I've got REX and ASE, so don't really have the need for a freebie alternative, but I nevertheless applaud your efforts at creating and offering such a freebie Dave. Good on you.Al

A freeware weather program? Seems like a first to me, pretty impressive and looking at the features gives me this thought too.Although I'm a ASE user (and really like it) I will give this a try, just to applaud to your efforts. The Simconnect dependency is a big Pro in my eyes. You don't have to own widefs or something, just enable Simconnect on the network, which is free too.Thanks for your work.From your page

I can't see the end of the world anymore.

sounds good :( and I know what you mean.I've installed it. Pretty straightforward and easy setup, it works out of the box. RAM consumption is far lower than ASE's, 22MB to over 100 here but ASE of course brings in its larger interface and featureset.I will test the function of your nice program on some flights in the next days. Thanks again for your efforts on this.

great workA friend of mine get an error message: Exception received - 14 weather invalid metar receivedAny ideas?

Had another report about this today so thought I'd investigate.Turns out its a faulty Metar from Yellowstone lake, Jeppeson and NOAA are showing the same so my assumption is there is a problem at Yellowstone.This is the Metar2010/11/12 15:36 KP60 121528� AU�O V�B04�7046tKT M1/4SM FZFG REQ CYSMTRP60 Note it has yesterday's date on it and it's got some weird characters in it which might be caused by a loose cable/modem etc. The weird characters are what's causing it to fail.If anyone reading this in the states could ring Yellowstone up and says that someone in the UK has had his afternoon disturbed by this fault and could they go down and wiggle any loose leads I'd appreciate it!

Very curious, when I go to download from the link provided, it downloads a 620KB setup.msi file. Is this correct?

Very curious, when I go to download from the link provided, it downloads a 620KB setup.msi file. Is this correct?

Yes, what were you expecting?

Yes, what were you expecting?

Like, open_clouds.zip or open_clouds.exe. Something at least defining the program. Thanks.

Like, open_clouds.zip or open_clouds.exe. Something at least defining the program. Thanks.

MSI files are window installer packages.It's a pretty neat way of distributing everything in one file and has other benefits.See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Installer for more info.

Is there a way to enable/disable this or is it always on? I ask because I would like to compare performance 'before and after'.

You can either compare it to FSX generated "real" weather or switch it off by closing the program.A neat utility. Even if it can't compete with ASE, it is much better than default FSX. Kudos to the developper.

You can either compare it to FSX generated "real" weather or switch it off by closing the program.A neat utility. Even if it can't compete with ASE, it is much better than default FSX. Kudos to the developper.

Exactly right.The program itself doesn't take much cpu, once the initial weather is loaded it then checks every 10 minutes for updates or if it needs different weather because you've moved.New Metars are then loaded every 1 second and you may see a flicker when this happens.The real performance issue is what does the extra clouds and visibility do to fsx performance and that's why I've given you the check boxes to select what you want.If testing just push the button again to reload with your changes.I've found the changes to be minimal but I am running a fairly fast pc.

What are the proper proceedures for using this app. The reason I ask is that everywhere I have tried this I am always taking off in reduced visability then while climbing out it goes clear or clearer. I have tried selecting the different oprions but it is always the same result. Thanks, Jim

Hi, love this program. Thanks for developing this and sharing with the community. I'm getting a Exception received - 14 weather invalid metar received in Washington State only. Everywhere else so far works perfectly. In Washington so far I'm getting the exception error in KPAE, KBFI, and KGEG. The first two on the west side of the Cascade range and the last one on the far eastern part of the state. Any suggestions??CaptMac

Fantastic app, thank you very much for making this! Now of to testing some more

Hi, love this program. Thanks for developing this and sharing with the community. I'm getting a Exception received - 14 weather invalid metar received in Washington State only. Everywhere else so far works perfectly. In Washington so far I'm getting the exception error in KPAE, KBFI, and KGEG. The first two on the west side of the Cascade range and the last one on the far eastern part of the state. Any suggestions??CaptMac

It is one bad Metar in Yellowstone Lake. that is causing the error.Weather everywhere else is unaffected.

Exactly right.The program itself doesn't take much cpu, once the initial weather is loaded it then checks every 10 minutes for updates or if it needs different weather because you've moved.New Metars are then loaded every 1 second and you may see a flicker when this happens.The real performance issue is what does the extra clouds and visibility do to fsx performance and that's why I've given you the check boxes to select what you want.If testing just push the button again to reload with your changes.I've found the changes to be minimal but I am running a fairly fast pc.

Tks, I just now found out about the program window. I installed it but never looked for a desktop icon, duhhhh my bad :(