WX WORX

[Patrick Ware]

I am still interested in purchasing a system but from what I have noticed on the website, there are several different distributors.
Who has the best price and will they discount the price? The last quote i got was for $1500 but he would sell it to me for $999. However, it was an older model, not the new hardware which he said came out earlier this year.

So, I am completely confused and just do not want to get taken to the cleaners. Does anyone out there have the "new" hardware? What is the difference and does this thing really work as well as everyone says. Also, is it compatible with the DeLorme GPS receiver or do I have to buy theirs?

Thank for the help.

 

[Mike Hollingshead]

XM and WX-Works is like another world in another universe where truth and lies get lost and can't even tell one another apart, because in this land once they are known they will no longer be able to rip people off on the ground. If they made the site and options clear cut it would be very clear you are getting hosed paying $1500 for the same plastic as others pay $1000 for.

C'mon Jeff I know you are out there and you know the answers and post on here....let the truth be told! LOL. Since he is a friend to chasers and employed by Baron he has most likely been replaced with an alien form of himself, just so he won't tell people the hardware is the same.

If I were you I would contact an aviation or marine dealer and ask them if it will work on the ground. I bet they will sell you one just as fast as the mobile threat people would for $500 more. I don't think the group selling the ground package are going to bother to tell you anything worthwhile. Right now they are having a big chaser "sale" where you can get the ground thingy at the same price as the other, so none of it even matters right now. If you don't want to jump the gun on xm just yet I think you'll be safe buying the aviation package and getting whatever monthly plan you want later. But don't trust me on that, ask any of those dealers out there.

 

[mikegeukes]

I am glad I purchase the WX WORX when it first came out,
what a price increase. Since I have it turned off and not
purchase the software upgrade. I am also interested to see
what improvements WX WORX will have in the near future.

Looking at their web sites, really does not tell to much
in the way of improvements they have plan for 2005.

http://www.mobilethreatnet.com/
http://www.wxworx.com/
http://www.xmradio.com/weather

Anybody have the software upgrade, just wondering
what was added on to it.

Mike

 

[Kurt Hulst]

I was told by the XM service provider that you don't have to pay the set up fee of an additional 100$ if you renew your subscription with in 60 days of subscription ending. For example my subscription ended on Nov 22nd I dont have to renew till Jan 22nd, 2005 in order to save my self from the set up fee again, yeah its rather stupid but thats how they rip us off right. I still love the product though. runs smooth and new updates are coming.

But for those who are first time users setting up there's no way of getting around the extra set up fee. unless there is? Any one got any info if possible?

 

[Mike Johnson]

I still think the WI-FI systems are a better deal with much more
data, e.g., SPC outlooks, discussions, etc. Although the area of
reception is, of course limited, but growing fast in chase land.

WI-FI worked great for me last year when mixed with my mobile
phone data system.

The people at XM are jerks, at least when I've tried to deal with
them and from what I read last year, the service was not all that
great. Why would I want to pay for a year of serivce that I might
use for a week or two?

Mike

 

[Jay McCoy]

Originally posted by Mike Johnson
I still think the WI-FI systems are a better deal with much more
data, e.g., SPC outlooks, discussions, etc. Although the area of
reception is, of course limited, but growing fast in chase land.

WI-FI worked great for me last year when mixed with my mobile
phone data system.

The people at XM are jerks, at least when I've tried to deal with
them and from what I read last year, the service was not all that
great. Why would I want to pay for a year of serivce that I might
use for a week or two?

Mike

I and my partners used both in 04 and I can tell you the XM made our chases. We were able to get on storms faster and were able to navigate around them and stay in position throughout the storm cycle. On May 24th in Thayer co. nebraska we were some of the first on the storm because we could see it on sat and radar well before it became severe. it was hazy and cloudy due to high DP's and we would have never seen the storm without XM. We were able to get in position before it dropped its first tornado. most chasers that day only got on the storm after it was tornado warned and missed the first 3-5 tornadoes. we ended up with 9 that day from this one cell. I can give more examples but no need. WI-Fi was sporadic and most of the time only good for updates BEFORE initiation but mostly useless once we had storms. nobody wants to stop and break off a storm for data. We even had a sprint card for our laptop which worked when along major highways but most storms were in rural areas so it was cell dial up or XM. It was worth every penny and we had no technical problems and when we called for help on a few things we didnt understand about operations they were very helpfull.

Ofcourse we used it for more than 2 weeks but the 10 days in late may with 3 high risks were what proved Xm's worth. 21 tornadoes on 3 chase days.

 

[William Combes]

Purchasing WxWorx

There was a mention of a deal through Andy Revering. We set up a discount which applies to this group as well.

Feel free to contact [email protected] for details. Tell him Bill Combes referred you. You can also purchase the system directly from our web site at our online store.

- Bill Combes
www.anythingweather.com
[email protected]

 

[Kurt Hulst]

Well crap. I just had a wonderfull email conversation with Mick Gosdin he works for worx . I guess the update they were talking about was for the wings version being out by the first of the year. though they are working on the ground version still and they hope to have it out by march maybe. the only thing he said "yes we hope to have it out by begining of storm season" that to me is march. I guess best advice is to just keep checking the http://www.wxworx.com/downloads.html page best wishes to you all

Take care

 

[Scott Olson]

I contacted the mobile threat net people and they told me that they have a powerbuy ($500 discount) for the next week and a half. This discount is supposed to be for storm chasers. The only thing I really like about it is the sattelite data. As far as software and data I would rather use Grlevel3 on a cell phone. I would not purchase this system for $1500+. Another thing is I asked them how much less it is if I use my own GPS. They told me it would be $100 less and my GPS may or may not work. The XM feed for the ground is $100 activation and another $100 a month. Now if you drop the gate to gate shear its only $50 a month.

 

[Jason McKittrick]

I took advantage of the power buy last month. The whole system including the mapping upgrade but not the GPS for $999.

As far as the service, they have an aviation pakage, just the radar data, for $29.99/mo. I was told by XM that there is no contract. There is an activation fee and as long as your subscription is active you will never have to pay another activation fee. You are allowed, with out penelty or additional fees, to change your level of service. So after you pay your first activation fee you can have the reponder for APR-JUN and then reduce your level of service to the $29.99 aviator package and then next spring raise it back to the responder. At least that was the way it was explained to me.