XM SST Incremental Temp Readings Are Here

[bluewaterpirate]

I posted last week that XM Weather/Garmin would add incremental SST temp readings, well, with the new software update (V2.50) to the Garmin 545 it has been added ...... that was quick. There is also a host of other improved and new features added by this software update. Garmin is very proactive when it comes to software updates and I'm sure the 4000/5000 seriesupdate will be on the street shortly.

I'll post some pics and videosMonday. Here are a couple ... note I've got the chart detail turned off so you can see the SST info better.

http://bluewaterpirate.phanfare.com/...ageID=23621697

[Elusive]

How often is the data updated ?

Will the portable units (376, 478) have this feature ?

[bluewaterpirate]

SST data is provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) AVHRR and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA MODIS satellites. XM's provider, WorldWinds, uses proprietary software techniques to validate, correct errors, and merge the SST data. The result is a high resolution SST display that is transmitted to users as it becomes available. Usually the data is updated at 3 hour intervals and transmited every 15 minutes to Garmin user's via their level of XM weather subscription.

Embedded in this new incremental SST temp readings is the ability to loop the last 5 reports, I just haved had time to play with it. I don't know about the other Garmin models in regards to this new feature. I would think that at some point that Garmin might make this backward compatible with the 376c/478/3000 series CP's.

It appears that Garmin is going to be very aggressive when it comes to software updates for the new 400/500/4000/5000 units which will be very good for the users.

[gerg]

Hard to tell from the images, but it looks like it is only a marginal improvement, at best. They are still averaging and displaying the data in contours. The water temps don't lay out that way, and it will miss small variations which are extremely important.

It basically looks like they have just added more colors to the palette, not changed the way the data is displayed.

I'd love it if they get it right, but this is just a small cosmetic change.

[bluewaterpirate]

Raw data is availbale ......