Weather not always decoded properly

[mataus]

Hi,

I have an issue where the weather is not always depicted correctly. This was an issue I had with the previous version of RWC and SkyMaxx4.  All of my settings are correct, and I have gone through the process of uninstalling, reinstalling, checking, crosschecking, double checking, etc

If I disable RWC and SM5 and let ASXP inject directly into XP11, then I get the correct weather. If I let ASXP inject via RWC and SM5, then I don’t always get the correct weather. Even if I reload the weather several times, nothing changes.

I have attached a pic showing the difference I had today after I landed in what was supposed to be a fog layer.

[Cameron]

Do you have an old FSGRW file hanging around in your x-plane folder?

[mataus]

Hi,

I’ve scanned my XP11 folder for that file and it found nothing.

As a quick test I reloaded at an airport close by which has similar weather. I had ASXP + RWC + SM5 active. It generated the correct weather on the ground, but as soon as I was airborne, the weather cleared, I could see the ground and only had some scattered cloud. I switched to ASXP only and I had the correct weather on the ground and once airborne.

I’ve attached a couple of pics showing the difference. The METAR was 36004KT 4000 BR SCT001 OVC011 04/04 Q1007

 

 

[ghun11]

This happens to me and does so whether I use ASXP or FSGRW. I assume it is Real Weather Connector at fault.

 

[sundog]

If anyone runs into this again, it would be really helpful if you could capture your metar.rwx file (if using ASXP) or your fsgrwsmp.rwx file (if using FSGRW) and post it here, along with the nearest airport to where you saw the problem. That'll give us something to dig into. It sounds as though an overcast cloud layer was supposed to be present, but wasn't for some reason.

Remember again that if you are switching between ASXP and FSGRW it is essential that you manually remove any fsgrwsmp.rwx file left behind by FSGRW before using ASXP. If you don't it would totally explain this sort of behavior.

Knowing what your SkyMaxx Pro setting for overcast clouds is would be important as well (and changing that setting would be something to try)

Edited March 22, 2021 by sundog

[mataus]

On 3/22/2021 at 11:01 AM, sundog said:

If anyone runs into this again, it would be really helpful if you could capture your metar.rwx file (if using ASXP) or your fsgrwsmp.rwx file (if using FSGRW) and post it here, along with the nearest airport to where you saw the problem. That'll give us something to dig into. It sounds as though an overcast cloud layer was supposed to be present, but wasn't for some reason.

Remember again that if you are switching between ASXP and FSGRW it is essential that you manually remove any fsgrwsmp.rwx file left behind by FSGRW before using ASXP. If you don't it would totally explain this sort of behavior.

Knowing what your SkyMaxx Pro setting for overcast clouds is would be important as well (and changing that setting would be something to try)

 

This is at EGCC today. I have attached the METAR.rwx file as requested. The first two screenshots show RWC+SMP5, along with ASXP and RWC settings. The METAR is not displayed correctly. In the 3rd screenshot I disabled RWC+SMP5 and allowed ASXP to inject weather directly into XP11, with the correct results.

METAR.rwx

[Cameron]

Can you please post a screenshot of your main X-Plane directory?

[mataus]

47 minutes ago, Cameron said:

Can you please post a screenshot of your main X-Plane directory?

Like this?

[Cameron]

I believe a file not seen in your directory should be getting created by ASXP. FSGRW does this at least.

@sundog, I don't remember with ASXP. Do you?

[mataus]

1 hour ago, Cameron said:

I believe a file not seen in your directory should be getting created by ASXP. FSGRW does this at least.

@sundog, I don't remember with ASXP. Do you?

I thought that it created a modified METAR.rwx file?

[mataus]

I re-installed ASXP just incase (manually deleted all remaining folders/files) but no change. In the screenshot I should have broken clouds at 3300ft, but it's clear sky. If I deactivate SMP5+RWC, then ASXP injects correctly into XP11. Not sure what's going on 

[sundog]

What happens if you select "Force Weather Reload" from the Plugins / SkyMaxx Pro menu? If that causes the weather to be picked up, I think the culprit is likely having "never change visible weather" checked in the RWC settings. If ASXP doesn't write its own weather to metar.rwx before your flight starts, RWC might pick up an empty metar.rwx and present you with clear skies. And if you have "never change visible weather" on, then it won't change to display the new weather data when it is published by ASXP (unless you were to fly out of the area and return to it)

[sundog]

Also, make sure ASXP is configured correctly. From the RWC manual:

When using Active Sky XP, be sure to configure X-Plane as described in the ASXP documentation. In the ASXP application, under Options / Simulator Depiction options, you should find a “Use SkyMaxx Pro depiction mode” option in recent versions of ASXP. Be sure this is enabled. Weather in X-Plane should be set to “from custom METAR (rwx) file” pointing to the METAR.rwx file, not “match real world conditions,” when using ASXP. You should not use ASXP’s “global static” mode with SkyMaxx Pro.

[mataus]

1 hour ago, sundog said:

What happens if you select "Force Weather Reload" from the Plugins / SkyMaxx Pro menu? If that causes the weather to be picked up, I think the culprit is likely having "never change visible weather" checked in the RWC settings. If ASXP doesn't write its own weather to metar.rwx before your flight starts, RWC might pick up an empty metar.rwx and present you with clear skies. And if you have "never change visible weather" on, then it won't change to display the new weather data when it is published by ASXP (unless you were to fly out of the area and return to it)

I've tried with 'never change visible weather' on and off, but no difference, same as when I 'Force Weather Reload' on multiple occasions.

1 hour ago, sundog said:

Also, make sure ASXP is configured correctly. From the RWC manual:

When using Active Sky XP, be sure to configure X-Plane as described in the ASXP documentation. In the ASXP application, under Options / Simulator Depiction options, you should find a “Use SkyMaxx Pro depiction mode” option in recent versions of ASXP. Be sure this is enabled. Weather in X-Plane should be set to “from custom METAR (rwx) file” pointing to the METAR.rwx file, not “match real world conditions,” when using ASXP. You should not use ASXP’s “global static” mode with SkyMaxx Pro.

Yes, I have double checked this. 

Clearly something my end is preventing it reading the file correctly. I'll keep looking and trying. 

Thanks for the help and suggestions

[sundog]

One other possibility is some sort of licensing issue with SkyMaxx Pro on your system. If it can't confirm your license for whatever reason, it won't display any clouds. If that's the case, you should be seeing some sort of message to that effect in your log.txt file.