fsx-ms Help Choosing Best Weather Engine

[MaVe64 414]

ASN is great, have it on a networked pc. Smooth as silk, no stutters when injecting weather. Don't get it from Steam though, I heard you can't use it for a future upgrade to P3D then.

[Glynn 405]

 

 

Don't get it from Steam though, I heard you can't use it for a future upgrade to P3D then.

And the steam version cannot be run networked as far as I know

[fppilot 4,353]

Do not know the specific situation with any other weather engine, but with FSGRW and REX textures it is important to have a seasonally correct texture set installed from REX.  If you are using REX textures with another weather engine it might also be the case.  For example if in Spring and Summer you still have a Fall or Winter type texture set installed by REX, like stratocumulus, stratus, and altostratus, you will not likely get Spring and Summer type cumulus, towering cumulus, and cumulonimbus clouds, and the thunderstorms you encounter will have lightening and thunder but will not look like thunderstorms.  Of course the opposite holds true if you are using Spring/Summer textures in the Fall and Winter.

[Glynn 405]

 

 

For example if in Spring and Summer you still have a Fall or Winter type texture set installed by REX, like stratocumulus,stratus, and altostratus, you will not likely get Spring and Summer type cumulus, towering cumulus, and cumulonimbus clouds,

 

What we really need is a meteorologist to explain to us non meteorologists exactly what types of clouds to use for each season.

 

Frank the floor is yours

[fppilot 4,353]

What we really need is a meteorologist to explain to us non meteorologists exactly what types of clouds to use for each season.

 

Frank the floor is yours

Glynn, enough basic information is there to work with in that last post. My comments were to make a point that if you are not seeing the right type of clouds it might be your installed textures, and might not be your weather engine.

 

Any cloud type can present itself in any season, but probabilities are a different story. The higher the base level of the clouds the more consistent is their appearance across all seasons. Thus cirrus clouds at higher altitudes show the least seasonal variation. Alto type clouds such as altostratus and altocumulus appear at mid levels, typically from 6,000 ft to 15,000 ft can also appear consistently across all seasons, but altocumulus clouds will appear more often in warm seasons and altostratus more often in cooler seasons.

 

The lower the base level the more the variation from season to season. So those puffy cumulus clouds, tall cumulus clouds referred to as towering cumulus, and cumulonimbus anvils or thunderheads appear at a higher instance when the ground is warmer. The convection from the rising of the warm air is what provides the vertical dimension, and also the storm characteristics. Flatter based stratus and stratocumulus clouds will appear more often in cooler weather seasons, but can also routinely appear following a frontal passage in warmer seasons, flowing over the cooler air behind a cool front, advancing ahead of a warm front, or along an occluded front.

 

REX's texture sets do not give finite control. It is more like pick a cumulus/cumulonimbus set for warm weather and a stratocumulus or nimbostratus texture set for cooler seasons. Of course if in the middle of Winter you decide to take a trip to the Caribbean, you might want to adjust back to a warmer weather texture set.

 

Here are links to a couple of good sites that discuss cloud types. The first link specifically discusses warm weather types.

 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/the-9-types-of-clouds-you-meet-in-the-spring-and-summer/50572

 

http://nenes.eas.gatech.edu/Cloud/Clouds.pdf

 

I yield back....

[Glynn 405]

Many thanks Frank, a very informative post,  it's probably only me that's lacking an understanding on cloud types and what conditions they are most likely to be found in, but maybe there are others amongst us that could really do with some schooling on this stuff.

[spesimen 135]

 

and also ASN did not show any regions without clouds.

With ASN i get always clouds. 

 

 

that sounds unusual, when i have a clear METAR the weather shows clear with ASN, it usually matches pretty much exactly.. maybe something strange was going on with your settings. i did notice they set by default the option of any broken clouds being forced to 7/8 coverage, which it looks better (and more variety) with that setting off imho.

 

anyway cheers

-andy crosby

[qqwertz 772]

 

 

REX's texture sets do not give finite control.

Thanks for this enlightening post, Frank. So if I understand correctly, ASN itself works fine, it is just the combination with REX clouds that leads to the depiction of erroneous clouds?

 

Peter

[Alti 63]

that sounds unusual, when i have a clear METAR the weather shows clear with ASN, it usually matches pretty much exactly.. maybe something strange was going on with your settings. i did notice they set by default the option of any broken clouds being forced to 7/8 coverage, which it looks better (and more variety) with that setting off imho.

 

anyway cheers

-andy crosby

hello, no problem in my settings.

HIFI know about this problem says its a problem with interpolation, when flying in greater zone, where no much  Metar stations are, like great deserts in Aftrica or oceans.

ASN did interpolate "random" cloud levels, and did not depict real weather on some places. 

and HIFI can not fix this now. so my ticket from support was closed.

 

FSGRW did make the same (interpolation) , but in FSGRW its possible to fly over deserts (in Africa)  and you will over hundreds of miles really not see any cloud, (try this with ASN, its not possible to see some cloud less weather;)

and you can switch to "real visible" sattelite photos (not infrared)  where in the world are great places with no clouds,

with ASN you will get there some clouds (most cumulus).

[fppilot 4,353]

Thanks for this enlightening post, Frank. So if I understand correctly, ASN itself works fine, it is just the combination with REX clouds that leads to the depiction of erroneous clouds?

 

Peter

 

I do not feel I said anything remotely close to that!  I never made a statement about erroneous clouds about any weather engine.  Only stated what may be done seasonally to get more accurate texture types from REX.

[CFIJose 5,485]

I have both. I prefer ASN for FSX. FSGRW was purchased for XPlane 10, but I have tried it in FSX.

 

The reasons why I like ASN are:

 

1-Quick download of weather.

2-FSX FP shows up upon loading of FP.

3-Silky smooth weather transitions.

4-Renders clouds beautifully.

5-It intigrates with the PMDG 737ngx & ES Citation X v2 radar.

6-It comes with a radar gauge that can be added to any airplane.

7-You can fly with historical weather even though I prefer current.

8-You can demo the software before you buy it.

9-It's priced fairly and goes on sale frequently.

10-I love the UI.

 

FSGRW in FSX:

 

1-It's slow when downloading weather.

2-A couple of times I received a license error when downloading the weather. That's bad!

3-The clouds look awful.

4-You get occasional flashes.

5-You get occasional pauses.

6-It's an expensive add-on.

7-There's no demo.

 

There's really no contest here. ASN all the way, any day!

[spesimen 135]

 

HIFI know about this problem says its a problem with interpolation, when flying in greater zone, where no much  Metar stations are, like great deserts in Aftrica or oceans.

ASN did interpolate "random" cloud levels, and did not depict real weather on some places. 

and HIFI can not fix this now. so my ticket from support was closed.

 

FSGRW did make the same (interpolation) , but in FSGRW its possible to fly over deserts (in Africa)  and you will over hundreds of miles really not see any cloud, (try this with ASN, its not possible to see some cloud less weather;)

and you can switch to "real visible" sattelite photos (not infrared)  where in the world are great places with no clouds,

with ASN you will get there some clouds (most cumulus).

 

thanks for the explanation, that is interesting. i mostly only checked METAR just local to my position and didn't really pay attention about what happens in those areas where there aren't stations.

 

cheers,

-andy crosby

[cmpbellsjc 2,960]

I have both. I prefer ASN for FSX. FSGRW was purchased for XPlane 10, but I have tried it in FSX.

 

The reasons why I like ASN are:

 

1-Quick download of weather.

2-FSX FP shows up upon loading of FP.

3-Silky smooth weather transitions.

4-Renders clouds beautifully.

5-It intigrates with the PMDG 737ngx & ES Citation X v2 radar.

6-It comes with a radar gauge that can be added to any airplane.

7-You can fly with historical weather even though I prefer current.

8-You can demo the software before you buy it.

9-It's priced fairly and goes on sale frequently.

10-I love the UI.

 

FSGRW in FSX:

 

1-It's slow when downloading weather.

2-A couple of times I received a license error when downloading the weather. That's bad!

3-The clouds look awful.

4-You get occasional flashes.

5-You get occasional pauses.

6-It's an expensive add-on.

7-There's no demo.

 

There's really no contest here. ASN all the way, any day!

Great way to summarize it Jose!

[CFIJose 5,485]

I did not mention that ASN works perfectly with EZDOK (one of the best add-ons ever created for FSX) and the ATIS feature is great.

 

To fully answer Bryan's question, the best combination I recommend is REX4 + Soft clouds and ASN.

 

I have no idea what my friends at REX have up their sleeve with regards to their new weather engine, but they have their work cut out for them.

[fppilot 4,353]

Sorry guys. Just could not let this election year rhetoric pass.....  It's nice to be passionate and brand loyal, but taking both direct and indirect digs at another product, most lacking accuracy, is normally not productive.  I have nothing against ASN and myself will draw no comparisons.  What I write below I write to FSGRW, not against ASN as I have no reason to do so. 

 

He wrote / I responded:  

 

 

The reasons why I like ASN are:

 

1-Quick download of weather.

    My weather loads seamlessly with FSGRW

2-FSX FP shows up upon loading of FP.

     Have no idea what FP is, can you explain?

3-Silky smooth weather transitions.

     Same for me with FSGRW

4-Renders clouds beautifully.

     This is a function of the simulator and either default textures or add on textures provided by a third party program like REX. From what I am aware of the weather engines call the textures that are separately there to call.

5-It intigrates with the PMDG 737ngx & ES Citation X v2 radar.

     FSGRW does not, so agreement there.  I happen to use the integrated real-life real-time FltPlan.GO app on my iPad and am amazed at the real weather correlation I get from FSGRW.  So accurate that my weather radar is the map on my iPad, which also tracks my simulator aircraft real time.

6-It comes with a radar gauge that can be added to any airplane.

    FSGRW does not. I instead use the FltPlan.Go app and my iPad as mentioned above, since its on my iPad it has not hit on simulator performance.  Here is a link to a related topic here on Avsim    http://www.avsim.com/topic/471387-fltplan-go-app-for-ipad-way-cool/.

7-You can fly with historical weather even though I prefer current.

    FSGRW can download and use historical weather as well.

8-You can demo the software before you buy it.

    FSGRW has a trial available but it does not provide full function.

9-It's priced fairly and goes on sale frequently.

    FSGRW must have been priced fairly for me as I purchased it and am very satisfied with it. (though I restrain myself from being overexhuberant)  

10-I love the UI.

    I have used the FSGRW user interface about three times in two years.

 

FSGRW in FSX:

 

1-It's slow when downloading weather.

    Not at all slow on my system. Completed a St Louis to Dallas flight today and after the initial load (on the ground) I never saw a delay when it reloaded. Only saw the weather change seemlessly over time.

2-A couple of times I received a license error when downloading the weather. That's bad!

    In over two years of use I have never had this happen.

3-The clouds look awful.

    See # 4 in the first section above.  Then, please go to the Screenshots forum and dig into the screenshots sets that I have uploaded and please tell me what looks awful..   Here's a recent link.  I attribute the textures to REX and do not regard my weather engine as producing these other than calling up the textures installed in my flight sim.  http://www.avsim.com/topic/484051-flew-a-proposed-memorial-flight-route-today-kavlkcho/

 

4-You get occasional flashes.

    I do not get occasional flashes (except lightening when it is supposed to be present)

5-You get occasional pauses.

    I get occasional micropauses that I attribute to my Megasenery and other photoreal scenery as they occurred on my earlier system as well and that before I ever heard of FSGRW. My micropauses do not seem occur in regard to weather.

6-It's an expensive add-on.

    39.99 Eur vs 29.99 Eur for ASN.  The difference will not break the bank.

7-There's no demo.

    There was a limited feature trial.  I tried it before I purchased it two years ago. Had to have a license key to unlock full features.

 

There's really no contest here. ASN all the way, any day!