Not sure how you're looking at this, but what I see is what I expect.

 

For example, I set historic wx to 4/15/14 at 21:50, look at conditions at KGXY and I get the METAR from 20:55 - obviously the most recent.  If I move historic time to 22:00, I see the 21:55 update as I'd expect. 

 

Note if you check the box to force historic time to sim time you may have issues after crossing time zones and so on.  This, as I understand it, is an FSX issue.

 

Scott

 

Actually it is still screwed up. If you are at 2200 the weather is from 2155, all fine. But if you fly for an hour the weather stays at 2155 until 2400. It stops updating. I just tried it at KOLM and when I set the time to 2150 I got weather from 2055 but once it went to 2200 nothing updated.

Not sure how you're looking at this, but what I see is what I expect.

 

For example, I set historic wx to 4/15/14 at 21:50, look at conditions at KGXY and I get the METAR from 20:55 - obviously the most recent.  If I move historic time to 22:00, I see the 21:55 update as I'd expect. 

 

Note if you check the box to force historic time to sim time you may have issues after crossing time zones and so on.  This, as I understand it, is an FSX issue.

 

Scott

Does FS Real Time fix this issue Scott ?

Actually it is still screwed up. If you are at 2200 the weather is from 2155, all fine. But if you fly for an hour the weather stays at 2155 until 2400. It stops updating. I just tried it at KOLM and when I set the time to 2150 I got weather from 2055 but once it went to 2200 nothing updated.

 

How do you have your ASN download interval set? 

 

Again, mine works exactly as expected.  Once I set historic time, DL and check wx (which grabs the latest current METAR for my location), I can see the active date/time at the bottom of the ASN screen advancing forward from the initial time.  Wx downloads periodically (I have mine set to pull every 15 minutes which is, I believe, the default) and if the METAR has updated since the last DL based on the current time, I see that reflected in the sim and in the current conditions in ASN at the airport of choice.

 

A couple of things to note here - for the US, METARS typically update about every hour, and most seem to do so at about xx:55, but there are variations and occasionally a station will fail to report, report early, or report late so there are chances of variability, plus I'm sure the archive has some arbitrary granularity as well.  And you have to factor in how often you're asking the software to pull new data.  But within the constraints of data and when it becomes available, it works quite well for me.

 

 

 

Does FS Real Time fix this issue Scott ?

 

Apparently so, and it's mentioned in the ASN manual, but I've never tried it.  In my case, I just leave the option unchecked in ASN, let the wx advance in realtime and don't worry to much if sim-time wanders a bit off.

 

Scott

How do you have your ASN download interval set? 

 

Again, mine works exactly as expected.  Once I set historic time, DL and check wx (which grabs the latest current METAR for my location), I can see the active date/time at the bottom of the ASN screen advancing forward from the initial time.  Wx downloads periodically (I have mine set to pull every 15 minutes which is, I believe, the default) and if the METAR has updated since the last DL based on the current time, I see that reflected in the sim and in the current conditions in ASN at the airport of choice.

 

A couple of things to note here - for the US, METARS typically update about every hour, and most seem to do so at about xx:55, but there are variations and occasionally a station will fail to report, report early, or report late so there are chances of variability, plus I'm sure the archive has some arbitrary granularity as well.  And you have to factor in how often you're asking the software to pull new data.  But within the constraints of data and when it becomes available, it works quite well for me.

 

 

 

 

Apparently so, and it's mentioned in the ASN manual, but I've never tried it.  In my case, I just leave the option unchecked in ASN, let the wx advance in realtime and don't worry to much if sim-time wanders a bit off.

 

Scott

 

I am talking about Historic metar, not live Wx. ASN only archives one METAR per weather station per hour. And if you set the historic weather time to 2100 and it downloads a metar from 2100 it will only update to 2200 at 2300. I have tested it many times and this is how historic metar in ASN behaves. You are pretty much always 1 to 2 hours behind the correct weather.

 

If you want to test this just go to say CYYZ and set the sim time to 1200z and in ASN choose "lock historical time to sim time" and then go to 128x game speed setting and look at the currently loaded metar. I guarantee it will not go to 1300 until 1400.

 

 

I am talking about Historic metar, not live Wx. ASN only archives one METAR per weather station per hour.

 

I fly probably 75% of the time with historic wx - yes, that's what I'm talking about as well.

 

I guess I'm struggling to understand your expectations (especially given your example - 128x with it locked to sim time is a test case which seems like its trying to break things).  You say that ASN only archives one METAR per station per hour, and that's absolutely correct and as expected, as stations generally only report once per hour.  More rapid data isn't typically reported into the system.  I'm pulling a real world briefing via ForeFlight as I type this at 18:40Z for PAJN, and the METAR that I'm getting is from 17:53 (the new one became available, not surprisingly, around 18:55 or so for the with a release time of 18:53).

 

If I start a flight with historic dynamic wx mode at 22:50 at an airport that last reported at 21:55, I'm going to get wx based on the 21:55 METAR because that's the most recent one available.  Because I have ASN set to pull new data every 15 minutes, I won't see the expected 22:55 update until about 23:05, as that's the next time I'm going to ask for an update after the new METAR for the station becomes valid.

 

The system can only work with the data it has, coupled with the frequency at which you ask for updated data.

 

Scott

I fly probably 75% of the time with historic wx - yes, that's what I'm talking about as well.

 

I guess I'm struggling to understand your expectations (especially given your example - 128x with it locked to sim time is a test case which seems like its trying to break things).  You say that ASN only archives one METAR per station per hour, and that's absolutely correct and as expected, as stations generally only report once per hour.  More rapid data isn't typically reported into the system.  I'm pulling a real world briefing via ForeFlight as I type this at 18:40Z for PAJN, and the METAR that I'm getting is from 17:53 (the new one became available, not surprisingly, around 18:55 or so for the with a release time of 18:53).

 

If I start a flight with historic dynamic wx mode at 22:50 at an airport that last reported at 21:55, I'm going to get wx based on the 21:55 METAR because that's the most recent one available.  Because I have ASN set to pull new data every 15 minutes, I won't see the expected 22:55 update until about 23:05, as that's the next time I'm going to ask for an update after the new METAR for the station becomes valid.

 

The system can only work with the data it has, coupled with the frequency at which you ask for updated data.

 

Scott

 

Having more than one metar reported per hour is completely normal. I know that at EGLL it is reported every 30 minutes. In Canada we have SPECI reports that happen when there is a weather change between hourly reports. Weather can change quickly. It can go from below minimums to above minimums to below minimums in 15 minutes. Not having that happen when using historical weather is just dumb.

 

I ask for weather updates every 5 minutes. Explain this to me: https://www.dropbox.com/s/3mwxeejxbntuwcv/asnwx.png

 

That is ASN updating the weather 2 hours after the current metar is reported. And you know what? It is updating the metar to the one from an hour ago. I am pretty much always at least one hour behind when using historical metar. Please explain that to me. What am I doing wrong? Nothing, ASN is just borked. I don't run at 128x speed ever or even 2x speed.

 

Next time you fly, and if you make 1 hour+ flights, look at the currently loaded metar. It will be at least an hour behind.

 

Do this right now. Go into ASN and set weather date and time to 26th of April 1557z and look at the weather at CYYZ. I am getting last report at 1400z.

At first I was hesitant to by 'another' weather engine, I had ASE, then REX after a while, then eventually Opus, each one bringing new 'stuff'.  I got alot of use out of each one.  I bit the bullet on ASN after seeing the discount from owning ASE.  It is a significant jump in depth, I would go so far as to call it the 'accusim' of weather engines. 

 

Cheers

TJ

 

 

Not having that happen when using historical weather is just dumb.

 

Historical weather is achieved once per hour, AFTER it becomes the inactive METAR. After following your posts I would say that ASN is working correctly. Create a ticket at the HiFi Support site and see what they have to say about this. 

That is ASN updating the weather 2 hours after the current metar is reported. And you know what? It is updating the metar to the one from an hour ago. I am pretty much always at least one hour behind when using historical metar. Please explain that to me. What am I doing wrong? Nothing, ASN is just borked. I don't run at 128x speed ever or even 2x speed.

 

MIke, I'm not suggesting you're doing something wrong - I'm trying to help you understand what you're seeing and why things aren't what you expect, as what you've reported does not match what I've seen as an ASN user since pretty much day 1.  28x with sim time syncing was your example, and many of the things you said you were seeing (ASN was over 2 hours behind or was simply not updating historic wx at all) I'm not seeing in my heavy use of the product in that mode since release.

 

ASN is not generically running 2 hours behind with its historic wx, and it's not "just borked", but your specific example (see below) does help to shed some light on what's going on here.

 

 

 

Having more than one metar reported per hour is completely normal. I know that at EGLL it is reported every 30 minutes. In Canada we have SPECI reports that happen when there is a weather change between hourly reports. Weather can change quickly. It can go from below minimums to above minimums to below minimums in 15 minutes. Not having that happen when using historical weather is just dumb.

 

Yes, It happens, but its not the norm and what you're seeing has nothing to do with real-time vs historic data.  As I mentioned earlier, I don't know what the ultimate resolution is on what is stored historically, but the example you show isn't a specific historic flaw.  Had you been flying in real time earlier today at this time, you would've seen the same thing.  Again, see below...

 

 

 

Do this right now. Go into ASN and set weather date and time to 26th of April 1557z and look at the weather at CYYZ. I am getting last report at 1400z.

 

Yes, I see that, but the reason doesn't match your assumption about a mysterious delay.  Try slowly advancing the time and be sure you update your DL.  What appears to have happened is that the 1500Z METAR for this station is missing.  Set your historic time to, say, 1605Z and you'll see the 1600Z METAR becomes valid.  There's no delay, ASN's servers simply missed the 1500Z update from this, and from looking, apparently a fair number of other CA stations.

 

ASN has recently made apparently significant changes to their servers so perhaps that's contributing, but if you see this kind of missing data consistently for places you fly, I'd report that missing data as such to HiFi.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Scott

Well my week with Active Sky Next Demo is up and I must say, I am impressed. $50 US plus impressed, no! I just can't justify the cost, but we all know, sooner or later I will plop down the cash.Can only hope for a sale. (sigh)

 

BTW, works great with OpusFSX Camera Live.

If your consider 10% off a sale price, PC Aviator has 10% off 'store wide' right now and they do sell ASN.

Historical weather is achieved once per hour, AFTER it becomes the inactive METAR. After following your posts I would say that ASN is working correctly. Create a ticket at the HiFi Support site and see what they have to say about this. 

 

So if I set the time to 1855 April 26th, and I get weather for 1700, that's perfectly normal?

 

 

I think I know what it is though. ASN is just missing certain metars. That is why I don't get weather for 1800.

MIke, I'm not suggesting you're doing something wrong - I'm trying to help you understand what you're seeing and why things aren't what you expect, as what you've reported does not match what I've seen as an ASN user since pretty much day 1.  28x with sim time syncing was your example, and many of the things you said you were seeing (ASN was over 2 hours behind or was simply not updating historic wx at all) I'm not seeing in my heavy use of the product in that mode since release.

 

ASN is not generically running 2 hours behind with its historic wx, and it's not "just borked", but your specific example (see below) does help to shed some light on what's going on here.

 

 

 

 

Yes, It happens, but its not the norm and what you're seeing has nothing to do with real-time vs historic data.  As I mentioned earlier, I don't know what the ultimate resolution is on what is stored historically, but the example you show isn't a specific historic flaw.  Had you been flying in real time earlier today at this time, you would've seen the same thing.  Again, see below...

 

 

 

 

Yes, I see that, but the reason doesn't match your assumption about a mysterious delay.  Try slowly advancing the time and be sure you update your DL.  What appears to have happened is that the 1500Z METAR for this station is missing.  Set your historic time to, say, 1605Z and you'll see the 1600Z METAR becomes valid.  There's no delay, ASN's servers simply missed the 1500Z update from this, and from looking, apparently a fair number of other CA stations.

 

ASN has recently made apparently significant changes to their servers so perhaps that's contributing, but if you see this kind of missing data consistently for places you fly, I'd report that missing data as such to HiFi.

 

Hope that helps,

 

Scott

 

Yes, I think you are correct. This whole time ASN has just been missing the metars which is why I fall 2 hours behind. I will report this.

 

Edit: Never mind. If I go to 2210z on April 26th I get wx for 2100z at all Canadian airports. Yet if I choose 1310z I get wx for 1300z. So bizarre.

 

And just to give an example to how bad 1 metar per hour is:

 

SA 27/04/2014 07:00->

METAR CYYG 270700Z 33004KT 15SM OVC021 01/M01 A2983 RMK SC8           SLP105=

SP 27/04/2014 07:22->

SPECI CYYG 270722Z 34005KT 10SM -DZ OVC016 01/M01 A2983 RMK           ST8 SLP102=

SP 27/04/2014 07:36->

SPECI CYYG 270736Z 34004KT 2 1/2SM -DZ BR FEW009 OVC017 01/M00           A2982 RMK SF2ST6 SLP101=

SP 27/04/2014 07:50->

SPECI CYYG 270750Z 34005KT 2 1/2SM -DZ BR BKN005 OVC010 01/00           A2982 RMK SF5ST3 SLP100=

The weather goes from 15SM to 2.5SM in the course of one hour. In historical metar in ASN, the weather will be 2.5SM for the entire hour since it only archives the last issued metar for the hour. Considering they archive world wide metar from all the way back to 2009, there is no reason they can't just archive all metar but just for the past couple of years. How many people are going to go back to 2010 and demand real world weather?

What? ASN doesn't read Canadian SPECI reports?!

 

 

How many people are going to go back to 2010 and demand real world weather?

 

As the person who in the past received all AS support e-mails you would be surprised.

What? ASN doesn't read Canadian SPECI reports?!

If the data servers get the reports then AS uses them. However, they are not saved for the historical weather feature and that is what Mike is looking for.

 

 

ASN is just missing certain metars.

 

Is it possible that the station does not report every hour?

As the person who in the past received all AS support e-mails you would be surprised.

If the data servers get the reports then AS uses them. However, they are not saved for the historical weather feature and that is what Mike is looking for.

 

 

 

Is it possible that the station does not report every hour?

 

Nope. It is the same for every airport in Canada. And it seems to be the case with every airport that reports its weather on the hour. So BIRK exhibits the same problems as well.