I'd really like to find a good weather program for FS2004 but there seems to be precious few out there that do what they advertise, namely get around FS2004's own internal weather problems. Activesky 2004 comes closest to what I'm looking for (at least in terms of the hype factor), but I'm kind of paranoid about buying it after going through the Activesky 2004 forum threads. A lot of folks are having trouble with cloud transitions, abrupt winds aloft shifts, visibility issues, overcast skies not showing up right, and destination weather not staying the same. The only reason I would want to buy a weather program for FS2004 is to circumvent these very issues. If there is no weather program that can, including Activesky 2004, frankly I'd be a lot happier going back to FS2002 and FSMeteo. So I'm just soliciting collective opinions from anybody who owns Activesky 2004. Are you happy with it, does it truly do what it advertises? What are your dislikes? How much better does it work compared to FS2004 default online weather? Also, from experience, I know that most companies are always saying there will be a patch to fix this and that, ect. I am only interested in what the program is like as of right now if I am going to purchase it. Patches seldom fix as much as they are advertised to do I think.Thanks for your opinion!

Activesky essencially puts a band-aid on the gaping wound that is FS9 dafault weather but that's about all. I can't personally recommend it as it does not really address the basic problems with FS9 weather, only tones down the problems somewhat. You definitely will need the registered version of FSUPIC ($20 bucks US), to get smooth visibility and barometric transitions in any event. Activesky makes my Athlon 2400 XP system stutter too, along with killing off FPS. I like the default FS9 online weather better despite the goofy winds aloft transitions. I'm not saying it's perfect cause it's not but it is less of a hassle than Activesky and it runs a heck of a lot smoother. It's been 6 months since the release of FS9. I can honestly say that I don't think the weather system in the new sim will ever really work right no matter what add-on you try to use. It's a basically flawed weather system and Microsoft has no intention of patching it of course. You are right about one thing though Bill, FS2002 starts to look a little more enticing after you try to fool with FS9's screw up weather engine!!!!!

I've been running ActiveSky 2004 via WideFS and FSUIPC registered for about a week now. Too soon for me to say how much better it is than the default FS2004 weather. The Active Radar is pretty slick, and so far as I know, has no equal.There's a dedicated ActiveSky forum where you can find many more opinions:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=171-- WaltRunning FS2004 at 1280x960x32Intel Pentium 4, 2.0 GHzWindows XP Pro512MB PC800 RDRAM,8100128MB ATI Radeon 9600 ProCATALYST Windows XP 3.10 video driverDirectX 9.0b19 inch Samsung SyncMaster 955DF MonitorSound Blaster Audigy2 ZSCreative I-Trigue 2.1 3300 SpeakersMS ForceFeedback 2 joystick

What do you mean by the 'gaping wound that is the default FS9 weather'? Just curious

I am an AS2004 user and while not perfect certainly improves FS9 weather. There is a maintenance release due out soon.In the meantime, you might wish to try this freeware program which has just been upgraded to FS9 compat and has added some features according to its site here:http://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/fsmetar/It includes freeware registration access for FSUIPC limited functionality. The site includes links to its discussion forum. I did use it under FS2K2 prior to its increased functionality.

FS9 default weather = no true overcast skies + slam your head against the cockpit wall winds aloft transitions. I use the gaping wound analogy because every weather add-on made thus far for FS9 is like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound and hoping it gets better :)The weather engine for FS9 needs to be completely overhauled in the long run and I don't think any add-on will ever really be able to tame it.

I have generally been happy with AS2004. As others have stated, it does not replace the FS9 weather engine, only attempts to reduce some of the problems it causes. For me the leading irritant was abrupt wind aloft changes, followed by unrealistic visibility changes (e.g., flying along in CAVU conditions, suddenly going to zero visibility for several miles, followed by an instant return to CAVU). Up until yesterday I thought AS2004 had reduced the wind shear problem to tolerable levels, but the last couple flights I have experienced some pretty bad shears in spite of route-based wind smoothing, and was lucky I didn't lose the wings from the sudden jump over Vne. And last week I encountered barometric pressure drops to below 18 at one point which was very frustrating. Nevertheless I believe AS2004 is a considerable improvement over the built-in weather, and I don't regret the purchase. A patch that will hopefully address these and other issues is due out soon. Why not wait and see if it clears up some of the problems the current users are having?

Thanks for all the observations guys, this helps me a lot. I think I'll hold off purchasing for now as overall the Activesky program seems to have too many problems at this point. It's very cool that I can query users of the forum like this and gain a lot of insight before plunking down the bucks.Thanks again.

Hi Bill,We just released an update (non-official) to solve the main issues folks were having. Also note that a vast majority of users are very satisfied with AS2004, based on feedback. Come check out our forum for more info...And James, please try the update..... We've improved things quite a bit in the departments you have complained about...Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg

You guys just need to go in FSUIPC and change the 'Smooth Wind Changes" option under the 'Winds' tab to 50 or above (look for the text stating 'FOR VERY SLOW CHANGES', the bottom box on the page).

Hello Damian,No thank you regarding trying the update. Your forum has scared me away from Activesky! Everybody is having the same problems over and over with visibility and pop up clouds, it seems worse with the update, not better. I think I will save my money and buy the registered version of FSUPIC instead. I can buy Reality XP's upcoming weather radar too and have my cake and eat it too :) Best Wishes

Registered FSUIPC can only smooth winds and visibility for GLOBAL weather, not local conditions or real weather. What this means: if you download real weather using FS9s interface and jeppesson or FSMetar freeware, FSUIPC smoothing will do *nothing* for local conditions...fwiw.

While I won't say its an essential addon, I would highly recommend that you not be scared away by the comments made on the AS forum. The weather is MUCH better with AS2k4 than with default real weather. many more cloud layers, and much more reliable data from damian's server. That alone is worth the price, imo. Further, as development of this software continues, the problems people have with it and FS9 in general will be improved upon greatly. I can't go back to the FS9 real weather after flying with AS2k4. I have never personally seen any of the cloud-popping that others are documenting on the AS forum - wind issues, yes - but between AS2k4 and FSUIPC, there has been tremendous improvement over FS9 default. And no, a registered version of FSUIPC is not required to reap the benefits of visibility and wind smoothing with AS24k.At least wait a month and check the forums again. And buy RXPs weather radar. You'll be selling yourself short by discounting AS2k4 entirely at this point.Best,sg

Hi,Well that shows right there how the forum is as bad as it is good. Remember it is a support forum, and typically 90% of the posts there come when folks have problems (not when they are using it trouble free), which based on percentages, is pretty rare. There are some things we are trying to IMPROVE upon in the FS9 bug/limitation department and things have been getting better, thank you, not worse. And that is an alpha in-development update (where folks report testing results and find bugs as planned), some changes are experimental. The advertised features DO work and they work well for the vast majority. Also note that over 80% of "problems" end up being users not reading the manual or understanding features/real world weather, or other problems not even remotely related to AS2004.FWIW We just won an award for best weather add-on as well. But thanks for the input, sorry you won't be trying AS2004.-Damian

Your wrong... I use the latest FSMetro with FS9 and if I adjust the settings I mentioned above I don't have the wind gust problem... You do have to have a registered copy of FSUIPC though.