My weather radar is always set on AUTO and WX + T

 

When cruising along over the Bay of Biscay i noticed there was a cell in my general direction and there was no returns on the radar, I pressed HDG select flew around just I was passing abeam the cloud it was very turbulent as a residual of the clouds. My radar was in AUTO. if someone has good knowledge, manuals or anything that can help me understand the radar will be much appreciated.

 

The height was above FL390

 

 

 

Just wanted to add to this: I'm also experiencing the same issue. In FSX, it takes a huge amount of 'Gain' control to show wx-radar returns.

On the other hand, in P3D with the same weather, I get large amounts of returns and I even have to tone down the 'Gain'.

 

Very weird, how in FSX nothing shows up but in P3D, everything shows.

I have no idea!? Maybe someone knows? I thought it could be down to very little moisture at the cloud tops?

If you are in "Auto", the radar is looking mainly to your flight path. If there is little rain in your path

at those high altitudes, not much will return on the radar as there is not much down tilt.

Try manual and tilt the beam down and see what you get. Also raise the gain if the rain might be

light, and you want to verify that it's actually working.. At the usual mid to upper 30's flight levels,

if I want to check rain down below, I usually use about a -7 to -9 down tilt. And I'll raise the gain if

I really want to light it up and see most everything.  But I go back to auto when I descend as I want to optimize the tilt for my path.

Well here is the ISOL CB i had to avoid its on the 45*N line out at sea FL350

 

18:00 UTC

 

http://www.jetplan.com/jeppesen/weatherServlet?&action=show&graphicType=wxMapPrev&img=euhisig12.gif:1

Thanks alot mark i will try that on my next encounter

 

So does the gain control pick up lighter rain?

Yep, if the gain is up, you will see lighter rain, and stronger hits on the heavy stuff.

But as some have mentioned, high gain is not always desirable. Or at least when

determining what is bad to fly through. Water itself is no issue.. Turbulent water/wind

on the other hand can lead to mayhem..  :(

I watch the radar on flightaware quite a bit when watching the planes flit to and fro.

There was heavy mayhem over Tejas last night, and you could see how the jets will

plan around it, and dodge cells that pop up while in flight.

There was a heavy front moving down across the state last night, and the flights from

HOU to DAL were planning all the way around it, going west out past San Antonio, and

then coming back up to Dallas on the west side. And watching the radar while they were

in flight, you could see them alter the path to avoid strong cells that were popping up

along side of them to the north. Kinda like threading a needle in some cases.

 

 

There was heavy mayhem over Tejas last night, and you could see how the jets will plan around it,

 

That's not necessarily the pilots, FAA will issue clearances to accommodate their bad weather planning even if the stuff hasn't 'hit the fan' yet.  One day my direct 200 nm trip Corpus Christi to Houston ended up looping North around College Station before heading South into Houston.  Too bad I was committed to IFR because just a few miles into the Gulf would have been an easy flight.

Collins WXR 2100 MANUAL

 

http://www.smartcockpit.com/download.php?path=docs/&file=Collins_WXR-2100_Operators_Guide.pdf

That's not necessarily the pilots, FAA will issue clearances to accommodate their bad weather planning even if the stuff hasn't 'hit the fan' yet.  One day my direct 200 nm trip Corpus Christi to Houston ended up looping North around College Station before heading South into Houston.  Too bad I was committed to IFR because just a few miles into the Gulf would have been an easy flight.

 

Yep, that's why I said they will plan around it.. The plans being made before they even leave the ground.

Maybe a bad choice of wording..  I was assuming the co dispatchers, etc make the actual plans that the pilots review and ok..  I see many routes that are run around the wx well in advance, if they suspect mayhem around the time of the flight.  What the pilots do in flight was the "dodging" I was referring to.

I saw a few that were moving off the planned flight at times, obviously to avoid cells that were popping up near them. In that case, the cells were popping up in front of, and at their 1-2 o'clock positions as they were heading west.

Collins WXR 2100 MANUAL

 

http://www.smartcockpit.com/download.php?path=docs/&file=Collins_WXR-2100_Operators_Guide.pdf

Thanks! I've pressed every button and turned every dial but the only precipitation I've seen so far is the spit from my mouth when I'm cursing... New try!

Thanks! I've pressed every button and turned every dial but the only precipitation I've seen so far is the spit from my mouth when I'm cursing... New try!

http://support.precisionmanuals.com/kb/a109/weather-radar-troubleshooting.aspx

http://support.precisionmanuals.com/kb/a109/weather-radar-troubleshooting.aspx

Many thanks Pete - haven't seen that before!

I believe the weather radar isn't simulated properly.

 

I'm speaking to a pilot about the conditions above and he said it should of shown up

 

 

I'm speaking to a pilot about the conditions above and he said it should of shown up

 

Perhaps you didn't intend to insult, but I find that statement very condescending to the pilots who lurk around here.

I'm just saying the man who i'm speaking to has vast amount of experiance with collins weather radar systems!

 

His message-

 

In AUTO it should do a low beam and a high sweep, combine those sweeps, remove ground echos and then display it. The tilt shown on the ND is actually just a fake for show tilt of a notional tilt angle that would be used by many pilots for short term threat assessment. If i remember it correctly it shows -2° during cruise which is actually lower than most pilots would use in manual (around -1° to 0° during cruise). Remember the beam has an opening angle as well, so a beam set at 0° would actually scan -3° to +3° as the beam is around 6° wide. The software in that radar is very clever indeed and on the 737NG usually shows a very clear picture of the weather ahead.

 

It is quite possible that the simulation of that equipment is not quite correct.