the antenna. I'm not sure why it is different for your unit....

Paul
 
Antenna

I looked at the back of a 396 today and have a question. The GPS antenna plugs into the BNC connector, but where does the XM antenna plug into? Do the XM antennas come with the 396 or do you have to buy it separately?

I assume the 1/8" connector is for audio out?
 
craigvince said:
I looked at the back of a 396 today and have a question. The GPS antenna plugs into the BNC connector, but where does the XM antenna plug into? Do the XM antennas come with the 396 or do you have to buy it separately?

I assume the 1/8" connector is for audio out?
Click to expand...

The XM Weather antenna plugs into the USB port just below the power plug. The antenna comes standard with the 496 & 396.

The 1/8" plug is audio out.
 
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Ironflight said:
Sorry Larry, I have documented proof that Matt is right, at least for the 396's - I have used Louise's XM antenna on my 396, and my XM antenna on hers - they work just fine. They have different subscription levels Full and Lit), and the subscription level goes with the antenna. I'm not sure why it is different for your unit....

Paul
Click to expand...

I stand corrected! I just called XM Weather and the service follows the antenna! I must have a fluke thing going on with my situation. Learn something new every day.

Sorry guys! The service follows the antenna (which is the "Unit ID" displayed in the GPS).
 
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mine does

When I subscribed to XM I had to give them my antenna number (on back side of the Antenna) and that's my radio ID on my XM account. Never gave them my 496 number.
 
RV8iator said:
When I subscribed to XM I had to give them my antenna number (on back side of the Antenna) and that's my radio ID on my XM account. Never gave them my 496 number.
Click to expand...


Same with me - there are antena serial numbers on the back of both of ours....not trying to be troublesome Larry...:eek:

Paul
 
XM

Larry:

The 396 does come standard with the GXM-30 antenna and it does have a serial # on the bottom (at least mine does) and that is the serial no. XM radio asked for when I subscribed to the weather and radio service. You can connect it to any 3/496 and recieve XM weather and XM radio provided you have the subscriptions. The 1/8th jack on the x96 GPS is for XM radio and connects to your audio pannel so you can have "tunes" while you fly.

At least that is the way mine works.

Edit---Gee Whiz: I'm a slow typer---6 guys beat me to it!
 
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Ironflight said:
Same with me - there are antenna serial numbers on the back of both of ours....not trying to be troublesome Larry...:eek:

Paul
Click to expand...

No trouble at all! I hate giving out misinformation. My situation with 2 different antennas that work is just plain weird. That means someone is paying for a subscription on one of my antennas. Thank you who ever you are!

All of a sudden I feel the need to review my credit card bills. :eek:
 
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The ID resides in the XM reciever/ant and can be read from your menu in the Garmin after it is hooked up.

Go to page 132 (in the 496 manual) and you will see where the 496 reads the ID of the XM reciever it is called the RADIO ID. Change the reciever to a different one and it will read a different ID.

The ID resides in the Reciever not the 396/496. If the reciever is a GXM 30A it should work with a 396 or 496. If it doesn't recieve weather then you don't have a subscription or it needs to be refreshed.
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N395V said:
If it doesn't recieve weather then you don't have a subscription or it needs to be refreshed.
Click to expand...

That is what I learned by calling XM. I would need to refresh the system by calling or on line.

I stand corrected.
 
mburch said:
The subscription lives inside the antenna, and will work with any 396 or 496.

cheers,
mcb
Click to expand...

Just to make sure everyone knows how XM Weather works, Matt has it right. My situation was / is a fluke because I have two antennas and they evidently both have a subscription running on them.

Thanks Matt & Paul for setting me straight. First time ever I have been wrong! ;)
 
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