Garmin’s new GXM 42 antenna was announced in advance of updated pricing for Sirius XM weather subscriptions and network enhancements that will expand the information available at the lowest-price subscription tier.
Garmin announced the new antenna, priced at $599, Feb. 21, indicating in a press release that Sirius will soon offer a rebate on new purchases with a qualified subscription. Details on the rebate offer were not immediately available online.
The GXM 42 is the latest of several similar antenna/receiver products Garmin offers, and is compatible with Garmin’s aera 796 portable display. Garmin said GXM 42 compatibility will expand to other Garmin portable devices currently in production.
The Sirius XM base subscription, Pilot Express, includes U.S. radar (extending into southern Canada), cloud-to-cloud and cloud-to-ground lightning displays, TAFs, METARs, current observations, airmets, and sigmets, and is priced at $34.99 per month (with discounts for one-year and two-year plans). Garmin indicated in its news release that graphical winds aloft and temperatures aloft will also be part of the base subscription; the Sirius XM website did not immediately reflect the availability of those features at the base subscription rate.
Sirius XM subscriptions range in price up to $99 per month (with discounts for one-year and two-year subscriptions) with more than 40 weather data elements available at the top tier.
