Taking too long to download metar compared to v1.5

[Guest mcd211255]

Hi I have Activesky wxRE 1.87 and it replaced the free version 1.5. The free version used to download the necessary metar and change the WX accordingly in a few minutes. I was so impressed with it over another free version of a WX program that I bought the latest version and upgraded it V1.87. Since then it taked about 15 minutes to download. I know it is probably processing more infomation than the free version 1.5 but I have a 1meg broadband connection and now have to start it up 10 - 15 minutes before starting FS2002 so it can dispaly the WX. I have been through the manual and altered the settings in Pete Dowsons FSUIPC v2.75 14th March 2003 and altered the settings in the Activesky options box. It is set to online.One example today it was raining at about 10:15 am at Manchester EGCC but has not rained since 11:00. The skies cleared and has been clear since. At 19:30 in Liverpool 30 miles away the same applied, no rain. Yet when I started Activesky up and went into FS2002 and positioned myself on the apron of both EGCC and EGGP it was raining with thick black clouds.In real life it was clear and as I said had been for several hours. It took many attempts at forcing updates and 45 mins for the clouds to quickly disappear and the sun to shine. All the message said was downloading.......I ran Activesky 1.5 the free version and it did it in 2 minutes. It is as though the 1.5 free version goes to a quicker site for the info than the paid for version....Mike

[JSkorna 137]

Mike,Yep, we know about the servers. The data is much more, especially the winds data. Also remember that there are a number of switches that data is making. The farther you are from the data, the more switches. Damian is not very happy with the server situation and is looking into a different arrangement for the future. As far as your rain situation, keep in mind that METARs are officially updated only once per hour unless an event calls for otherwise. That could be why it took so long for the rain to clear out for you. I believe any weather program would have given you the same result because it is based on METARs.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[Damian Clark 948]

Hi Mike,This doesn't sound like any problem at all. I don't think the servers are giving you trouble either. The main difference you will first notice in upgrading to wxRE is the cloud transition engine. Now it takes time (by default, 5-10 minutes) for the reported conditions to take effect. If wxRE just changed instantly from overcast black rain clouds to clear sky then the effect would be lousy. Instead wxRE changes the clouds at your defined cloud transition interval... 30 seconds for each transition by default. THis makes overcast skies first go through broken, scattered and few coverages before clearing them out completely.If you want your transitions to happen quicker you can reduce the interval to 5 seconds per octa - this will ensure your clouds go to the reported conditions within about 2 minutes of processing it.As Jim also stated, the rain starting and stoping and it's accuracy to real life depends on the data received from the airport in question, and how long it takes for that data to end up on the NOAA server, where wxRE can pick it up and process it. Most airports update every hour. I think you will find that wxRE is more accurate than most other add-ons because it uses TAF processing to simulate changing conditions when the METAR report hasn't been updated recently. More up-to-date but it still has limitations. The end result is that changes like rain will take time to show up, but in wxRE this is "known" and thus it simulates changing conditions to be more realistic.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/wxrebeta.jpg][/td][/tr][/table://http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/ima...[/tr][/table

[Guest mcd211255]

Thank you both for the replies. I have noticed that Activesky has been a lot quicker these past few days. Thanks again.Mike Liverpool UKCaptain British Airways Virtual

[Damian Clark 948]

Hi Mike,Thanks for the report.. glad its working ok for you now. Sometimes (it has been about 1 day a month) the servers or the internet goes awry and this happens. I am working on a new private data server system to make this issue obsolete in 2.0. -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/wxrebeta.jpg][/td][/tr][/table://http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/ima...[/tr][/table