FSMeteo question

[Guest]

I've used FSMeteo pretty much since it came out. I run it on a networked computer using WideFS and it feeds updated weather pretty consistently. In general, I'm pretty happy with it. I started using MSFS Real weather, though, when Flightmax came out because it didn't (and still doesn't - as far as I know) support FSMeteo. The advantage of using the MSFS weather function is you will get an accurate ATIS from a distant site, whereas FSMeteo will give you only your current/local weather conditions, even from an ATIS that is far away. Am I right in this assessment? If so, what is the real benefit of FSMeteo other than it updates the weather over time? I'm finding that my flights are rarely more than an hour or two so I'm thinking the time function isn't that useful for me. Am I missing something here?David

[Guest Tim W]

With FSMETEO you can request weather for any airport you want. Also it updates whenever you want (I have it to update every 6 mins on a cable connection) Also it will give you winds aloft which I believe Real Weather does not.regardsTim

[Guest]

Tim,That's right! I forgot about the winds aloft. That's a major advantage. You say you can request weather for any airport you want but I assume that means you can simply type in the ICAO for your destination and your current weather will change to that, even if you are 300 miles away. Is that right? FSMeteo only downloads one set of weather variables dependent on your location or your request. It doesn't download all the weather for the region, which would be necessary to provide accurate ATISs. I guess that is why it updates so quickly!David

[Guest]

No that is not right. It will give you the weather at the destination airport and the weather at your current location. the only reason it would automatically use the destination airport weather for your current location is if the destination reporting station is the closest one to your aircraft.

[Guest]

So it is possible to get an ATIS that differs from the weather at your current location using FSMeteo?? I have not had that experience lately. I thought it used to work fine but now I check the ATIS from maybe 40 miles out and the report reads exactly like my current weather. I count on a particular runway but by the time I get there my current weather (which now really is the destination weather!) is completely different. Maybe the weather around here is just too screwy this time of year! I'll have to do some more testing. Maybe I have something wrong in the options. Why does FSMeteo give the option of defining a destination airport then? I assumed it was so Radar Contact and the other ATC addons could calculate their vectors before you got too close.David

[Guest]

Totally depends on where you are flying... Only 40 miles out you may not have any other reporting stations... Weather changes all the time so I wouldn't expect it to be the same as when you departed.I'm not sure exactly what you are saying but FS METEO runs smothly for me.

[Vulcan 14]

I *think* the destination weather option is so that adventures can give the correct runway at destination as you say David.The other thing is it will allow FS to give an accurate ATIS when you are within range and set COM1 to the ATIS frequency.I think all this is covered in Marc's documentation.If you 'request' a weather station Meteo will report that weather but will *not* send the weather to FS.However if you 'lock to' that station then the that weather *will* be sent to FS and will be updated but the destination airport weather will override the 'locked to' once in range of the destination.The default destination 'lock' distance is 22mls, so FS will show destination weather about 22mls out.For more info see the Meteo 'readme' file.Rgds

[Guest]

Hi,I have the same problem: FS Meteo sets the local conditions I am flying through as global, so if I check the weather 10 or 300 or 5000 miles away, it's the same as where I am flying.Now the problem is that I use FS FlightMax and it will never tell me that 20 or 50 miles away there is a storm, since if where I fly now it is clear, even 20 or 50 miles away it is clear.FS Meteo should download at once all the different weather conditions in different areas, as FS real weather (the one inside FS2002) does.Regards,Luca

[Guest emergency_pants]

I do not have my FS2002 here, but if I remember correctly, you can open the FSMeteo window and request weather information for any airport, regardless of where your plane is. I haven't used that function yet, but I think that is the case.The other advantage I find is this... and really it is a major, large advantage... the shear quality of the weather is far superior to the MSFS weather. Yeah, the MSFS weather does have winds aloft, but I find that I only have about 2 cloud layers with it. FSMETEO has many more cloud layers... which boosts the feel of being up there and therefore the flying experience, it feels more real and looks incredible in comparison!! The other thing I find is that I take less of a frame rate hit in cloudy weather. The cloud layers are thinner but there are more of them in FSMeteo. I find that the HUGEly stretched cloud textures that the MSFS real weather causes makes my framerates drop to about 3-5 fps. The same wetaher in Meteo will give me about 10-12. Makes a big difference to me.Despite only ever making short jouneys, I also find that FSMeteo smooths out the weather transitions with help from FSUIPC. I don't get those horrible plane jerks between weather stations and wind layers. I don't get a brief clear weather interruption between different weather either. With FSMeteo, it's really nice to have a subtley-changing cloud pattern every six to ten minutes.Very nice... I bought it about three weeks ago and haven't flown without it since. Prior to that, I had been using the default MSFS real weather sinve FS2002 was released... it's certainly one of the best add-ons I've ever bought in terms of enhancing the flying experience.Cheers,.Simon.p.s. One thing I'm not sure about... if you use the 'download weather and disconnect' option in FSMeteo, will that download all the different weather for the whole globe?

[Guest]

"p.s. One thing I'm not sure about... if you use the 'download weather and disconnect' option in FSMeteo, will that download all the different weather for the whole globe?" It does. I use that option exclusively because of my slow (and expensive) connection so i can confirm on that. Don't know about the earlier mentioned ATIS reports though. When i want to know the wheather for a certain location i do that in FSMETEO. Not "as real as it gets" but "as easy as it gets".Cas.

[Guest Stephan]

" FSMETEO has many more cloud layers... "But FSmeteo supports 3 cloud layers only, I thought. Or does it? How do I get 4 or more layers?ThanksStephan

[Guest]

I have followed this thread with some interest and would like to point out how I have set up FSMeteo in my system, that way it will shed some light on the various points that have been raised.1. You can request weather from any reporting station you wish, in order not to change you current weather you are flying in I do this by setting a destination airport. You put the ICAO code of any airport into the destination field and after that press refresh data. That way the METAR file for both your current position and the position requested is pulled.2. If you want proper ATIS reporting on your arrival airport what I do is the following. I am setting my arrival airport as described above and in the preferences of FSMETEO check that the actual range where FSMETEO snaps to the reporting station of the arrival airport is 60 NM (the default is 20 or 40 which I found to short to be able to fly a proper arrival procedure in uncontrolled airspace or when flying offline). 60 NM I judge as a fair distance to start your innitial approach or set up for it according to your stars.3. FSMETEO reports ALL cloud layers that are included in the metar and translates them properly into FS2002. It however only displays three when you click on decode. If you know how to read a METAR file you will find that all are included. Try to find a loaction where there are more than 3 layers reported and fly with an aircraft tight 4 to 5 NM circles up, you will find out that it really does incorporate all layers. That is one of the reasons why at times system performance is a little worse with FSMETEO since it does report more layers.4. When flying online with VATSIM I set the option if FSMETEO to use the VATSIM servers for the METAR files, that way I get all the advantages of FSMETEO and am still using the same data as the controllers.I hope that shed some more light on the issue.

[Guest]

Currently there is no program which can do the same as the build in weather can do, esp. working with local weather. FSMeteo can only change the global weather. Because there is only one global weather FS2k2 can only send you the current (global) weather information.You can read the METAR of every loaded airport, but the weather will only be set if you are close to it.Thats all you can do with FSUIPC now and thats all FSMeteo can do.I have some question to FSMeteo:Did the Transition rate for cloud is by nautical miles?Is the transition rate for QNH and temperature by meters?Did FSMeteo change the visibility at higher altitudes other than FSUIPC do?Are the VATSIM weather server accessable for everyone?Thanks for the info in advance.

[Guest]

What? FS Meteo can only change global weather???? Not my FS Meteo. I get the local weather at any reporting station I ask for?

[Guest]

What? You're doing something wrong then? All you have to do is type in the destination weather and it will give you the current conditions for that location. Not sure if i'm missunderstanding you here or what?