[OT] Quick questions about ASV

[SWAFO]

I'm still debating about purchasing ASV, and I've got a few quick questions for those of you that have it:

1. What version of FSUIPC does ASV require? If you recall, I'm stuck with V3.40, because I still have problems with any newer versions.

2. Does ASV run seperate of FS like AS 4.5 (or the previous version... forgot what it's called) does? Is it's integration into FS9 seamless?
Is it like FS9's default weather in terms of integration?

3. Can I program my own weather much like the FS9 custom/advanced weather settings? I'm not very much a fan of the real world
weather I've used, and much prefer to set my own (albeit at the cost of some realism).

I appreciate any help you can offer. I tried searching around the ASV website, but it's very confusing (for me at least... keep in mind, I'm an
old man )

[SWAFO]

I would update my version of FSUIPC if I could just find a way around the damn PMDG 737 NG battery drain bug! If I don't use the FSUIPC
option of "Unlimited battery life" (or the like), the battery will eventually die on my 737. Unfortunately this feature (unlimited battery power)
doesn't work for me on any version of FSUIPC above 3.4. Does anyone have a non-FSUIPC fix for the PMDG battery bug?

[SaVas]

1. Not sure. I have the latest version of FSUIPC so I cant help you there

2. Yes, it runs separately but works flawlessly and is VERY customizable. What I especially like is it uses their own online weather so no
more hokey pokey cloudy then not then cloudy then not then cloudy then raining then not then thundering then clear then cloudy routine
famous with FS9. I LOVE ASV-e. The cloud layering is fanfreakingtastic. You can also get icing which isnt part of the default.

3. Brad, if you can get ASV-e working I think you will be persuaded to use real world weather instead of creating your own. Compared to
default its like black and white. ASV-e online weather is brilliant, and when you have visibility of 1/8 mile you really cannot see.

It also scrolls your weather information whenever it downloads it from the online (you can turn off the scroll)

The fog and the snow haze are amazing. I was landing in St Louis (Lambert) in the sim on a day here when it was so foggy I could barely
see my neighbors houses across the street. In the sim, It was almost touch down when I saw the runway lights

Instead of seeing snow flakes and almost clear skies, it actually looks like winter skies, with that snow haze thats like a fog.

Im still kicking myself it took so long to decide on getting the ActiveSky product

Just an FYI I also have Flight Environment avail at Flight1 and use those textures instead of the ASV-e ones.

[SaVas]

I wonder why you have that issue with FSUIPC and PMDG. I have all PMDG aircraft and the latest FSUIPC (or a late version of it I will
check when I get home) and have no issues with a conflict.

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

I agree with everything said above - it completely changes the experience. One of the nicest things about it is from the flight planning
aspect - it will forecast winds at elevations through FL390, on a waypoint by waypoint basis. It works fine with the clouds included with
the package, but I also updated to Flight Environment and it's glorious. I've also heard that using one of the freeware cloud packages
available works wonders.
As far as FSUIPC, I can't give you any specifics on version numbers, but I recently upgraded from whatever the previous version was. I
was using ASV with the old version since the day ASV was released, and had used 4.5 since February or so, and never had any
problems with FSUIPC. Sorry to hear about the problems with it -- something like that would have my face turning purple in short order!

DT

[SWAFO]

Thanks for the info SaVas. I know you like the real-world downloadable weather, and I'm sure that I might too if I end up getting ASV.
Although, CAN I enter my own weather (temps, clouds, precip, vis, etc.)? I'm sure I will try and probably like the real world, but I NEED to
be able to program weather based on what I want at that time. Make sense?

So what you're stating is that it's a seperate program that I have to start prior to starting FS9 for it to work properly, is this correct? Is the
interface as tricky to use as AS 4.5? I couldn't understand that damn thing.

My problem with FSUIPC is that my registration code does not work with any version of FSUIPC other than 3.4. Actually, to be more
specific it DOES work (it shows up in the in-game menu as registered), however my PMDG just won't power up.

Now if I remove my .key file (essentially "un-registering it), it works just fine but the battery drains. I've tried email Pete about this, but no
luck! I'm just about to head to the PMDG forums to see if there's a fix for the dead battery issue I seem to be having.

[Dutch64]

Brad, yes, you can enter any weather you like, you can use some presets or enter your own made up metar string which you can save as a preset also.
About FSUIPC, i'm almost sure ASV needs 3.48 or better. I think you should really investigate why you have these fsuipc problems, not just for ASV of
course.
And yes, like everyone else here wrote, once you've used ASV you never ever want to fly without it anymore.

[Drew]

i love this program, Dutch made me buy it lol

what i do, is start up FS, get to the gate. go to fsnav, make the route, save as a pln. then minimise, start asv, and import the saved route
into ASV. couple mins later, its all uploaded, im back in FS with the sky as it is.

Dont think anyone has mentioned the radar that works with it also (which works in fs) showing precip.

as for your other questions, im unsure as ive not played around with it that much yet

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

You can put your own weather settings into it. It actually comes with preset conditions that you can program in, i.e., blizzard with 60kt
winds, hurricane, calm, foggy, etc. I'm also pretty sure you can customize the weather if you want, but I've never tried it. I think you pick an
airport and program the weather you want for a given radius.
I agree, the interface is pretty tricky, and if I remember right it is pretty similar to 4.5, but it's well worth it, regardless......
Sorry that I can't help with the FSUIPC problems - that sounds like a very strange problem indeed.

[SaVas]

ASV-e basically you start it up when you enter the sim with your plane, using user generated weather in the default. ASV-e I think will
change it to the actual perameters you set whether your input or the online. It takes it a minute and your sky will go from the default clear
skies to the ASV-e skies.

You can create the weather you want to fly in and the interface is quite user friendly and if you hover over something tat you are unsure of
you get a little highlight that tells you what it does. Not sure if this is the same as 4.5 as Ive just recently gotten ASV-e and had no other
versions

I would recommend using the PMDG forums as Im sure there are probably others that have had similar problems, and other users might
have a solution.

Maybe instead of Eveready batteries you should go with the pink rabbit batteries

What I will do when I get home if I have time is check to see what version of FSUIPC I have and let you know. I dont think now that I ponder
it I have the most latest version.

After 3.40 have you tried each version released afterwards?

[SWAFO]

Yes sir! I've tried EVERY SINGLE version of FSUIPC from 3.40 on up. I'm going to look into the problems I'm having with the PMDG
battery dying. As I've mentioned in the past, the PMDG 737 does not work at all with the REGISTERED copy of any version of FSUIPC
higher than 3.4. If I use the UNREGISTERED copy of anything higher than 3.4, it works but the battery dies in 2 hours or so. Kind of
annoying. Shouldn't it be charged? Maybe someone that flies 737's for a living here could tell me if the 737's battery charges itself or just
dies. I have no idea.

[Dutch64]

Drew wrote:
i love this program, Dutch made me buy it lol

what i do, is start up FS, get to the gate. go to fsnav, make the route, save as a pln. then minimise, start asv, and import the saved route
into ASV. couple mins later, its all uploaded, im back in FS with the sky as it is.

Dont think anyone has mentioned the radar that works with it also (which works in fs) showing precip.

as for your other questions, im unsure as ive not played around with it that much yet

Drew, if you have your pln and load it into ASV, make sure you have NOT fs running. ASV tries to load certain chosen clouds into fs9. It cannot do so
when fs9 is running.
So, have your plan (if you used fs9 for that, close it after doing so)
Load it into ASV, click refresh in ASV and you will see at a certain moment that it's writing certain environment settings to fs9 (That is if you have
the so called ICS option chosen, ASV in that case chooses for the best possible set of clouds given the weather conditions)
When ASV has finished its porcessing, start up fs9 and fly

[Drew]

okies, will do it that way in future

[SWAFO]

Everyone is speaking of these "plans". I'm assuming that's a flight plan so that weather along your route can be loaded. If I want to, say,
set a GLOBAL WX condition, can I? It'd be like setting TSTMS everywhere in FS! Great fun!

[Dutch64]

yes, can. You can choose to have the same weather conditions all over the world if you like