I am sure this question has been answered somewhere, but my searches have turned up nothing.If I am flying to an uncontrolled airport, how do I get the ATIS information while inflight? I am not sure which runway to use without it, and I'd rather not buzz the windsock with my B-757.I know that I can ask the center contoller, but I wish there was a way to do this without taking up their time. Also, there are times when center is not even online.

How are you doing, Kilarney. This is something I just recently learned (how to read a metar record). You

Thanks for the prompt reply. Unfortunately, I'm using Squawkbox 3.0. I did find some help here:http://squawkbox.ca/doc/features/weather.phpHowever, it didn't really answer my question.

Try typing the command, ".wx" at a chat prompt. -- L. James------------L. D. [email protected]/~ljames

Oddly enough it says "Fetching weather for (airport)", or something to that effect, and then never displays any weather.

I don't use SB3, but I will install it to see what would be the counterpart (or if it's possible) and get back with you. -- L. James---------------L. D. [email protected]/~ljames

Kilarney. Try checking the metar with servinfo. On the Servinfo menu, click on Tools --> Metar --> Request by ICAO codes. Type in the Airport ID in the Code Field. Press ENTER. -- L. James----------L. D. [email protected]/~ljames

The SB3 command is .metar ICAOThis will then show the metar as text for that field. .wx ICAO is to force the weather at a given field.

It worked! Thanks so much!

It's been covered how to recive the METAR, but make sure you can Read it! (it's good to know even if ServInfo will translate it for you).KLAX 300750Z 00000KT 10SM CLR 16/13 A2994 RMK AO2 SLP135 T01560128 402110156This is the current METAR for KLAX(Los Angeles International)After the Airport ICAO(KLAX) is the time stamp. The first two digits are the day of the month. Today is the 30th, so there you go. The next digits are the time in Zulu(Z) 0750 or 7:50a.m. This inidacted that it is The 30th of the month, and the METAR was observed at 7:50am Zulu time (thats a little before Midnight here in LA). Next is the winds. Right now they are calm. (000000KT)For learning purposes lets say they are out of 250 at 10kts with gusts of 20, the METAR will read 25010G20KTNext comes the Visibility in Statute Miles (SM). Right now it's 10. Next is sky conditions, CLR, and then temp in Centigrade. It's 16c with a Dew Point of 13. Lastly is the Altimiter(preassure reading) 29.94. Easy! There is a lot more to it though, such as symbols etc. Also the Remarks section. I suggest looking at these websites:http://weather.unisys.com/wxp/Appendices/Formats/METAR.htmlThis will explain exactly how METAR's and TAFs are broken down, and what some symbols mean.http://adds.aviationweather.gov/metars/Government Aviation weather site. Helpful for finding METARs and AWOS at thousands of airports.