Hi all, very excited about the new version of Active Sky, looking foward to buy it, in the mean time, I have a couple of dummy's questions:1. How often are the Metar files updated (i.e., if the metar files are updated every, lets say 15 min, why shoould I have the refresh time lower in my ActiveSky?)2. Will the new version be compatible with FSFlightmax?3. Where can I get info on how to interpret and use the Winds aloft data for flight/flight planning?4. If I use the force option in the new version, could I place myself on hold until the weahter gets better while in approach? or Forcing the weahter at any given terminal means no updating?Well I came with more than a couple of questions, thanks for the response.

Hi Gabriel,1) Updated at configurable interval, default at 10 minutes. Reason to update often would be because METAR reports are put on the NOAA server as they are received, and they can update on the server at any time. So if you want to have as up-to-date weather data as possible you can lower this interval. Also, when conditions are changing rapidly, some stations will update more frequently so you can take advantage of this.2) Yes!3) There will be documentation on this and suggestions on how to interpret this data and plan with it. For now I am sure there are plently of sites on the net that explain this - it is a fundamental part of flight planning. Can anyone share some links?4) When you are in FORCE mode the weather will continue to update according to your interval.. it will just force to update from THAT station. So yes you can hold and 'wait out' the bad conditions and IF the weather gets better you'll see that in the sim :)Hope that helps!-Damian[table border=0" cellspacing="30" cellpadding="0][tr][td align = "left"]Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyThe next-generation weather environment simulation for FS2002!http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky[/td][td]http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxresmallbanner.jpg][/td][/tr][/table://http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/ima...][/tr][/table

Regarding #3 above, this link explains the Winds Aloft (FD) reports:http://www.awc-kc.noaa.gov/awc/help/what_are_fd.htmlBruceN

HiI'm an ATC personage. The METAR's are usually forwarded to NOAA by the rporting station at 10 minutes before the hour, 24 hours a day. (If someone is there). If conditions change rapidly the station can issue a special METAR between normal reporting times. There is no limit to the number of special METARs that can be issued, but in reality I've only seen the initial special for say a thunderstorm, and then the special reporting the thunderstorms passing away from the station.Chris