OBSERVATIONS ABOUT VISIBILITY

[NeilC 3]

Using SP1 for FS9.1.WX at EDDH on 12/03 at 0850Z (chose this wx as there is lower vis - 8000m)This is displayed correctly when on the ground before take offI then fly above 10000ft and the Vis layer disappears (probably correctly)I then descend down again, but the vis layer doesn't come back (here at 2500ft)At 500ft now, still no bad visFinally, as I get to below 400ft it suddenly comes backThis is the problem I have been having since starting to use ASA. Vis layer shown correctly on ground and all the way up to about 10000ft.BUT, on the way down, vis layer is absent until nearly on the ground. (see previous posts with screenshots to illustrate).SP1 does not seem to have fixed this.Please let me know if I can help any further, as I would dearly love to get this fixed.My settings haven't changed since all the screenshots on the EDDF-EDDK thread showing my options in FS9, FSUIPC and ASAThanksNeil

[NeilC 3]

I've just done some testing with AS6.5 and the Vis layer does the same thing as ASA (it disappears when climbing through FL100)BUT.......................I reappears again on the descent somewhere between 8000 and 9000ft without fail!

[AUA425 130]

hello neilc!i have FSX und ASA SP1(new beta) and have the same problem! i search specific weather with bad conditions and have the same effect.i will try to put some screenshots. it was overcast reportet with low vis. (7000m) and rain -> the same thing like bevore sp1 -> vis. layer disappears (about 6000feet, but only if vis. smoothing is on and haze layer is disabled) and we have nice weather conditions. none overcast layer. bad vis. again at 3000feet after awhile! with disabled "disable haze layer" (means haze layer is on) and vis. smoothing ist off -> haze layer remains there and the effect is not so surprising -> change over to low vis. is not so unexpected!i think there are some problems with vis. smoothing !i did try exact the same location with ASX and the depiction was little better!!

[NeilC 3]

Thanks for the tip,I disabled the 'disable haze layer' and the smoothing and at first I sort I had found the way to solve this problem.The bad vis disappeared whilst climbing through 6000ft, and reappeared when descending through 6000ft!After a bit more testing I ran into problems again, where the bad Vis only came back at 1500ft.I will try again tomorrow.Could there be a problem with the Vis smoothing Jim?anyone else getting this.The main problem is that whilst on approach, the bad vis at an airport only kicks in at very low level, when almost at the runway instead of say 15 miles away from the airport!Thanks again for the tip AUA,Neil

[JSkorna 137]

Hi Neil,If you are above a certain altitude and say 15 miles away you are going to be above the visibility layer in FS and it is not going to be seen.Thanks,

[Guest TIYCS]

Hi Neil,If you are above a certain altitude and say 15 miles away you are going to be above the visibility layer in FS and it is not going to be seen.Thanks,

Ummm... I don't understand what that response has to do with the posted issue at all. ?? Not only has Neil posted repeatedly, sometimes in the same post, that it is happening whilst on approach to the runway at very low altitude, he has posted numerous screenshots clearly showing the airport/runway directly in front of the aircraft. (I'm interested in the outcome of this as I would like to purchase ASA again if it's current issues are ever able to be satisfactorilly fixed.)

[Guest keiron]

I agree with the OP, this is definitley a problem. The only way I have managed to stop this from happening is by enabling the visibility smoothing option within the FSUIPC.Even so at cruise alitutde, i'll get the haze layer appearing and dissapearing very often. Sometimes its almost as if i'll be in a complete white out then BAM back to normal again..before it does it again and again.

[NeilC 3]

Hi Jim,Just to clarify, here is all that I am after.When the weather at Hamburg is given as 4000m, I don't see Hamburg airport (or the runway) until I am 4000m away from it.This means that if I am 10 miles away and everything is crystal clear and I can see the runway - THIS IS WRONG!This means that if I am at 2000ft 4 miles out and everything is still crystal clear - THIS IS WRONG!At the moment I do get the correct VIS for the airport, but most of the time, only at a point when I am sitting directly on top of it (see pictures at top of posting which show what happens from takeoff in bad vis, a quick circuit climbing out of the vis layer (usually about 10000ft) then descending back into it minutes later it does not appear until around 400ft!)Are you aware of this bug, or is it once more system specific?ThanksNeil

[JSkorna 137]

Hi Neil,I agree that you are getting visibility changes very late in your flights. We cannot reproduce this no matter what we do with our settings or computers, or the weather in ASA. We can follow your steps to the t and yet it still doesn't take place. This doesn't mean there is or isn't a bug, only that we cannot reproduce it, and it doesn't mean that we will stop looking into it, we will.Do you agree that there is a certain altitude that the visibility layer disappears in FS and that at 15 miles away from an airport a person could be above that altitude? That altitude is hard coded into FS04. We cannot raise it or lower it. That is why I asked about that. If you are at 12K and 15 miles out, no matter what the airport visibility is, you will see the airport. Why? Because you are above the visibility layer.Now, the haze layer is something completely different and is not the same as the visibility layer and I know you and I are not talking about that layer, but others are.What I just did is went to ESMS where there is a 4SM vis. First I used ASA and flew around a bit and then I closed ASA down and started ASv6.5 and flew around a bit again. For both flights the visibility acted the same way. It went away at approximately the same altitude and re-appeared at the same altitude.One thing to note is that the visibility layer is one of the last things that the graphics engine in FS draws.For your system, please try with vis smoothing On and then Off and see if one way is better than the other.Thanks,

[NeilC 3]

Thanks Jim,and thanks for not just giving up on this one (must be tempting).I understand that if you are too high you do not get the low vis, but generally the vis layer seems to expire at between 6000 and 10000ft. BUT, unfortunately on my system it doesn't always come back when descending through this altitude.When on base leg I would normally be about 15nm out, but at about 3000-4000ft AGL (using radar contact). At this level it should be working fine, but as in the pictures at the top of the thread, sometimes it doesn't come back until 400ft (so around 0.5 miles out).I will do some more experimenting and see if I can nail it, then let you know.Thanks again,Neilps. just one more question: when I change an option in ASA and save options (say disabling Vis smoothing), do I need to restart ASA or FS9 for this to take effect, or does it happen immediately?

[JSkorna 137]

Hi,OK thanks for more information.Yes, do a restart of ASA and FS. There are some values that did need to be cleared out.Also, when you thing you are below the vis layer and it is not showing, pause your FS and see what happens like in the next minute or two.Thanks,

[NeilC 3]

Hi Jim,I am starting to believe it is an ASA FS9 connection problem.First: I set up some simple weather using the FS9 WX engine. CALM 2000m no cloud. In FS you set up dimensions of the Vis layer, so I selected surface to 6000ft.I did an hours worth of all possible flying and slewing (to try and catch it out) BUT, every time, the vis layer disappeared when flying above 6000ft and reappeared instantly when descending (or slewing) through 6000ft.IT WORKED PERFECTLY!Then I restarted it all, set up the same wx using ASA WX Config (global).First thing, it took a long time after starting FS9 for the low vis to actually appear.I took off and climbed all the way up to 20,000ft and I was still in white out. At this point I gave up and started descending again. At 14,000ft on the way down, the vis layer suddenly disappeared. It then reappeared at 6000ft as it was supposed to.I then did some further testing and it was quite random as to when the vis layer appeared/disappeared. This was all with the vis smoothing box deselected. With the smoothing box selected there was no noticeable difference. It just seems that ASA seems to be very delayed in commuting changes to FS9 sometimes (even with global weather). Using the FS9 wx engine all changes are instantaneous. How do I fix this? I just want the vis to be as it is set in ASA.ThanksHope this may help,Neil

[iainsmith 9]

I agree with the OP, this is definitley a problem. The only way I have managed to stop this from happening is by enabling the visibility smoothing option within the FSUIPC.Even so at cruise alitutde, i'll get the haze layer appearing and dissapearing very often. Sometimes its almost as if i'll be in a complete white out then BAM back to normal again..before it does it again and again.

Yes I get exactly the same thing using Build 394 and FS9.1.Iain Smith

[Tigh 6]

I'm still using ASX with FSX SP2 but I can concur with the observations made by the previous posters.I normally fly online and have VATSIM downloads checked to get the correct weather for my departure and destination airports. The weather at my departure airport is always correct but sometimes on approach to my destination I get the exact same effects described above - the visibility change is normally accompanied by a winds shift as well - it's as though ASX/FSX is late in drawing in the weather. However, sometimes I set up my aircraft to "Pause at top of descent" which I may come back to 30mins - 2 hours later. Whenever I do this conditions at my destination are always accurate - visibilty, winds, etc. with no shifting or sudden drawing in at 200AGL. It feels to me that the weather engine/FSX combo is too slow to update weather as your aircraft moves into a different region. This remains the same for me whether "Force High Proirity Processes" in ticked or not or if ASX is run over a network or on the FS machine.Dan Parkin.