Issue with METARs
Posted: Thu Oct 10, 2024 1:54 am
Hi again Balt,
I found something else. Not really a bug maybe, but something to think about. When PSX starts up with the "Set flight zones by flight track..." unchecked, I believe it refers to the last weather saved in its system. If I understand it correctly, if that box stays unchecked, then no new downloads happen (because why would they?), and PSX refers to whatever the last downloaded weather was.
Tonight I'm flying out of Tampa, where the wind is gusting to 71 kts and there's a hurricane. The altimeter setting is 29.04.
My last downloaded weather in PSX is from 10/6, when the altimeter setting was 29.94. That means PSX's "smooth transit" feature is in effect, and it's taking 30 minutes or more for the in-game altimeter setting to change to the one being injected by RealTraffic.
The injection isn't a problem: RealTraffic sends the current METAR and it's visible within PSX. It's just that PSX takes half hour or more to change from the saved weather to the injected weather. Checking the "Set zones by..." box doesn't speed it up, because RealTraffic just immediately unchecks it again.
One solution is to always start PSX first, before starting RealTraffic, and make sure the "Set zones by..." box remains checked until a new cycle of METARs is downloaded. Then start RealTraffic. If you don't wait until that download is complete, you have to close RealTraffic and redo that step until PSX gets current METARs from the internet.
I think it's worth saying this, because it took me a while to figure out the reason that every source I had (PSX, RealTraffic, Navigraph) all had the same METAR but he altimeter setting in the PSX world was way off. Maybe this helps someone else.
I found something else. Not really a bug maybe, but something to think about. When PSX starts up with the "Set flight zones by flight track..." unchecked, I believe it refers to the last weather saved in its system. If I understand it correctly, if that box stays unchecked, then no new downloads happen (because why would they?), and PSX refers to whatever the last downloaded weather was.
Tonight I'm flying out of Tampa, where the wind is gusting to 71 kts and there's a hurricane. The altimeter setting is 29.04.
My last downloaded weather in PSX is from 10/6, when the altimeter setting was 29.94. That means PSX's "smooth transit" feature is in effect, and it's taking 30 minutes or more for the in-game altimeter setting to change to the one being injected by RealTraffic.
The injection isn't a problem: RealTraffic sends the current METAR and it's visible within PSX. It's just that PSX takes half hour or more to change from the saved weather to the injected weather. Checking the "Set zones by..." box doesn't speed it up, because RealTraffic just immediately unchecks it again.
One solution is to always start PSX first, before starting RealTraffic, and make sure the "Set zones by..." box remains checked until a new cycle of METARs is downloaded. Then start RealTraffic. If you don't wait until that download is complete, you have to close RealTraffic and redo that step until PSX gets current METARs from the internet.
I think it's worth saying this, because it took me a while to figure out the reason that every source I had (PSX, RealTraffic, Navigraph) all had the same METAR but he altimeter setting in the PSX world was way off. Maybe this helps someone else.