ActiveSky with VATSIM?

[Guest squale]

I just started using VATSIM and I don't think I will fly without it anymore,, I love it. I just heard of some people using ActiveSky with VATSIM but I don't understand what this does for you because VATSIM already has weather built in and when you are on the VATSIM network you are using the VATSIM weather and NOT the default MSFS2004 Jeppesen 15-minute updated weather.. so how would adding yet another weather source help matters?Basically the ATC controllers on VATSIM are seeing the weather they get from the VATSIM weather servers, so if a pilot used say the ActiveSky weather, wouldn't that mess up what you and the controller might see? For instance you are coming in for landing at an airport, the controllers tells you wind is from 120@33 knots, well then ActiveSky might get DIFFERENT weather from it's servers and be telling you the winds are from 090@10knots. For instance VATSIM might only update the weather every say 15 minutes and ActiveSky might update every 5 minutes so the weather is going to be different between the two..I just think this will cause all sorts of confusion and problems..

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,For close to 2 years now, pilots have enjoyed using our products to fly with VATSIM with NO confusion and problems. See, with the VATSIM option turned On in AS 2004.5 or in AS wxRE we are using the VATSIM METARs. This happens at the departure and arrival airports only. After that, the normal server METARs are used. During this whole time, ALL the other features are being used. So that is where the help comes in. Please ask if you have more questions.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[Guest squale]

Thanks Jim for the quick response.. Yeah couple things I am a bit confused about..1.) you say while enroute it will use the ActiveSky metars and tafs, but what if you get an enroute metar for say LAX, and then when you get within LAX airspace the VATSIM controller tells you the current VATSIM metar.. well these might be two different Metars for the same time based upon AC getting your weather from one source and VATSIM getting their weather from another source?2.) Where does AC get their weather by the way and how accurate is it? Is is the same as what a real pilot would get if they called FSS or used DUAT to file a flight plan?3.) Does AC TALK all the weather to you? Or do you have to read a lot of text? for instance it would be nice to bring up the ATIS frequency for an airport and get the ATIS read to you.. will AC do this? if so is there a dedicated frequency for EVERY airport or do you use the published airports ATIS frequency?4.) I have a P4 2.8ghz, 1024mg DDR memory, SATA 160gb HD, and an ATI Radeon 9200 128mb AGP video card. I am running two 21" monitors, with the cockpit on monitor 1 and the radio stack, gps, SqawkBox for VATSIM on the second monitor. I basically right now with the default MSFS2004 weather have to keep the detailed clouds very low and keep the cloud coverage very low or else my framerates go down the tubes .. down to like 15-20fps versus if I use SIMPLE clouds at around 25-35fps. So I was considering using the cloud set from here: http://fsw.simflight.com/FSWdownload.htmlThey have two different versions, can you tell me, Do you recommend using these clouds with AC or just sticking with the default FS clouds? what clouds look better? and is the performance MUCH better with these add-on clouds?5.) What do you guys suggest keeping the "Target Frame Rate" at when using ActiveSky with and without the VATSIM network?Thanks again, this will really help my purchasing decision..

[JSkorna 137]

OK, here is more:1. Processing your flight plan tells AS when to use the VATSIM METAR. Believe me, VATSIM and AS work very well together or this forum would be full of complaints! The combination of VATSIM and AS is very smart!2. AS is connected to our own private server. That server collects the weather data from a number of sources. It is highly accurate and reliable.3. The FlightWatch portion will speak the departing, current, and destination weather if a flight plan is processed. Otherwise, just the current station conditions. You do this by tuning COM1 to 122.0.You cannot pull up any ATIS report for any airport.4. Your video card is holding you back, especially running 2 monitors. We highly suggest FSW clouds. More work is being done as we speak at FSW. Performance for you will be improved.5. Lock anywhere between 25 and 30.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[Guest squale]

okay which FSW clouds should I use the BEST PERFORMANCE ones or the less performance but HIGHER quality ones?

[JSkorna 137]

Try the best performance ones first.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[Guest squale]

Do the best performance ones look really crappy though? compare them to the "Simple" clouds in default FS2004 and the "Detailed, 3D Clouds"?

[JSkorna 137]

That is a very subjective description. I suggest you try things out. All you need to do is back up a few default FS textures, so it is easy to switch things back to normal if you don't like them.BTW these are not simple clouds, but 3D clouds, so make sure to use the proper setting in FS to view them.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[Guest Rick1486]

Hi - could you please tell me where to get these clouds textures from?CheersRick

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,http://fsw.simflight.com/Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[WebMaximus 372]

Speaking about AS together with online flying, how does AS work together with IVAO? Until now, I've only been flying on the VATSIM network but since IVAO released their new IvAp client IVAO has become a very interesting alternative to VATSIM in my eyes.TIA,

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,It doesn't. But maybe someday down the road.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Supporthttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004proudsupporter.jpg

[WebMaximus 372]

OK, that's bit of a pity since IVAO which I'm sure you are well aware of is becoming a more and more popular online network.But hopefully AS will work as well with IVAO as with VATSIM in a not too distant future.

[Damian Clark 1,235]

Hi Richard,We would love to include IVAO support but for almost 2 years now they have ignored our continued requests to permit compatibility. We need their authorization to have our clients (users) connect to the IVAO wx services via the AS2004.5 application and download a small (less than 5K) data sample every 10 minutes.What we are doing in the next AS version development is include additional SDK support so that 3rd parties such as IVAO can easily transmit their wx information to AS and have it processed. Then it will be up to them to add a few simple lines of code to support it. Whether or not they do this is the question... FWIW VATSIM has always supported AS and other add-on developers, while IVAO has always been very non-communicative and resistant. Not sure this will ever change...

[WebMaximus 372]

Hi Damian,First of all, thanks for your very informative answer to my post.What you say is very interesting information as well as sad. Now I realize it's not your "fault" the connection between AS-IVAO doesn't exist. Must admit I find it very strange why such a popular network as IVAO doesn't allow/have any interest in a connection with such a popular add-on as I learned AS is. Hopefully you're wrong that their feelings about this will never change.All the best,