Real Weather in FSX

VA Crew Room and general forum area.

Moderators: Guru's, The Ministry

Post Reply
adysmith
VC10
VC10
Posts: 563
Joined: 12 Jun 2013, 11:43
Location: EGNH

Real Weather in FSX

Post by adysmith »

What does anybody use for real weather in FSX?

I used Active Sky 6 in FS9 which was fine except for
a) clouds would suddenly appear and disappear, making it difficult to determine when anti icing was needed
b) wind and temperature at supersonic cruise levels were appalingly simulated.

Does anyone know if Active Sky Next is better at either of these functions?

Regards

Ady
ImageImage
Image
Old pilots never die, they just run out of runway.

User avatar
DaveG
The Gurus
Posts: 7707
Joined: 23 Jun 2004, 18:05
Location: in a deep, dark hole somewhere.
Contact:

Re: Real Weather in FSX

Post by DaveG »

I use ASN and think it's great. Not seen any clouds appearing & disappearing.
No idea on point (b) though.
Dave G.

alemaobaiano
Trident
Trident
Posts: 342
Joined: 15 Mar 2005, 11:09
Location: Brazil

Re: Real Weather in FSX

Post by alemaobaiano »

Hi Ady

In FSX I use one of two weather programs depending on the type of flying I plan on doing and the aircraft that I'm using for that flight. Both use the same cloud textures and the same settings for generation ranges and visibilities.

!. FSGRW. This is my preferred system when I'm flying GA or anything from Captain Sim with their own weather radar. It has a lighter footprint in use and generates some very realistic weather with the returns on the radar matching what is seen out of the window. I also use this to generate my FS9 weather for my classic flying, including Concorde, without problems.

2. Active Sky Next. I bought this one for use with the iFly 737 (and now 747) which have the ASN radar integrated with the ND. I also use Bryn's radar gauge on my PMDG birds. I normally use this for longer flights as it has an ATIS function and I can check arrival weather en route. Again what is on the display matches what is seen out of the window very well. It does use more system resources than FSGRW but the integration with the radar and the ATIS are worth the loss.

It took a little fiddling around with the settings of both to balance performance against FPS impact to eliminate popping, but now they give very smooth weather. Both receive regular updates, and apparently give realistic displays on the radars. I have found that neither seems to work very well with the "other" radar, but that might just be my impression. I have also found that the ASN map corresponds very well to real on-line radar images, at least here in Brazil.

I don't have anything that cruises at supersonic speeds in FSX so I can't specifically answer that, but I don't remember any issues when honking around in the Lightning.

Hope that helps
In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this. – Terry Pratchett

adysmith
VC10
VC10
Posts: 563
Joined: 12 Jun 2013, 11:43
Location: EGNH

Re: Real Weather in FSX

Post by adysmith »

Thanks guys, I will probably get active duty next, system resources really should not be a problem on the pc I have just bought ;) I will report back on its performance with Concorde one I have installed that asked tried it out.
ImageImage
Image
Old pilots never die, they just run out of runway.

Post Reply