False ATIS report

[Speedbyrd 0]

Upon entering Bermuda airspace today I was given an ATIS report that indicated skies were 'clear' when, in fact, there was a blinding T-storm in progress. The wind information was correct but the 'skies' condition certainly wasn't. I use Active Sky and it indicated the weather information was obtained from TXKF which is Bermuda and that the wx station was only 1 mi away. I run into this everyone once in a while. Anyone know the reason? Most of the time ATIS is pretty accurate but was way off on this one.

[Guest Jeffhew]

Well, seeing as no one has answered yet, I'll take a stab at it.If you have update suppression set in the options of AS, it's conceivable that while the ATIS was updated, the weather around you wasn't. If the airport was within that suppression range, as a result of your proximity to it when the weather updated (you indicate you were just a mile away), the message will change but you won't see the change in the weather. Two "fixes" come to mind. Reduce the local suppression range and/or increase the rate at which the weather updates.Anyhow, the best person to give you a definitive answer is Jim at the HiFi forum here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=171One other point to mention is that the ATIS is essentially a synopsis of the airport conditions at the time it was reported. This info is recorded once an hour and takes about twenty minutes to be updated so by the time you hear the new broadcast, it's already twenty minutes old. It isn't uncommon to hear ATIS report something different than what you see through the windscreen in FS. In the RW, were weather to change drastically from the current ATIS, the controllers would simply record a new ATIS. Unfortunately, there's no such mechanism in FS. Just an FYI, I have my weather set to be about 85% accurate in AS. In the RW, it's a rare thing when a weather forecast matches up 100% with what's really going on when you get there.I really think your issue is related to suppression range though. The difference in reported vs. actual weather shouldn't be as drastic as it seems in this case.I hope this helps you.Best Regards,Jeff

[Speedbyrd 0]

It helps a great deal! I have my supression range set at 80 I think. So you think maybe I should decrease it to maybe 40 or 50. Most ATIS reports can be pulled in between 45 and 70 miles out.

[Guest Jeffhew]

See the attachment below for a pic of how I have mine set up. You may want to tweak it to suit your system. At 20 miles, I may see the change happen on a clear day but, if I've got some clouds float'n around anyway, it's not something that jumps out at me. Setting the updates at 30 minutes assures my weather is never more than an hour old. I find it a nice balance between accurate weather and minimizing the load during flight.I'm glad I could help. Try out some different settings too. Ultimately, the best settings are the ones that work for you.Regards,Jeff