Getting to the point where I have my fps high enough that I can start adding weather. I'm looking for a program that can be either payware or shareware. Is there a program that kind of sets the bar for weather programs, like captain sim's 727 or the pmdg 737 (among others) do for aircraft? Thx for any info...billg

Many users enjoy Active Sky 2004, here:http://www.hifisim.com/There is also a dedicated forum here at AVSIM.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

On the freeware side there is FSMetarhttp://personal.telefonica.terra.es/web/fsmetar/Not quite the feature set of the payware offerings but it does the job.

I use ActiveSky and love it. The forum here is an excellent source of support. I've tried the payware and freeware offerings and I prefer AS2004 over them all.I've had fewer problems with this addon than many others and, when I have had a problem Damian and Jim are quick to respond ( sometimes BEFORE the ink dries on my email )Just MHO,Vic

I purchased and used Activesky and did not like it very much at all. It does not fix the winds aloft bug in FS2004 and you will experience very abrupt wind transitions that will either crash your plane or make for quite an unrealistic simming experience. In terms of FPS, Activesky used more frames than any other weather add-on I've used, particularly in overcast conditions where the program tries to 'double up cloud layers' to form a true overcast sky when conditions call for it. The cloud transitions in Activesky do not work all the time either, you will get 'pop up' clouds frequently or see entire layers disappear instantly. In short, Activesky is a very buggy program that was never beta tested properly before it was released. It's problems may or may not be resolved so I would contemplate that a while at least. Do visit the Activesky forum here at AVSIM and read through the threads there, very informative.In all honesty I think the default FS2004 online weather is more usable and it's free :) I would recommend giving the freeware FSMetar a try though, it sounds like it has a lot of potential.

I will also warn you to stay away from Activesky - this product is very misleading and DOES NOT perform according to specifications! As J. French mentions and I fully concur, the winds aloft issue inherent with Activesky 2004 will wreck your simming experience. My personal opinion is that this program is a complete and utter waste of money. The advertising for Activesky 2004 borders on downright fraud. It's a miserable excuse for a weather add-on.

With all due respect to the payware weather software (I own both FSMeteo and AS2004), I've now come around to using only COF default weather. I mostly use the default dynamic real weather, but when, as is sometimes the case, I notice slowdowns due to the real-time online updates, I simply switch to the static real weather, which makes flying even smoother.So for me, the default is good enough.

Bill,I own ActiveSky 2004 and all I can say is that I really like it very much. In fact I am using it for 95% of my flights. It consistently gives me the weather I expect from reading the METAR or from what I see outside. The views I often get our just stunning, just like the views in reality are sometimes breathtaking. What I also like about the program is the fact that it gives me the possibility to do a proper preflight planning. I load my flight plan into AS2004 and study the winds aloft which I am going to encounter. I think that loading the flight plan really helps in getting rid of wind shift problems. Also in fs9.cfg under [weather] I set: TurbulenceScale=0.300000 As I said I am using AS2004 most of the time and that includes flights in PMDG's great B737NG. No crashing or falling out of the sky because of ridiculous wind shifts for me.When you read the manual of AS2004 you will see that you can change many settings to your liking or to accomodate your computer's specifications. For instance, you can choose wether or not to have double overcast layers. It is your trade-off of visuals versus performance. Well, if you do not care about reading a manual, even if it is very well written, you might miss many great features.Finally, I would like to mention the great service and dedication to an (IMHO) excellent product by the developer, Damian Clark. Ik know he is constantly working on further improvements, but I am already extremely satisfied with what I got so far.My 2 cents.Henri

ActiveSky2004 may not eliminate the wind shear bug all of the time, but it reduces it to tolerable levels some of the time. I call that a definite improvement. With FS9 weather you'll just get the wind shears all of the time and you can forget about Microsoft ever fixing it, unless they do it in FS10. Also, I was constantly getting unrealistic visibility changes (unlimited to zero, back to unlimited) with FS9 weather. I have not seen that once with AS2004. I won't fly without it!

Henri,Nothing personal but I have to say that I have NEVER used Activesky and not experienced huge, unrealistic wind transitions. There is NOTHING that can be adjusted to fix the problem, Activesky is a flawed piece of software. I think yourself and a lot of people simply tolerate the wind shifts if they don't cause your aircraft to crash. Activesky in my experience makes climb profiles absolute hell, wind bashing the aircraft and causing climb rates to fluctuate from 1500 fpm to 10000 fpm, ect. Just wondering Henri, are you a beta tester for HIFI Sim and have you recieved free software from them? IMHO this slants bias on this forum, again, nothing personal, just wondering.

"ActiveSky2004 may not eliminate the wind shear bug all of the time, but it reduces it to tolerable levels some of the time."Ummm, I suppose this is subject to interpretation. But I think either a program works like it's supposed to or it does not, it's hard for me to dwell in the gray areas like this. If I spend money for a weather add-on to improve the winds situation in FS9, I expect it to address the problem effectively. I do not feel Activesky does this in my personal opinion.

Hi again,I see you're up to more misleading bashing of our product every time someone asks about it...Please prove where it does not perform to specifications. Borders on downright fraud? Again, please explain. Just because we can't fix FS2004's counter-clockwise ascending wind direction shift problem, you claim it is worse than default weather and is utterly useless? Again, where is the misleading information?I would prefer to refrain from posting, but since you have taken it upon yourself to bash us when a person has asked for opinions (you know, you could have mentioned your negative experiences in a much more appropriate way), I felt compelled. Lets please keep our posts HONEST and not throw misleading and attacking shots.Those interested in this product, please keep in mind that we have all come to expect this response from this (and two other) users anytime someone asks about AS2004. Their numerous posts have been inappropriate, unfair, misleading and offensive - and the motives are questionable. The only truth spoken is that the wind shift problem inherent to FS9 is not solved, as this is not possible by any add-on. There ARE a few bugs in version 1.0 but we are releasing an update within days. We have numerous options that attempt to lessen these problems (many users can attest to its effectiveness, a few cannot). Please keep this in mind, and listen to other user's opinions as well as the negative ones.Had to set the record straight.. Thanks for listening. "Crash", I challenge you to tactfully explain your beef with us.. As of now it seems you are vengefully attacking at every opportunity. Since you visit these forums very often, you should know I am a reasonable person, and willing to listen and come up with solutions - just about anything to satisfy our users. Your posts are completely out of line and are getting old. I think I am not the only one who agrees.Sorry for the long post...Damian Clark

Hi Naji,You can also disable updates in AS2004 by not using online update mode. You can also set your suppression altitude above your cruise altitude (say 45000ft) and you'll never get any wx processing (zero processing, zero stutters) while airborne. This would be much better than FS9 default static mode, with much more complete and timely data (archives too). Not to mention the other AS2004 features. Hope that helps...Damian ClarkHiFi Simulation SoftwareDeveloper of ActiveSkyhttp://www.hifisim.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/images/as2004betateam.jpg

"The only truth spoken is that the wind shift problem inherent to FS9 is not solved, as this is not possible by any add-on. There ARE a few bugs in version 1.0"Thank you very much Damian, just had to hear this directly from the developer of Activesky himself. Finally, this clarifies a lot of ambiguity surrounding what your program can and cannot do. I appreciate your candor and honesty in this instance. This is the most straightforward admission you've given so far and it was ultimately all I was after. Honesty is always the best policy and wins you respect when you are upfront right away.

I find ActiveSky 2004 to be what it says it is. I do notice the occasional "popping" and this appears due to the vis layer affecting the way in which 3D surfaces poke through at different moments. Weather patterns are usually quite complex and believable. I notice less erratic wind action than with default FS weather. You DO need plenty of ponies to run AS2004 the way you would really like to. Most of the time I run AS2004 and performance is decent. Not always though, so in those situations I change over to default FS weather. Noel