New Active Sky Owner(Nearly)

[Guest frankathl]

I am about to become a first time owner of Active Sky. Should I wait a little until possible teething problems with the new release are solved(problems, what problems :-)), or go ahead and purchase right now?A few questions about the program, if you don't mind:1. What type of reports does AS use to get weather? Is it METAR, TAF, Winds Aloft,....?(Supplementary: am I correct in thinking a METAR supplies CURRENT weather information(at time of issue), while a TAF provides a FORECAST of how weather will develop over next 6(?) hours(I know TAF means Terminal Aeromdrome Forecast. My interest here is to differentiate it from METAR))?2. Does Active Sky have its own server to supply weather information to the program?3. Are there any tutorial flights available which show how Active Sky can be used to best effect?Thanks for your help,Frank

[Damian Clark 1,115]

Hi Frank,Thanks for your interest!1) Yes METAR, TAF and World-Forecast-Model winds aloft. Yes, METAR supplies latest actual wx report, TAF supplies forecast as described. We use TAF in AS to support "TAF processing" (optional), where if the METAR becomes outdated for any reason (station doesn't report, is closed, network problems, or using offline mode without updates), the TAF element data will mesh with the METAR data to dynamically change wx according to forecast (the new METAR is considered Dynamic and is created by AS). Take a look at the online manual for more info... The TAF data also by itself is useful for wx planning just like in real life (regardless if using TAF processing or not).2) Yes its all private server access to the HiFi DataNet, which provides real-time or archived weather download.3) No tutorial flights (yet) but the program is setup by default to work well in any environment or type of flight. The documentation covers quite a bit as well. You just run it and fly. The extras and complexities can be enabled/used as you gain familiarity with the AS wx engine. Folks here on this forum are also very helpful if you have questions!Hope that helps!

[Guest frankathl]

Hi Damian,Impressed to hear from the man himself so quickly! :-)Now going from interested would be to actual customer.Thanks and BR,Frank

[MM 422]

Hi Frank,As a new owner, let me say that the guys here have got their act together. They have been working through this lively user community to build and refine the program for more than a year and now seem to have things under control. The current build, AS2004.5 (147) seems to be pretty stable and fully-featured.I, too, waited a while to see if the program had "settled down" after its initial teething problems. By all accounts (look through the forum discussions) things are in good shape now. Of course, your own experience may vary--all machines and setups vary so much that one can never be sure.That caveat aside, most people seem delighted with the current state of things.Best,Mike

[Guest frankathl]

Thanks, Mike! I appreciate your input.I'm going to get AS2004 today :-)BR,Frank