Whether or not to get a weather engine...

[alhefner 28]

I'm still learning here folks so, I may not be very accurate with what I'm trying to ask.

 

Right now, I have P3D v2, FSUIPC (full version), Pro ATC/X (m0st recent release), and Radar Contact 4.

 

With Pro ATC/X, it can download current weather by accessing the net and seems to utilize that data very well in determining runway selections.

 

Radar Contact doesn't seem to have the same capability and relies on the user having a method outside of it to obtain weather info... I may have missed something in the user manual though.

 

P3D all by itself has no facility to obtain real world weather but only uses what you select in the options for thge 'type' of weather you would like to be flying in.

 

The addon weather engines seem more dedicated to the 'depiction' of weather (the look of clouds and rain and such) quite a bit but, do these weather engines actually provide weather data to P3D to use or to the ATC addons (Pro ATC, radar Contact) to use during the session?

 

The more I use P3D, the more questions I seem to have!

[rparson99 32]

Having a weather engine is something I fully recommend. And though there are multiple to choose from, I think the Lord of the Rings is ASN by hifi. Essentially you install it and aside from starting the program when needed, you can count on having very good weather depictions globally. Add some REX cloud textures for some added glitz and your all set.... For now.

[bdrichmond 0]

Greetings all,

 

A weather engine IS the way to go... The major PAYWARE solutions offer free demos to help you decide which you like best; or which plays best with your system...

 

Respectfully,

Brian

[CrownCityMisfits 58]

I think weather engine is a must. Try the ASN and Opus demos.

[alhefner 28]

So,the weather from a 'weather engine' is something the simulator will actually make use of instead of just being something to determine whether or not to draw clouds in the sky. Good to know!

Next week, I'll have more time to play around with things and will check out those free trials....

[alhefner 28]

Well, I'm trying out the trial versions of both FS Global Real Weather and Active Sky Next. Both play well with P3D but, FSGRW does not portray the sky as closely to what's really happening as ASN does.

 

I also tried them out in FSX and found that ASN seems to cause FSX to freeze for a few seconds every now and then but FSGRW doesn't but that could be because with the evaluation version, you're not getting real time updates in FSGRW.

 

Both do a pretty good job of inserting the real weather into P3D itself and both Radar Contact and Pro ATC/X pick it up from the program so, they are pretty well equal in my view in that regard.

 

I'll give it another day of playing around before making a decision on which to buy. Both are pretty darned good at what they do though.