Posible Bug?

[batrako]

Hi Pete and Thanks for the acreditation of FSMetar,

I'm finishing a freeware FSMetar 1.5 (compatible with FS2004) and i found a problem. scenary:

* FSUIPC 3.10 configured whith ClearWeatherDynamics=Yes and OwnWeatherChange=No.

* FSMetar before inject weather to FS, send a Dynamics=No and Clear Weather commands and then write weather struct (ICAO=GLOB) to FSUIPC to preventing FS Weather mofifications.

All run ok but some time later, FS modify some weather parameters (somethings clouds, somethings pressure,...) and all commands send by FSMetar are discarted by FSUIPC (no chages apreciated but sended to FSUIPC). The problem is solved only if i send to FSUIPC a clear weather command and re-inject weather.

I read a similar problems with Activesky users

any idea?

sorry for my poor English

Ivan

http://fsmetar.socair.org

fsmetar@hotmail.com

[Pete Dowson]

All run ok but some time later, FS modify some weather parameters (somethings clouds, somethings pressure,...) and all commands send by FSMetar are discarted by FSUIPC (no chages apreciated but sended to FSUIPC). The problem is solved only if i send to FSUIPC a clear weather command and re-inject weather.

Well, they are certainly not discarded by FSUIPC. They will be setting global weather, but in the vicinity of the aircraft all weather will have become localised.

This is by now a well known phenomenon in FS. I don't think it is a bug, it is just the way the "real atmosphere" has been modelled. You must have completely missed the "IMPORTANT" announcements about this at the top of this forum, and even the section about this in the FSUIPC User guide? Here' I'll reproduce it here:

FS2004 global weather control is problematic

Following lengthy investigations I have come to the conclusion that, with my current state of knowledge of FS2004's weather system, there is no way to make a workable weather system using GLOBAL weather only. In other words, any external weather program which uses only global weather, and does not also set local stations, is pretty well doomed from the start.

The reason is this: I cannot find any method of setting global weather that does not eventually get ‘localised’ and modified in FS2004. It seems to take anything from about 20 minutes to 50+ minutes here—maybe it is also dependent on distance flown or something—but eventually the weather becomes localised and thereafter no amount of Global fiddling will change it. The only way to ‘de-localise’ it and get global weather back again is to clear the weather and start again.

This is true with dynamic weather setting turned off, so it is not that. I’ve proven that FS’s weather system is always ‘live and changing’ by doing this:

1. Remove FSUIPC so there is no possibility of it interfering.

2. Load FS2004 and go to the Weather menu (ALT W W).

3. Set dynamics off, select user defined weather, and ‘customised’.

4. Select ‘all weather stations’ (to make your settings ‘Global’).

5. Set up some weather that you can remember—some clouds, rain maybe, winds, and so on.

6. Now take off or slew and start moving.

7. Check that the weather looks more or less right.

8. Switch on the A/P or something, go away for 30–50 minutes.

9. Come back and see what’s changed.

In my case the winds seem to stay as set, as does the visibility, temperature and pressure. But the clouds disappear or change and the rain stops. Checking the weather at various places in the FS dialogues I find that some places still have that ‘global’ weather I set originally, and others don’t. The chances are all the very distance ones are still the same -- FS transforms and localises the weather around you, not on the far side of the world.

All this is despite weather dynamics being set to "Rate of Change = None", which evidently doesn't quite mean what it says, after all.

The problem is that, once the aircraft is flying through a cluster of WX stations all equipped with their own local weather, no amount of changing of the GLOBal weather by an external program will accomplish anythingActually, that isn't quite true. It does seem to accomplish something -- it makes the local weather change too, but not in any way which seems predictable. The changing of all those distance non-localised stations seems merely to accelerate the local changes along their own indeterminate course.

This is but one big reason why both FSMeteo and ActiveSky are now using the local weather setting facilities in the NWI.

Regards,

Pete

[batrako]

Thanks Pete,

I'll try to set Weather to Local.

Regars

Iván