TurboWx PQA 3.0 (Subscription)
** This item is no longer active ** This application is useful for getting weather and RADAR images on your handheld device.
Features Include: This multi-platform application will retrieve METARs, TAFs, PIREPS, Winds Aloft, NEXRAD, area forecasts (AIRMETS), National Weather Service (NWS) forecast, and more. This service will also search for U.S. tail numbers.
Reviewed by
Matthew Justice on 1-1-2005, removed on 4-1-2005.
Review
Pros: Downloads many types of weather information to your handheld, allows you to download weather within a defined radius, graphical forecast, helpful support staff.
Cons: Lacks METAR/TAF decoding and flight planning functions.
Platform: None - Palm OS, Pocket PC and Browser versions have same features.
Notes: View on-line version history, demo version will allow you use for 30 days.
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| Source: Aviation Safety |
| Review: Storm Trackers, by Ryan Ferguson, requires subscription to read.
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Aug 10, 2004 (Tue) - SteveB using Palm OS |
| "TurboWx is not accepting new subscribers (8/10/04). Obviously this is not a good sign. Are they about to go broke? Or are they just out of bandwidth? No clues on their website......." |
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Jan 6, 2003 (Mon) - Bill Steele using Palm OS |
| "I have been using TurboWX with my Palm i705 for some time now. The services provided allow me to go any place I want without worrying about accurate and up-to-date weather in the palm of my hand. I have never had server access problems and each revision adds features and are bug-free. For less than the cost of a fill-up on my Bonanza, I get a years unlimited access. Wow, what a deal. I won't be without it from now on." |
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Dec 18, 2002 (Wed) - Anonymous using Palm OS |
| "I have been beta-testing TurboWx for months at various locations around the country. I have tested it on the ground, at low altitude (i.e. 1000 feet AGL) and up to 40,000 feet in a Citation Bravo. The Bravo has great on-board radar, but it can't get the weather at the destination like TurboWx can. In my Bonanza I don't have radar, so TurboWx has to fulfill that function. It does the job very well. The only issue with TurboWx is the coverage provided by PalmNet. I live in Oklahoma. Travelling south or east the coverage is available most of the time. West or north of Oklahoma can be a problem. Still, unless I travel to the northern great plains, I can get coverage at least some of the time. I used CBAV before. It is a wonderful product which is provided for free. You have to love those Cheap Bastards guys for doing so much for nothing in return. The only "complaint" I have with CBAV is that the server has been down some of the time lately so that weather could not be obtained. It is very hard to complain since CBAV costs me nothing. TurboWx is a significant improvement, although at a price. The price is very reasonable for what you get. By the time you pay PalmNet and TurboWx for the user fees, you could pay for the services of one of the major cockpit weather providers. On the other hand, you have to first buy thousands of dollars of aircraft equipment that may be obsolete in a short time. Also, you can't move the cockpit weather equipment from plane to plane or carry it on your person most of the time. THe dedicated cockpit equipment doesn't have all the PDA functions either or let you keep up with your email throughout your travels. The Palm i705 with TurboWx lets you do all of that. Are there room for future improvements? You bet. Every electronic device and its software seems to constantly become obsolete over a short period of time. That is all the more reason to use an inexpensive device like the Palm with a product like TurboWx. The expense and downtime of installing weather uplink devices in a plane only to have it become obsolete a short time later makes the service subscriptions to PalmNet and TurboWx dirt cheap. One feature of TurboWx that I like best is that the weather is more current than any of the dedicated cockpit devices. I love to show my friends with the new Garmin/Echo Flight system that my weather is 10 minutes or more current than theirs. Sure, I don't have the color or the moving map features for my weather, but I have more features and more current weather than they do and I can get it in their planes within seconds while they wait for minutes. The biggest advantage they have is coverage area, which is significant in some areas. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to pay Bob Anderson the small fee he is asking to get the wonderful service he is now providing. I know Bob is going to keep improving the product as time goes on. He has done so on the Beta version. Anyone who likes the ability to get this type of weather service needs to buy TurboWx and contribute towards keeping Bob motivated to continue this service and its future development. When a new device appears that offers a better platform to receive and display cockpit weather, you can bet that Bob will have TurboWx working on the new device within a short time. Visit www.turbopilot.com and use the 30 day free trial version of TurboWx and you will see what I am saying is true." |
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Dec 18, 2002 (Wed) - Anonymous using Palm OS |
| "I beta-tested TurboWx, after using CBAV, and ADDS. It is clearly the next evolution in Palm-based flight planning and in-flight information. On the ground, it completely solves the problem of being away from my home base without a computer for weather planning. In the air, the ability to get METAR/TAF, winds aloft, and radar (on my budget) adds a new and welcome element to flight safety. Since it includes everything from forecast discussions to radar, it allows me to safely make trips I would have otherwise cancelled due to insufficient information." |
| Total Reviews (4) - Average User Rating (4 stars): | |
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