Cell Phone Weather

Kyle Wolfe · Post by **Kyle Wolfe** » Tue Oct 25, 2005 1:48 am

I've still got an old bag phone. I use it because I've had it for years and it works in out of the way places and hills and hollers where I tend to go on hunting trips. But after my buddies and everyone else kidding me about my old dinasour, it's time to upgrade my cell phone.

One of my requirements is to be able to get weather radar on the phone. Haven't done a lot of homework on the topic, but who's using what service and how happy are you with it?

I'm aware of WxServer and Pilot Mycast. Are they worth the money, or can you simply use DUATS or AOPA and access your Internet account via your phone?

AR Dave · Post by **AR Dave** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 6:15 pm

Hey Kyle,
Think seriously about discarding that ole bag phone. Once you abandon it, you can never get it back. I know, I've tried several times and they refuse to hook it up.
The bag phone worked pretty nice in my plane, as in the reciever on my ear and mouth at the same time, instead of like a candy size snicker bar. Also I could get a lot better reception. I've been told the battery was a lot more powerful with the bag phone. All I know is that now I can not carry on conversations in the plane as before I could with the bag phone.

Now for an intial $1500 and only $500 a year @ 500 mins, you could impress me with a Sattelite phone!!

Well, I'd better add this to thought to my MP3 question!

Post by **GAHorn** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 3:20 am

I may be one of the original cell-phone subscribers. In 1985 I bought several bag-phones for my flight department. In 1990 I sold one of them to a guy who lived way out in the country where no service existed. (On a nearby mountain-top on his Pontotoc ranch, he could get service out of Austin, over 50 miles away.) The early phones, all of 'em "bag phones" had 5 watt transmitters. They were the size/weight of modern low-orbit satellites. By the early 90s the (huge-by-present-standard) hand-helds only put out 3 watts. Rembember those big, walkie-talkie sized Motorola units?

Today's digital units deal in milliwatts.
The early bag phones are analog monstrosities that are rapidly becoming un-recognized by modern, all-digital cell towers. New phone service using them is almost impossible to obtain. Even if service is obtainable, only a few channels are recognized by the tower, so utility is very reduced in congested areas.

russfarris · Post by **russfarris** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 5:06 am

Kyle - in answer to your original question, I have had Pilot My Cast since I saw it in action at Sun-N-Fun this year. I got a new Sanyo SCP-7300 phone to go with it, because it had a larger screen. In general, I'm quite pleased with the service. Not only do I use it in my personal flying, but it has come in handy on the airline. Even though I fly a state of the art Airbus 320, severe weather info sitting on the ground at the gate is limited to text messages from dispatch describing a line of thunderstroms from 20 SE of Animal Bite VOR, extending to a point 65 NW of Hooterville VOR....yep, just like the briefing you get from the FSS and just as hard to visualize. With the cell phone, I can pull up the radar info and get a much clearer idea of where the weather is. Besides, I can take the 12.95 a month off my taxes as a professional expense

The menu is a little clunky to use, but now I'm used to it. I just read in Aviation Consumer about WXserver, they think it's the best service out there. Plus, it's only 6.95 a month. The really cool part is you can try it out for a week for free - I'll download it tommorow and report back on how it compares to Pilot My Cast. Russ Farris

beeliner · Post by **beeliner** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:27 am

I haven't seen cell phone WX with a lot of detail due to the small screen. I recently switched phones to a Sony Treo (Palm powered) with internet capability. I've been happy with the free WX sites for my needs.
Included are pda friendly websites for
The Weather Channel
Accuweather
NOAA (National Weather Service site)

Accuweather and the NOAA site include a radar map, probably nextrad, selected by city or zip. I think it updates every 5 minutes.

N2865C · Post by **N2865C** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 1:55 am

A nice free service for your cell phone is anyAWOS. It connects you to the AWOS at any airport. The catch is that you have to listen to a brief commercial. To use it just dial 877-any-AWOS (877-269-2967).

cessna170bdriver · Post by **cessna170bdriver** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:42 pm

N2865C wrote:A nice free service for your cell phone is anyAWOS. It connects you to the AWOS at any airport. The catch is that you have to listen to a brief commercial. To use it just dial 877-any-AWOS (877-269-2967).

Don't most AWOS stations have a published phone number you can use without listening to an ad? Or have airports started funding ther AWOS with commercials?

The terrain around here prevents listening to nearby AWOS's on the radio while on the ground even though station may only be 25 miles away. I have them programmed into my cell phone, and give them a call before departure.

Miles

N2865C · Post by **N2865C** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:25 pm

cessna170bdriver wrote: Don't most AWOS stations have a published phone number you can use without listening to an ad? Or have airports started funding ther AWOS with commercials? The terrain around here prevents listening to nearby AWOS's on the radio while on the ground even though station may only be 25 miles away. I have them programmed into my cell phone, and give them a call before departure.

Miles

I also have all my local numbers programed in. Since I started using anyAWOS I don't have to carry that pesky flight guide in my back pocket all the time when I'm traveling

. It's great when you stop for fuel or lunch. It's really handy out here in the west where fog is very localized and changes quickly. The commercials are just a few seconds, probably quicker than looking it up in the flight guide.

Curtis Brown · Post by **Curtis Brown** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 9:32 pm

http://www.faa.gov/asos/map/map.htm
this is a list of all AWOS Freq and ph#

Jay · Post by **Jay** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 12:11 pm

HI Miles;
The advantage to "Any AWOS" is you don't need any lists; just punch in the airport identifier and your connected to its AWOS.
Jay

Kyle Wolfe · Post by **Kyle Wolfe** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:53 pm

Update...

I've been using the regular MyCast weather (not the Pilot MyCast) for a few months now. I like it. Not as many features as the Pilot MyCast but less expensive. Has radar, forecast, current weather and basic info.

Most cell phone service providers will give you some free download time. My provider says that I can load it an average of once per day and not go over my free web useage for the phone. That's been true so far.

While my cell phone works in the air (can I say that can't I

) I cannot pick up the weather radar in the air. Not sure why. I'm guessing it's because I'm hitting several cell towers while in the air.

And if I'm on the ground in an area that has lesser cell phone coverage, say 1 to 2 bars, I cannot get the radar to download.