I've been out of the loop for quite sometime, and am just jumping back into the NGX/FSX.  I see a new weather program has been released called Opus, would it be a better choice than Active Sky for the NGX?  I've read Opus doesn't handle winds aloft as well as Active Sky?  Also, considering REX for the textures, is it possible to use the Opus/Active Sky weather engine while using REX textures?  Last time I researched this, REX wasn't the best choice for a weather engine, but had great textures.

 

What's everyone take on this?  Also, boy am I looking forward to PFPX!!  Will be a dream come true for the NGX!

 

 

You can use any textures with all weather generators, so all good on the REX with AS/Opus front.

 

Some swear by Opus, others by AS. Personally, I use Opus for flights under 10k' and AS above it, mostly for the winds aloft thing, and both with AS weather textures.

 

Mike

Hello Ty,

 

You have to decide yourself which one you like best!

 

I use Opus and REX Essential but I use Opus for weather and I am very happy with.

 

You can download a DEMO first.

 

Read the manual first for the best settings.

 

Take a look at this:

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/402738-some-nice-shots-pmdg-737-ngx-with-opus-live-weather/

 

Good luck with finding which one is best for you!

 

Robert

Can't speak for Opus as I don't have it.

 

I used to be a REX user, but with all changes (REX Ess, REX Ess Plus, REX Ess Plus + SP...) the winds on approach are still erratic.

So, for me it is no more REX but fully ASE which doesn't seem to have those issues and injecting weather is smoother.

 

So, I am more happy with ASE - should have bought in the first place but who knew back then (REX + REX v2 weren't plagued by some of the issues that REX Ess. has today)

Active Sky 2012 (better menu´s) + REX

I've used ASA, then ASE, and now AS2012. all of which were improvements on their last respective version. I have not used Opus so I can't say anything good or bad about it, but as it stands now, I love AS2012 and have no reason to switch to anything else. It gives you a choice of three modes to use, standard depiction, smooth cloud transitions, or DWC (direct wind control- ie. wind smoothing) mode (good for airline flying), historical weather downloads going back to 2007 and a flight map/planner that you can import your route from FSBuild or another flight planner into and it will give you the winds aloft and temps that you can plug into the FMC of the NGX. Does many other things as well plus it also includes sky, cloud, moon, water, and lightning textures (like REX does), as well as a few different thunder and precip sounds you can install. Plus if you have two computers, you can run AS2012 on another computer and network it to your FSX computer.

 

Due to having the three modes listed above, you can use something like DWC when flying the NGX since it will smooth the wind directions in cruise to prevent the dreaded S-turns, and when your not  in the NGX and are flying some low and slow g/a you could use standard or smooth cloud transition mode for that type of flying. It's got a lot of ways to configure it for different styles/type of flying and is one of the things I like most about it.

 

Sean Campbell

Been using  rexe  from day I  with no issues  at all , so no  need  for  mix  and match at all

I was a long term Active Sky user, going way back over several generations of their product and mostly flying tube-liners.

I bought Opus a year ago (?) and have no intention of going back - its depiction of weather & especially low visibility is much more "dense" - that's the only word I can think of.

There are two things Opus doesn't do that AS does.

Firstly, it doesn't fix weather at your destination airport before you take-off, so you can get confusion between you, AI traffic, the weather and the active runway when you arrive. But then, fixing arrival weather in advance was always a cheat anyway.

The second is that it doesn't have the lurking temperature anomalies that AS does. In sophisticated add-ons like PMDG, they can leave your engines gasping for thrust and do severe damage to your ability to maintain altitude and airspeed.

Somebody mentioned winds aloft - I'm not sure what was meant but I haven't come across in Opus is those rapid wind shifts that used to rip your wings off elsewhere. Opus does have a smoothing facility and it seems to work.

One thing that Opus does have which I've only just started to use is an active camera facility so that you can switch views around the 737NGX VC by allocating joystick buttons. First impressions are that it's very useful.

One caveat is that AS may have upped their game recently in response to Opus but in summary, as an ex AS man, it's Opus all the way for me now.

Ex AS2012. Currently using Opus. Btw, the part about Opus not handling winds aloft properly is not true. 

Can you get forecasts aloft on Opus these days? Have to admit I've not kept up with the changes lately. Have only just brought it up to 3.0. Sorry to sidetrack...

Can you get forecasts aloft on Opus these days? Have to admit I've not kept up with the changes lately. Have only just brought it up to 3.0. Sorry to sidetrack...

 

No.

 

Michael Cubine

I have REX and Opus. AS tested many times. Opus, period.

 

 

No.
 
Michael Cubine

 

Are you sure? They do have GRIB data or is that something different?

No.

 

Michael Cubine

 

anyone a good free wind aloft forecast program?

Can you get forecasts aloft on Opus these days?

 

YES, you get forecast winds aloft. If somebody tells you differently, they don't know what they are talking about.

 

Winds aloft in Opus is based on realworld data and it works perfectly.

 

Opus just doesn't show you the winds aloft directly in a fancy window from within the Opus menu, but you can easily get the forecast winds aloft pictured from real world aviation weather charts and that's also how real pilots see the forecast winds aloft pictured.