Clearing up FSMeteo Misunderstandings...

[MadDog 353]

Hi all,I've recently viewed several threads regarding FSMeteo and have read a lot of information and "mis"information about how to use it when flying cross-country. I'm not an "expert" on how FSMeteo works - but I think I have a pretty good understanding of what is presented in the manual. If I'm wrong on any point - feel free to correct me... I want this to be an "informative" thread.1. ATIS (assuming you don't use ADV based ATC - which is true for most of us). If you still use Radar Contact, you ARE using ADV based ATC - so please read the "Exceptions" topic at the very end of this post.While flying enroute, if you tune in the ATIS of any airport within reception range - it will ALWAYS provide the weather that you are experiencing at your present location. Whether the airport is 10, 20, or 2000 miles away, its ATIS (if you can receive it) will always have the exact same weather as the reporting station closest to your aircraft (which is the weather you're currently experiencing). You can click your heels and whisper "There's no place like home" or hold your breath until you turn blue - but the ATIS will always reflect your CURRENT conditions!2. FSMeteo has a 'Requested Station' option which allows you to request the weather for a certain airport. This option ONLY provides a display of the "real-world" weather for the airport you requested. It does NOT update the current FS weather and it does NOT change a single ATIS! In summary, this function has NO effect on FS at all - it is only meant to give you an idea of what the weather is like at the airport in real life.3. Lock ToFSMeteo has a "Lock To" function that allows you to make the FS global weather conform to the weather at a particular airport. As an example, let's say you checked the 'Lock to' box and specified KJFK (New York) as the "locked" airport. As long as this selection is active, every location in FS will have the same weather as KJFK. If you're flying around London - it will have weather identical to New York; fly down to Cairo - the weather will still be the same as that in New York. Keep in mind that the weather will not necessarily be constant - on my system, FSMeteo is set to update the weather every 6 minutes... so if the weather changes in New York - it will also change in Cairo. The point is that every airport in FS will have identical weather when using this function.4. Now for the "good" stuff. I hope I haven't bored you too much to keep reading - because this is where most folks will see a difference:Set Airport DestinationBy selecting 'Set Airport Destination', FSMeteo allows you to specify the airport where you intend to land. Using this option, FSMeteo will begin feeding the destination airport's weather to FS when you get within a specified range. Once in range, the weather at your present position will be identical to the destination and the ATIS will be correct (since the weather at your current location is now the same as the weather where you intend to land). This "magical" range value can be adjusted in the PREFERENCES menu using the 'Destination Lock Distance' option. To quote the manual:"Destination Lock Distance""This value represents the distance in statute miles used by the

[Vulcan 14]

Maddog, I only have one comment to take you up on>Marc, if you're reading, PLEASE provide a parameter to lock the wind once in range of the destination airport!

[MadDog 353]

Hi Dave,You're absolutely right - the wind lock should be an "option"; I didn't mean to imply that it should be that way all the time. The MS ATC may be "crippled" - but it holds a lot of promise (most can't see it yet - but MS really is doing things right - I know that's hard to believe ;-)).Thanks,Marc

[Guest]

Hi,I do have one question, I have the full registered version 5.1, and I frequently get a box coming up just before the weather download has completed "This version has expired, please contact the author...." amd FSM closes.I have been using Fsmeteo for several months now, this has happened in the last 2 or 3 weeks, to get it to work, I must delete the fsmeteo.ini file in c:windows and unzip a fresh copy, because if I don't it comes up with an "cannot find ICAOweather.dat".I have a ADSL connection and I use Local Access" or "default connection" I have Dialup disabled.If anyone can help I would appreciate it.CheersJulian