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The OpusFSI Live Weather Engine (continued)

Building Live Weather

The Weather option on the main form will be disabled (grayed out) whenever the Live Weather Engine is building new weather. Dynamic Weather is  constructed slowly in the background to ensure there is no adverse effect on the simulator's performance (frame rates). It generally takes between 30 and 35 seconds to construct new dynamic weather.

You can force a weather update by either opening the Weather dialog and clicking on the Update Weather button, or by selecting Update Dynamic Weather via the OpusFSI option in the simulator's Add-on menu.  Alternatively if you want to revert to a weather theme, select Enable Global Weather Theme from the Add-on menu.

Live Weather updating can be temporarily enabled and disabled via the OpusFSI option in the simulator's Add-on menu.

 

Dynamic Weather Region

Dynamic Weather covers an area of 1280km by 1280km (800 x 800 miles, or 691 x 691 nm) centered on your aircraft's current location.

 

Weather Data Collection

The METAR data can be loaded via the Internet from either the NOAA (default), VATSIM or IVAO servers. You can even specify to fill in missing data from the VATSIM server. The latest METAR reports for all Met stations within your flying area (weather horizon) are downloaded at the start of the flight, and thereafter either at the user specified update period (default 60 mins) or after you have flown the user specified distance from your previous location.

METARs of course do change periodically, most airports will issue updated METARs half hourly at 20 past and 50 minutes past the hour. However, METARs are also issued at airports any time there is a significant change, that includes changing visibility and cloud layers, especially any changes to cloud coverage and visibility. Other METARs are mostly reported hourly.

Hence, these reports will often contain different cloud coverage data (very usual since the cloud coverage does change frequently). During a weather update, any change in METAR will be reflected in the generated weather. Broken clouds may turn into few clouds, few to broken, clouds may disappear or appear where there were none before etc.

The LWE treats all METARs as gospel and generates the weather and clouds accordingly, so don't be too alarmed if after an update your cloud coverage thickens, diminishes, vanishes, or new cloud suddenly appears. So far all the METARS I have seen accurately reflect what is seen out of the window.

Also bear in mind the LWE interpolates the weather, radiating outward from every met station within the weather grid. If a met station reports broken cloud coverage, that coverage will radiate outward. If during a later update the met station is reporting just few clouds then the thick broken cloud will be replaced instantly with few clouds.

If there are no Met stations found within the current weather horizon then the weather horizon is repeatedly expanded by 50% until one or more Met stations are located. In such cases, these stations are projected onto the outer rim of the weather grid and the localized weather within the grid is interpolated from this data.

If you do not like change then either disable weather updates via the simulator's Addon menu, or set the weather update frequency and distance to something like 60 minutes and 400km then YOU decide when you want the weather updated. For example, update the weather prior to takeoff and just before descending. It's up to you. Alternatively you can save the current weather as a World  Weather Theme, when you subsequently load that theme the weather will not change, this is useful for long flights completed over several days.

 

METAR (and non METAR) Station List Corrections and Additions

Four template text files are provided which can be renamed and edited. These new files can be used to specify any corrections or additions to the LWE station list.

The new template text files are,

OpusFSI_MetStation_Additions_Template.txt
OpusFSI_Station_Additions_Template.txt

OpusFSI_MetStation_Corrections_Template.txt

OpusFSI_Station_Corrections_Template.txt

Just edit the files and remove the '_Template' suffix from the filename and the LWE will read the content and update its station data each time the FSISERVER program is started.

If the new station is a met station then add it to the OpusFSI_MetStation_Additions.txt file. Met stations must be known to either NOAA or VATSIM in order for us to extract the METAR. The NOAA station list can be found at  http://aviationweather.gov/static/adds/metars/stations.txt

If the new station is not a met station then enter it in the OpusFSI_Station_Additions.txt file.

For corrections to existing stations edit the OpusFSI_MetStation_Corrections.txt or OpusFSI_Station_Corrections.txt as appropriate.

Master copies of these files will eventually be kept in-house to amend and update the MetStation data file with common changes and additions to the listed NOAA station data.

OpusFSI MetStation Additions

Prior to use please rename your file to OpusFSI_MetStation_Additions.txt.

Enter a list of met station additions in the form,

ICAO  "station_name"  latitude  longitude  elevation

Where

·         the ICAO code always appears at the start of a new line

·         the elevation is specified in feet amsl

·         the lat/lon are entered in the following exact form <compass_direction>degrees minutes (mm.mm)

·         latitude  =  Ndd mm.mm or  Sdd mm.mm   (9 characters)

·         longutude  =  Eddd mm.mm or Wddd mm.mm  (10 characters)

For example,

EGKK  "London Gatwick"   N51 08.88  W000 11.42   196

EGLL  "London Heathrow"  N51 28.65  W000 27.68   80

These additions may also be used as corrections.

OpusFSI Station Additions

Prior to use please rename your file to OpusFSI_Station_Additions.txt

Enter a list of station additions in the form,

ICAO "station_name" latitude_longitude elevation "country" "runways"

 Where

·         the ICAO code always appears at the start of a new line,

·         the elevation is specified in feet amsl, the latitude_longitude is either specified in the free form used in flight plan entries (Re: Live Weather manual), or in the following exact form,

<compass_direction>degrees minutes (mm.mm).

latitude  :  Ndd mm.mm or  Sdd mm.mm   (9 characters)

longutude : Eddd mm.mm or Wddd mm.mm  (10 characters)

For example,

 EGNX "East Midlands" 52.831111N1.328056W 309 "United Kingdom" "9 27"

 EGLL "London Heathrow" N51 28.65 W000 27.68 80 "United Kingdom" "9L 27R 9R 27L"

Additions may also be used as corrections to the current data.

OpusFSI MetStation Corrections

Prior to use please rename your file to OpusFSI_MetStation_Corrections.txt.

Enter a list of met station corrections in the form,

ICAO  "station_name"

Where the ICAO code appears at the start of the line.

For example,

NZWB "Blenheim Woodbourne"

OpusFSI Station Corrections

Prior to use please rename your file to OpusFSI_Station_Corrections.txt

Enter a list of station corrections in the form,

ICAO  "station_name"

Where the ICAO code appears at the start of the line

For example,

NZWB "Blenheim Woodbourne"

 

Historic Weather Data

Set your simulator time to the required time you want to load within the past 24 hours. In the Weather dialog select the Weather Download Options and tick the checkbox for Download Historic Weather.

 

Weather Data Import (current and historic)

There are two methods you can use to import your own weather data,

·         a text file containing a list of METARs

·         a named world weather theme

Text File Import

As an alternative to the weather data collection over the Internet the software can be instructed to import its METAR data from a user specified import file (with the file extension txt). You can create your text file in packages such as Notepad.

The METAR Import File Specification and file scan frequency (default 600 secs) is specified within the Weather dialog on the server.  

This interface provides the means for you (or third-party software programs) to perform instant weather updates across the OpusFSI system with all the benefits of using our Dynamic Weather update. In such circumstances, the OpusFSI weather engine will load all METARs created by the user (or the third-party engine) that are contained within the specified text file. These reports will be used to perform a weather update of the system.

This interface can also provide you with a simple means to create your own localized or global weather themes by specifying the required METAR string(s) within the import file. The global ICAO station code GLOB can be used to specify global weather and overrides any other METARs in the file.  

The METAR date/time is ignored and so can be set to any date/time. Also the word METAR, MET or SPECI is ignored if present in the file. The METAR must be on a single line.

Example: KORD 010203Z 19020 6SM -SHRA BKN070 12/08

decodes as station id KORD, wind direction 190 degrees, 20 knots, visibility 6 Statute Miles, light rain shower, broken cloud at 7000 feet, temperature 12 degrees Celcius, dewpoint 8 degrees Celcius.

If you want to use the above weather conditions at any location then substitute KORD for GLOB.

Example: GLOB 000000Z 27008KT 7000 OVC004 03/02 Q1003

sets the visibility to 7000 meters with an overcast ceiling at 400 feet.

The OpusFSI Live Weather Engine (LWE) saves all downloaded METAR statements into an OpusWeather.txt file. We use this method to reload a user's weather if they report an anomaly they want us to look into.

There are many websites describing the METAR format, e.g. http://www.wunderground.com/metarFAQ.asp

 

World Weather Themes

The OpusFSI LWE can save a snapshot the current worldwide weather (METARs and GRIB forecast data) as a named weather theme for you to reload at any time and place in the future. You can use this feature to save interesting weather scenarios anywhere in the world. You can simply build up a library of interesting weather scenarios of your own, or even swap weather themes with others.

To save a theme ...

Let the LWE construct the detailed weather map. After it has loaded, save the weather theme using the OpusFSI Live Weather, Save World Weather Theme add-on menu option, or the Save Current Weather as World Theme button in the Weather dialog. 

If you save the theme via the add-on menu all theme files are automatically stored in the \OpusFSI\Weather\Themes folder in a file named 'WWT_yyyymmdd_hhmm'. If you wish to rename a theme saved via the add-on menu you must remember to rename both the theme's dat and txt files, and you will need to restart OpusFSI for the filename changes to take effect.  

If you save the theme via the Weather dialog then you have the option of naming the theme. 

If historic weather is loaded then the simulator's current Zulu time will be assumed, otherwise the LWE will download the current real-world Zulu time over the Internet, defaulting to the computer's current Zulu time on failure.

World Weather Themes cannot be saved before the weather has been generated, nor can they be saved when either of the Import METAR Data From File or Enable World Weather Themes options are ticked.

To load your saved theme ...  

World themes can be loaded via the simulator's add-on menu. First select the Load World Weather Theme option within the Live Weather menu. The displayed window will provide a directory of all World Weather Theme filenames along with their saved Zulu date and time. Use the Display Previous and Display Next options to navigate the pages. Click on the required filename to load the weather theme, the weather will automatically be injected into the sim.

Loading a World Weather Theme via the Addon menu will automatically display the Weather Report menu ready for you to check the loaded theme weather and GRIB forecast data prior to flight.

Alternatively tick the Enable World Weather Themes checkbox in the Weather dialog.

Select the Browse for World Weather Theme button and Browse for the required theme file.

Select Update Weather to load the weather theme and inject the weather into the sim.    

 

If a World Weather Theme does not include any GRIB forecast data (i.e. the theme's data file is missing) then the Enable GRIB Forecast option in the Weather Downloads dialog will determine whether the current GRIB data cycle should be downloaded and used.

The Disable World Weather Theme option in the add-on menu can be used to disable the World Weather Theme mode and revert back to using the current live weather.

Many OpusFSI users like storm chasing, the saved themes can be used to repeat the experience at some other time of your choosing. There are numerous websites you can use to find interesting current weather to capture and reload.

Editing A Theme

You can tweak or change the surface weather at a location by editing the relevant saved theme text (.txt) file in the OpusFSI\Weather\Themes folder. Search for the ICAO code for the METAR you wish to change and then edit its content. That way you can change the surface conditions at that site. The saved World Weather Theme text file can be edited using Notepad.

 

Weather Data Smoothing

Weather data smoothing prevents abrupt and sudden unrealistic changes in weather as you pass from one weather cell to another.

   

Mist and Fog Layers

Mist and fog is not depicted very well within the simulator, in fact these layers are not apparent at all from altitude. To improve the visual effect within the simulator, the Live Weather Engine automatically tops the mist and fog layers with a thin layer of stratus cloud with a coverage of 8 octas for mist and fog.  

In P3D simulator mode the Enable Volumetric Fog option is set automatically using the VolumetricFog setting within the Prepar3D.CFG file. If you change this setting during a P3D session then either change the Enable Volumetric Fog Effect in OpusFSI to match P3D or restart OpusFSI.  The Volumetric Fog option is ignored whenever the Microsoft FSX simulator type has been selected.

   

Low Overcast Effect

Low Overcast Effects come into force whenever the overcast cloud cover is less than about 6000 feet AGL. You must be IN the Low Overcast Effect to see it. Overcast by definition means 90% or more cloud coverage. Don't expect to see solid blanket type overcast when looking vertically downward ... you WILL see transparent holes just like you do in real life until you get IN an OpusFSI Low Overcast Effect (an overcast below 6000 feet).

   

Cloud Positions and Textures

It is not possible for any software to position the clouds. The simulator does this itself and will reposition the clouds each time the weather is updated irrespective of whether there has been any changes to the cloud layering. No software can stop the cloud repositioning or control it.

It is not possible for any software to select the individual cloud textures or bitmap images for rendering on the screen. This is all done by the simulator. You install the textures you prefer and the simulator selects and displays them to match the cloud layering. The cloud types used will be a mixture depending on a number of factors including weather and season.

 

Cloud Icing

The LWE will automatically set cloud icing within the cloud to none, low, medium, high, or severe depending on the ambient temperature within the cloud, the cloud type, and the cloud moisture level. Some icing is likely to occur when the ambient temperature is between -20C and 0C, with more noticeable effects when the ambient cloud temperature is between -12C and -8C. All calculated icing effects require valid GRIB forecast data.

Your aircraft has to be configured to handle icing. Many fuel injected aircraft in FSX have the 'carb heat bug', their real counterpart doesn't possess carb heat however FSX will still simulate carb icing and you'll see your engine power drop quite drastically within the first few minutes of flight in icing conditions. Simply pressing the H key will solve this problem. 

 

Cirrus Cloud Layers

Since high level cirrus cloud is not included within the standard METAR reports, the Live Weather Engine generates a single cirrus cloud layer if the Cirrus Clouds option in the Weather dialog has not been disabled. The cirrus cloud coverage is generated randomly between the configured lower and upper Cirrus Altitude Range. The valid range of altitude settings are from 18,000ft up to 50,000ft (default range is 34,000ft to 44,000ft).

The Auto Cirrus Clouds option will automatically display cirrus cloud whenever it determines the weather is quite changeable possibly due to a weather front. In fairly stable conditions the cirrus cloud will disabled. In flight, the cirrus is reassessed every 80 miles flown.

   

Winds and Temperatures Aloft

Winds and temperatures aloft may either be downloaded from the GRIB forecast or simulated by the OpusFSI LWE.

GRIB Forecast Winds and Temperatures Aloft

The GRIB forecast data is produced by NOAA and provides a global forecast of atmospheric conditions such as wind speeds, directions, and atmospheric temperatures at various altitudes along with the tropopause. It also provides a forecast of the tropopause height. The GRIB data covers the entire globe at 1 degree latitude and 1 degree longitude precision.

This data is used by the weather engine to determine all the lower and upper atmospheric conditions. The LWE uses the forecasted data to create ambient wind and temperature targets for all different altitudes from FL040 up to FL450, and even a temperature forecast for FL540.

With Automatic Settings, the LWE will use GRIB data any time you specify an intended Cruise Altitude of 4000 feet or above. The data provides realistic real world atmospheric conditions for you within the simulator.

The surface and FL200 through to FL420 targets are displayed within the Upper Atmosphere weather report along with the Tropopause forecast data (height, temp, and wind). The GRIB forecast cycle date and Zulu time code is displayed in the Upper Atmosphere Weather Report window.

Each cycle forecast contains 360 hours (15 days) of forecast data and is typically made available about 9+ hours after the cycle time, on occasions the 0000Z is posted after about 6+ hours. The LWE always tries to load the most recent cycle, and requests the previous cycle if that is not available yet. The GRIB download will automatically revert to downloading the FULL GRIB data file if the selective download from the 'Query' server fails to download any cycle data for the previous 24 hour period. Please note, the world wide GRIB data forecasting cycles are updated less frequently than the North American specific (USA) forecasts. A future update may see us access a variety of GRIB forecast data depending on your current Lat/Lon coordinates, but for now the world wide data will be used as the sole source of GRIB forecasts.

You can follow the process of the GRIB data download in the Spy window and in the Opus Lower and Upper Atmosphere Report windows. The procedure will progress through the following stages,

Connecting To The GRIB Server
Downloading The GRIB Data
Extracting The GRIB Data
Decoding The GRIB Data
Reading The GRIB Data
Preparing The Weather Data

The last stage covers both preparing the GRIB data for use in the weather map and also downloading the weather map's METAR data. Whilst the download is in progress the Lower/Upper report windows will indicate how many bytes have been downloaded. The following errors can be reported in the Lower/Upper report windows,

GRIB Forecast Data Disabled At Present
Unable To Connect To The GRIB Server
No Data Available At Present

The first message indicates that the GRIB download is disabled or not required at present. The 'No Data' message is a general error message implying there is no valid data available to prepare the Lower/Upper reports with. If the LWE is 'Unable To Connect To The GRIB Server' then no further cycle downloads will be attempted, but the LWE will attempt to download the expected current cycle during each weather update.  

If the GRIB data hasn't been decoded check your \OpusFSI\FSDECODER.log file for errors.

The LWE will only download the GRIB data when it determines the current data is out of date (older than 12.5 hours) and a new more accurate forecast cycle is available. In addition the GRIB Data Validity Period allows you to specify the validity period for the downloaded GRIB cycle data between 3  and 240 hours in increments of 3 hours (default 12 hours). You can also specify whether you wish GRIB data to be downloaded and updated in flight or just whilst on the ground before a flight.

After downloading the relatively large GRIB data file the LWE will proceed to extract all the data and then decode the extracted data before downloading the current METAR weather reports for your current 992km x 992km area. Extracting and decoding the GRIB data is a lengthy process, taking about 10 seconds to extract the GRIB data and between 25 and 35 seconds to decode the extracted data.

OpusFSI Simulated Winds Aloft

Unless the upper winds are defined within an import file they are simulated using both the current surface conditions and the prevailing jet stream, trade winds, polar winds, equatorial winds etc. for the aircraft's current latitude. All winds generally increase in speed up to 60,000ft.

OpusFSI Simulated Temperatures Aloft

If you use the Spy facility you will notice we display the FSX Ambient Temperature and Total Air Temperature (TAT) along with the Altitude in feet each time the air temperatures change. You will therefore be able to monitor what the outside air temp is within FSX while you fly. We have tested the new version up to about 85,000 feet. The minimum air temperature within FSX/Prepar3D is always -50 C at about 37,500 feet.

Wind Shear

There are three levels of wind shear at low elevations (< 4000 feet AGL). Wind shear is only associated with reported thunderstorm (TS) or squall (SQ) conditions and requires reported surface winds of at least 20 knots.

Where appropriate a Slight, Moderate, or Severe Wind Shear warning is appended at the end of the QNH pressure line in the Opus Local, Destination, and Alternate Weather Reports, just before the reported surface wind conditions.

Moderate wind shear levels require surface wind speeds of 30 knots or more, severe wind shear levels require surface wind speeds of at least 40 knots and warm conditions (surface temperatures of at least 20C).  

 

Turbulence and Dynamic Head Movement (DHM)

General DHM Options can be found in the FSISERVER's Configuration dialog. These options allow general DHM and associated 'Bump Aircraft' turbulence to be enabled for VC view modes, 2D view modes, and custom view modes without needing the Live Camera interface to set up camera views. General DHM settings are not used when Live Camera is enabled.

Separate options are provided to enable the general DHM and aircraft turbulence for VC view modes, 2D view modes, and custom view modes. Each view mode has its own configurable DHM and Bump Aircraft settings that can be adjusted by you to suit your system or personal taste. These General DHM Options employ real life captured 3D accelerometer data with options to reference either the light or heavy aircraft data sets. All turbulence effects are supervised by the Live Weather Engine (LWE) which considers numerous meteorological and ambient conditions. 

Refer to the Live Camera guide for a description of the DHM and aircraft turbulence settings.

 

OpusFSI Site Effects

The new localised Site Effects are additional effects, additional to the normal real time non-localised turbulence, clear air turbulence and wind shear which are determined solely on the basis of local meteorological conditions. All sites covered by the standard Opus Site Effects can be found listed in the OpusFSI_Site_Effects_List.txt text file.

Site Effects relate to your point of departure and destination ICAO. A future beta will also include your alternate ICAOs.

You can specify your own Site Effects, whether real or not. You can even override the standard OpusFSI site effects if you wish. A template file is provided in \OpusFSI\OpusFSI_User_Effects_Template.txt, just copy this to OpusFSI_User_Effects.txt and add the new effects. 

Comments can be added to the file by starting the line with a ; character.  

N.B. If you make adjustments to this file you must restart OpusFSI for the changes to come into effect.

User Site Effects

Enter a site ICAO (e.g. Site = EGKK) followed by a list of one or more optional conditions.

You can enter multiple sets of conditions for a site, for example where you have obstacles on the approach to an airfield and also close to the runway.

e.g.

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to high ground to the S and SE, between 3 and 8 nm from the airport

; between 0 to 2000 feet AGL.

 

Site = EGKK

Direction = S SE

Distance = 3 8 nm

Elevation = 0 2000

Turbulence = 1

 

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to trees to the W of RW08 between 1 and 4 nm from the airport

Site = EGKK

Runway = 08          ;30 degrees either side of RW08

Distance = 1 4 nm

Turbulence = 1

Turbulence and Wind Shear

The Turbulence and Wind Shear factors are interpreted as follows,

 0 = No Increased Effect

 1 = Slight Increased Effect

 2 = Moderate Increased Effect

 3 = Severely Increased Effect  

e.g.

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to trees to the W of RW08 between 1 and 4 nm from the airport

Site = EGKK

Runway = 08          ;defaults to 30 degrees either side of RW08

Distance = 1 4 nm

Turbulence = 1

In the case of Wind Shear, the normal effects require thunderstorm or squalls to be reported at the location. All increased levels permit some wind shear when any TCU or rain bearing storm clouds are present. The higher the level the greater the effect. Wind shears are always relevant to the whole surrounding area. In other words, they are not restricted by the specified conditions with the possible exception of Distance.

All increased turbulence effects are graduated as you enter or leave a defined zone based on the Distance, Bearing, Elevation, Wind Speed and Temperature conditions. The graduation is based on 15% of the specified range.

For example, if you specify a temperature condition of 20 degrees C with a Severe increase in turbulence (level 3) then when the surface temperature reaches 20C there will be a slight increase, at 23C there will be a moderate increase, and at or above 26C there will be the full severe increase.

If you specify a Bearing from 0 to 90 with a Severe increase in turbulence then when your bearing gets within 0 or 90 degrees from the airport location there will be a slight increase, when you get within a bearing of 13.5 or 76.5 degrees there will be a moderate increase, and within the central bearing of between 27 and 63 degrees there will be the full severe increase.

Runway

If the effect is limited to a certain runway then enter this condition using the two digit runway designation. If you specify a Runway the software will calculate an appropriate bearing from and to the station based on the specified runway heading +- 30 degrees. 

Runway codes can be specified with an optional L (left) or R (right) suffix. In which case the resulting From and To Bearings will be biased toward the specified runway approach radial. For example, 'Runway = 16L' would be equivalent to setting 'Bearing = 150,190', and 'Runway = 16R' would be equivalent to setting 'Bearing = 130,170'.

If you specify a Runway then do not specify a Direction or Bearing.

e.g. Runway = 16  ; Bearing 130 to 190

e.g. Runway = 16L ; Bearing 150 to 190

e.g. Runway = 16R ; Bearing 130 to 170

Location of an obstacle or high ground, Distance, Direction/Bearing and Elevation

You can specify where an obstacle such as trees or high ground is by specifying a distance and either compass directions or bearings. You can also specify conditional elevations, the default range is 0 to 18,000 feet AGL.

If you specify a Direction from and to (from the station) the software will convert it to a bearing from and to. You can use compass points N,NNE,NE,ENE,E etc, for the Direction, the decoder will automatically extend the specified directions/bearings by 30 degrees either side to allow for graduation.

The distance (0 to 80) defaults to km and can also be specified in nm or sm by including the units after the distance.

e.g.

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to trees to the W of RW08 between 1 and 4 nm from the airport

Site = EGKK

Runway = 08          ;30 degrees either side of RW08

Distance = 1 4 nm

Turbulence = 1

 

or,

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to trees to the W of RW08 between 1 and 4 nm from the airport

Site = EGKK

Bearing = 40,120     ;40 degrees either side of RW08

Distance = 1 4 nm

Turbulence = 1

 

e.g.

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to high ground to the S and SE, between 3 and 8 nm from the airport

; between 0 to 2000 feet AGL.

Site = EGKK

Direction = S SE

Distance = 3 8 nm

Elevation = 0 2000

Turbulence = 1

Conditional Wind Direction and/or Wind Speed

If the effect is conditional on the prevailing wind direction and/or wind speed then specify that using the Wind Direction and Wind Speed conditions.

You can specify two compass points as general wind directions instead of specific directions.

e.g.  Wind Direction = SSW SW

The two directions, approx 202 to 235 degrees, would be converted to 172 to 265 degrees, allowing a 15% and 30% graduated effect within this specified range.

You could also enter a wind direction of SW, the decoder will convert this to a from/to a range of 205 and 265 (i.e. adding +- 30 degrees to the general direction).

The wind speed is in knots. The speed relates to light aircraft and is automatically increased by 10 knots if heavy aircraft is specified in the DHM parameters. The effect is graduated so you will get a slight increase at that speed limit, a moderate increase at the speed + 20%, and the full severe (if specified) increase at speed + 40%.

For example assuming a setting of 15 knots and a severe turbulence level 3 specified ...

For light aircraft we would get ...

Slight turbulence at 15 knots,

Moderate turbulence at 18 knots,

Severe turbulence at 21 knots and above.

For heavy aircraft we would get ...

Slight turbulence at 25 knots,

Moderate turbulence at 30 knots,

Severe turbulence at 35 knots and above.  

e.g.

; EGNX East Midlands

; Moderate turbulence and slight wind shear on RW09 in southerly winds above 15 kts

Site = EGNX

Runway = 09

Elevation = 0 3000

Wind Direction = S   ;30 degrees either side of S

Wind Speed = 15

Turbulence = 2

Wind Shear = 1

or,

; EGNX East Midlands

; Moderate turbulence and slight wind shear on RW09 in southerly winds above 15 kts

Site = EGNX

Runway = 09

Elevation = 0 3000

Wind Direction = 140 220   ;40 degrees either side of S

Wind Speed = 15

Turbulence = 2

Wind Shear = 1

Conditional Temperature

If the effect is conditional on the temperature then specify that using the Temperature condition specified in degrees C.

e.g.

; Turbulence in temperatures above 25 degrees C

Temperature = 25

Turbulence = 1

Example User Effects file <OpusFSI>\OpusFSI_User_Effects.txt, 

;------------------------------------------------------------------------

;                          OpusFSI Site Effects

;

; Enter a list of enhanced site effects each effect must contain the Site

; description (with ICAO code) followed by any relevant conditions and

; increased effects levels,

;

; Site = ICAO code

;

; Conditions and effects ...

;

; Runway = 00 to 36

; Direction = from to

; Bearing = from to

; Distance = from to km/nm/sm

; Elevation = from to

; Wind Direction = from to

; Wind Speed = from

; Temperature = from

; Turbulence = 0 to 3

; Wind Shear = 0 to 3

;

; Defaults ...

;

; Runway = XX

; Direction = 0 360

; Bearing = 0 360

; Distance = 0 8 (Default km)

; Elevation = 0 18000

; Wind Direction = 0 360

; Wind Speed = 0

; Temperature = -99

; Turbulence = 0

; Wind Shear = 0

;

; Where,

;

; Runways are specified using their two digit designation.

; Directions from the Site are in degrees true (0,360 = all directions)

; Bearings to the Site are in degrees true (0,360 = all directions)

; Distances (in units of km, nm, or sm) can range from 0 to 128km.

; Elevations are in feet AGL (0,18000 = covers all lower levels)

; Wind Directions are in degrees true (0,360 = all wind directions)

; Wind Speeds are in knots

; Temperatures are in degrees C

;

; Directions, Bearings, and Wind Directions can also be specified using

; cardinal directions (i.e. compass points N,NNE,NE,ENE,E,etc.). In such

; cases the 'To' compass point is optional.

;

; The Turbulence and Wind Shear factors are interpreted as follows,

;

; 0 = No Increased Effect

; 1 = Slight Increased Effect

; 2 = Moderate Increased Effect

; 3 = Severely Increased Effect

;

; In the case of Wind Shear, the normal effects require thunderstorm or

; squalls to be reported at the location. All increased levels permit some

; wind shear when any TCU or rain bearing storm clouds are present. The

; higher the level the greater the effect. Wind shears are always relevant

; to the whole surrounding area. In other words, they are not restricted

; by the specified conditions with the possible exception of Distance.

;

; All increased turbulence effects are graduated as you enter or leave a

; defined zone based on the Distance, Bearing, Elevation, Wind Speed and

; Temperature conditions.

;------------------------------------------------------------------------

;

; Guidelines,

;

; General Turbulence ... 4 nm, 2000 ft

; General Wind Shear ... 4 nm, 3000 ft

; Buildings & Trees .... 2 nm, 1500 ft

; Final Approach ....... 3 km, 1500 ft

 

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence and wind shear on RW26 in strong S and SW winds

 

Site = EGKK

Runway = 26

Distance = 0 4 nm

Elevation = 0 1000

Wind Direction = S SW

Wind Speed = 15

Turbulence = 2

Wind Shear = 1

 

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to trees to the W of RW08

 

Site = EGKK

Runway = 08

Distance = 1 4 nm

Elevation = 0 1000

Wind Speed = 15

Turbulence = 1

 

; EGKK Gatwick London

; Turbulence due to high ground to the S and SE

 

Site = EGKK

Distance = 3 8 nm

Direction = S SE

Elevation = 0 2000

Wind Speed = 12

Turbulence = 1

 

; EGNX East Midlands

; Turbulence and wind shear on RW09 in strong southerly winds

 

Site = EGNX

Runway = 09

Elevation = 0 3000

Wind Direction = S

Wind Speed = 15

Turbulence = 2

Wind Shear = 1

Testing Site Effects

You can test any of your specified effects using a GLOB imported METAR to specify the weather, using Slew mode to raise the aircraft off the ground and position it on the approach, or simulate an approach. It is helpful to temporarily disable DHM when using slew mode. You must of course specify the Destination in the Weather dialog and Update the weather. It is best with FSX in windowed mode so you can have the Spy window open at the time. The number of Opus and User Site Effects is displayed in the Spy window immediately after the current device list. The Total number of effects takes into account any Opus effects that have been replaced by your definitions. The LWE displays the results of all site related turbulence changes in the window, identifying which site effect factored in the most.

For example, Site Effect 4: Turbulence Increase 2

You can keep refreshing the Destination Weather Report to see what the calculated bearing and distance is to the site, that will also give you some idea how far the end of the runway is from the site's defined latitude and longitude position.

 

Flight Planning Assistant Reports

Reports may be selected from the sim Add-ons menu. The reports include,

·         Sim Weather Reports using the simulator's own text menu window,

·         Opus Weather Reports using OpusFSI Weather Report windows,

·         OpusWeather (METARs),

·         OpusWeatherReport (GRIB Data),

·         OpusFlightReport (Flight Plan),

·         OpusSidStarReport (SIDs and STARs)  

The weather, maps and reports can be generated before the flight has been loaded provided a flight plan has been specified, identifying the point of departure. The weather generation will be a slow process whenever the simulator is not running (due to SimConnect delays), fastest when the simulator is running and the flight has not been loaded (i.e. with the start up screen displayed or minimised).

Sim Weather Reports

The Sim Weather Report is a transparent menu displayed within the sim's own text menu window,

The Shortcut Controls in the Server dialog enable you to configure key/button assignments to display and cycle through Weather Reports. Refer to the User Guide for further details.  

The report selection window provides links to the Local Area Weather Report, Lower Atmosphere Weather Report, Upper Atmosphere Weather Report, the Flight Plan En Route Report, the Destination report and four Alternate met station reports.

The weather report windows indicate 'No Weather Available At Present' if the LWE hasn't generated or updated the weather at the time.  

The distance to the destination and alternates is displayed in both km and nautical miles. You must be within 640km (400 miles) of the station to view the report.

If you reconfigure any of the ICAO codes in the Weather dialog during flight then you must re-display the weather report window.

The report selection window can be manually undocked and re-positioned on multi-screened PCs.

Either click on an option or enter the relevant number to display the required report or exit the menu.

The Local Area Weather Report, Destination report and four Alternate met station reports provide an overview of the target meteorological conditions for your chosen location and, if there is room, show the targets for the upper (above FL200) ambient temperature (SAT), ambient wind direction and speed, also the current ambient air temperature and TAT inside the simulator. The idea being, you can use these report windows to monitor the temperatures and above FL200 compare the target temperatures and winds with the actual.

These reports can be used in place of ATIS and are accurate out to the edge of the weather map 640km (about 400 miles or 345nm). You can use this feature to check the weather and wind direction at non-ATIS airstrips.

All weather reports have a Live (dynamic weather update), Imported (METAR File Import), Historic or Disabled (LWE currently disabled) indication in the title line. The ICAO codes and where appropriate the station names are listed within each of the weather report windows together with the distance to the station. The distances, displayed in both km and nautical miles, will update when you cross into a new weather cell. The (m) displayed before the ICAO code signifies a METAR is available for the location, (r) signifies Relocated Weather mode has been enabled. If zero METARs are reported then it means there are no met stations in your current weather cell, that is within 5 to 10 miles of you.

Where appropriate the METAR time code (DDHHMMZ) is displayed in the first line, containing the reported QNH pressure. The METAR time code is only displayed within a weather report if there is a single METAR for the location. Stabilised pressures are depicted using the phrase 'Static' whenever they are applicable indicating that pressure stabilization has been configured in the Weather Smoothing dialog. In those circumstances the pressures are stabilised (static) between weather updates to prevent FSX wind shift problems.

Where appropriate a Slight, Moderate, or Severe Wind Shear warning is appended at the end of the QNH pressure line in the Opus Local, Destination, and Alternate Weather Reports, just before the reported surface wind conditions.

The Destination Weather Report will have an Actual label appended after the QNH whenever the Destination weather has been checked and verified 'inside' the simulator. Hence, the label confirms that the Destination weather inside the simulator matches the Opus on-screen Destination Weather Report. This will generally occur once you are airborne and within 200km of your Destination.

Real surface winds are depicted as 'Wind XXX at XX knots' within the weather reports.

Stabilised winds are depicted using the phrase 'Static XXX/XX' whenever they are applicable indicating that wind stabilization has been configured in the Weather Smoothing dialog. In those circumstances the surface winds are stabilised (static) between weather updates to prevent FSX wind shift problems. As you descend through the recovery altitude + 500 feet the LWE continues to check to see if it can recover the surface winds. This process continues and if you are still using static (stabilised) surface winds, as you descend below the 'forced' recovery altitude the LWE recovers them no matter what. Any wind shift you experience here is less worrying because you are lower down and travelling slower, usually in much calmer winds. To help you see what is going on the weather report shows both the static surface wind injected into FSX, and the true wind as reported by the METARs.

After the true surface winds have been recovered the 'static' wind will disappear and only the true wind will be shown. At this point hopefully you have specified your destination to the LWE and it will then monitor your flight and try its utmost to make the weather spot on for you at your destination or any of your alternates.

You will see Variable and Gusting XX messages after the Wind statement indicating variable wind directions and gusty surface conditions, the XX giving the max gust wind speed in knots.

If (pseudo effect) is displayed after a cloud layer it's just to remind you that that cloud layer is a fake layer that has been added by the LWE to produce the fog or mist effect which tops the fog/mist layer with a thin stratus cloud so that you can see it from above, otherwise FSX is unable to depict the poor vis surface layer. So don't expect to see it in the corresponding METAR statement. Visibility is displayed in both metres and statute miles.

If Magnetic Variation is enabled (Weather's User Preferences dialog) then there will be a difference between the reported wind directions METAR and GRIB forecast data which always report directions with respect to True North and the current wind directions within the simulator and reported by ATIS which are always Magnetic directions. To assist the pilot, the LWE will show the current Magnetic Variation in the local weather report windows, displayed in the form 'MagVar XX.X' at the end of the surface wind information. You must ADD this value to all wind directions to convert them to Magnetic directions at the current location. Please note, OpusFSI cannot show the Magnetic Variation at the Destination or Alternate sites, only at your current location in the simulated world.

If you have specified a Cruise Altitude then the report will include the target cruise altitude wind direction, speed and ambient temperature displayed in the form 'Cruise ddd/ss tempC'. Unknown temperature and dew points are shown as ??.  

Reports will append an (S) label to all cloud descriptions to inform you that Cloud Smoothing is in force at that location and the listed cloud layers may therefore differ from what is displayed in the simulator. Cloud Smoothing can be inhibited at the specified Destination site (Weather's Smoothing and Stabilisation dialog option).

The Local Area Weather Report conditions are the target meteorological conditions for your current 16km square weather cell. Even though the targets are assigned to weather cells, they are in fact assigned to single points within the simulator. In flight, the defined point for the weather cell can be over 10 miles away from your aircraft's current position. Furthermore the target weather will naturally spill over into adjacent cells, hence the weather you see out of the cockpit may match more closely with the weather assigned to an adjacent cell and not the reported cell. Please keep this point in mind when using the Local Area Weather Report whilst airborne.

The Upper and Lower Atmosphere Weather Reports are valid if you have enabled the option to Enable GRIB Forecast in the Weather dialog's Download Weather Options. If it is not enabled you will see the message "GRIB Forecast Data Disabled At Present".

The Lower Atmosphere Weather Report displays the surface and FL040 through to FL180 targets along with the current temperature and wind target. Click anywhere to return to the main report selection window.  

The Upper Atmosphere Weather Report displays the GRIB forecast cycle date and Zulu time code as the first item on the list together with the Tropopause forecast data (height, temp, and wind), surface and FL200 through to FL420 targets along with the current temperature and wind target. Click anywhere to return to the main report selection window.

 

Please note, the world wide GRIB data forecasting cycles are updated at approximately the same time as  the North American specific (USA) forecasts and it can take between 6 and 9 hours for them to update a cycle.

The raw GRIB data is shown in the Upper Weather Report window whenever either of the Sim Friendly GRIB options are ticked (Wind or Temperature).

The Flight Plan En Route Weather Reports lists all identified met stations extracted from the flight plan, alternatively if you don't have a flight plan then any specified Destination and Alternate met stations are listed. Select the required station from the list to display the current reported weather at that site. The report displays the navigation points associated with each listed Met station, these are appended to each line as [navpnt]. At present only the first associated navigation point is shown even though the same Met station may be common to a multiple, normally consecutive, group of navigation points.

If you change the flight plan the weather report may list Met stations as (Not Updated) indicating that a weather update is needed in order to request and download the new METARs.

The Local, Destination and Alternate Weather Reports include the available runways and elevation in both feet and metres. The information is displayed immediately following the surface wind data. The runways are listed in the preferred order of use based on the current surface wind.

The runway data is obtained from the Navigraph SIDSTARS NAVDATA. If you don't have a subscription to Navigraph then you can use the PMDG NAVDATA (the SIDSTARS Navigraph text files). The location of your NAVDATA folder must be identified in the Flight Plan Options dialog using the appropriate (FSX or P3D) Browse button (e.g. F:\FSX\PMDG\NAVDATA\).

 

Opus Weather Reports  

As an alternative to the Sim Weather Reports if you wish to display weather report information inside or outside the sim you can use the Opus Weather Reports. Each time you select the Opus Weather Reports option it will open an additional Weather Report window,

The FSISERVER allows up to nine Weather Report windows to be opened and sized/positioned anywhere on a single or multi-screen system. You can change the font, font style and font size to suit your own screen resolution. The OpusFSI Weather Reports can be displayed either using the Wx Report button on the FSISERVER form or using the 'Opus Weather Reports' option via the simulator's Add-ons Menu. If any OpusFSI Weather Report is on display the Live Weather Engine will no longer force or update the sim Lower or Upper Atmosphere reports. Instead all GRIB download and progress messages are displayed in red on the second line of all displayed OpusFSI Weather Reports. Provision has been made to display other useful information and messages on the second line of the OpusFSI Wx Reports.

On program startup the first four OpusFSI Weather Reports are primed to display the Local Weather, Lower Atmosphere, Upper Atmosphere, and Destination Weather respectively. The remaining reports are primed to open with the Weather Report Main Menu on display. 

The Options button can be used to specify the following OpusFSI Weather Report options,

Top Most - Displays an OpusFSI Weather Report form top most on the screen.
Opacity - Specifies the opacity for an OpusFSI Weather Report form.
Font - Specifies the display font for an OpusFSI Weather Report form.

Set Defaults - Restores all OpusFSI size, font, topmost, and opacity defaults for the current report form. By default the font is set to "Courier New, 9 point", topmost is set to true, and opacity set to 100%. The form size is adjusted to give the minimal footprint for all report formats.

After specifying the above you may choose to 'Modify' the current report form, or click on 'Modify All' to change all OpusFSI Weather Report forms. The 'Resize' checkbox can be used to resize all forms the current form's size.

Specifying both Top Most and an Opacity less than 100% will allow the OpusFSI Weather Report form to be sized, positioned, and displayed over the simulator's main display. This will be found helpful when operating the simulator in Maximised or Full Screen mode.

Text Reports  

The other sim Add-ons menu options are text reports displayed within the default text editor program. To change the default text editor program just right click on any .txt file and select the Open with option then select the Choose default program.. option and select Notepad or the default program you want to be used to view the .txt files.

OpusWeather (METARs)

A detailed METAR report (including TAFs if you have enabled them in the Weather Download dialog) for the weather map (800 x 800 miles) is generated each time the weather is updated. Your local Met station is displayed together with your  current distance from the station. Any specified Destination and Alternate sites are appended to the OpusWeather.txt report file. The report is saved in the text file <OpusFSI>\Weather\OpusWeather.txt where <OpusFSI> identifies your OpusFSI installation folder.

Example OpusWeather.txt,

OpusFSI Downloaded METARs, Software Version 4.43.9 Beta

Downloaded 21 January 2015, 08:32 Hrs - Live

Simulator 30 December 2013, 12:39 Zulu

Local MetStn : EHAM, AMSTERDAM/SCHIPH, Distance 2.4 km

EHAM 210825Z 12006KT CAVOK M01/M03 Q1012 NOSIG
EBAW 210820Z 11007KT CAVOK M01/M04 Q1011 NOSIG
EBBE 210822Z 10007KT 7000 SCT100 BKN150 M01/M04 Q1010 WHT WHT BECMG BLU
...
LSZH 210820Z 05006KT 020V100 6000 FEW010 OVC012 01/M01 Q1008 NOSIG
LSZR 210820Z 09003KT 4500 BR FEW010 M02/M02 Q1009 NOSIG RMK D

506 MetStns, 290 Metars Available

Flight Plan METARs ...

KVBG 210755Z AUTO 03003KT 10SM CLR 12/06 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP149 T01220056 401830100 TSNO
KLPC 210815Z AUTO 00000KT 3SM BKN002 06/03 A2999 RMK AO1
KSMX 210751Z AUTO 28004KT 10SM CLR 12/05 A3000 RMK AO2 SLP163 T01170050 402060089 TSNO

3 Metars Downloaded

4 MetStns, 3 Metars Available

OpusWeatherReport (GRIB Data)

A detailed weather report for the lower and upper atmosphere wind and temperature data relating to the current location is generated from the current GRIB data each time the weather is updated. The report is saved in the text file <OpusFSI>\Weather\OpusWeatherReport.txt where <OpusFSI> identifies your OpusFSI installation folder.

Example OpusWeatherReport.txt,

OpusFSI Weather Report at [39,39], Software Version 4.43.9 Beta

Generated 21 January 2015, 08:41 Hrs - Live

Simulator 30 December 2013, 12:48 Zulu

Location : EHAM (m) Amsterdam/schiph

Cruise Altitude : 34000 Feet

World Wide GRIB Data, 21 January 2015, 0000 Zulu

Tropopause Height 31249 Feet, Temp -56, Wind 224/63

Upper Atmosphere

81 50 km : Temp 0 , Wind 258/78 : Top of Stratosphere (164,000 ft)
80 20 km : Temp -49, Wind 258/00 : Top of Tropopause ( 65,600 ft)
79 FL435 : Temp -49, Wind 258/15
...
32 FL200 : Temp -33, Wind 206/32

Lower Atmosphere

31 FL195 : Temp -32, Wind 224/26
30 FL190 : Temp -31, Wind 224/25
...
00 FL040 : Temp -6 , Wind 162/12

Surface : Temp -1, Wind 120/6, Static 120/6


 

OpusFlightReport (Flight Plan)

If you specify a flight plan in the weather dialog then a detailed flight plan weather report is generated each time the weather is updated. TAFs are included if you have enabled them in the Weather Download dialog. Any configured alternate Met stations are shown within the Route section of the OpusFlightReport text file and appended at the end of the Weather report section in an Alternates section. Bracketed wind and temperature averages for all altitudes ranging from 4000ft up to 44,000ft in 1000ft increments are included in the report. Unknown temperature and dew points within the flight plan report are shown as ??. The report is saved in the text file <OpusFSI>\Weather\OpusFlightReport.txt where <OpusFSI> identifies your OpusFSI installation folder.

Example OpusFlightReport.txt,

OpusFSI Flight Plan Weather Report, Software Version 4.20.10 Beta

Generated 09 December 2014, 09:04 Hrs - Live

Simulator 09 December 2014, 08:04 Zulu

Plan:

EGKK MID KENET DOBEM RETSI MONTY KEGUN EGGP

Route:

EGKK LONDON/GATWICK A Lat 51.148056 Lon -0.190278 Met Stn United Kingdom
MID MIDHURST Lat 51.053889 Lon -0.625000 Nav Aid Freq 114.000
KENET KENET Lat 51.520556 Lon -1.455000 Way Pnt 
DOBEM DOBEM Lat 51.869445 Lon -2.929167 Way Pnt 
RETSI RETSI Lat 52.511667 Lon -2.875834 Way Pnt 
MONTY MONTY Lat 52.892778 Lon -3.173889 Way Pnt 
KEGUN KEGUN Lat 53.192500 Lon -3.150278 Way Pnt 
EGGP LIVERPOOL AIRPOR Lat 53.334179 Lon -2.847404 Met Stn United Kingdom
EGNX EAST MIDLANDS Lat 52.831111 Lon -1.328056 Met Stn Alternate

Averages:

FL040 Wind 276/14 Temp -1C
FL050 Wind 281/14 Temp -2C
FL060 Wind 287/15 Temp -4C
FL070 Wind 295/17 Temp -6C
FL080 Wind 303/19 Temp -7C Cruise Altitude
FL090 Wind 310/23 Temp -7C
...

FL430 Wind 338/88 Temp -68C
FL440 Wind 339/85 Temp -68C

Weather:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGKK LONDON/GATWICK A 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 325/10 -2C FL050 324/11 -3C FL060 323/12 -5C
FL070 324/14 -7C FL080 328/16 -9C FL090 333/18 -10C
FL100 340/21 -11C FL110 342/27 -12C FL120 344/33 -12C
FL130 344/38 -13C FL140 343/43 -14C FL150 342/47 -15C
FL160 342/51 -16C FL170 342/53 -18C FL180 342/55 -20C
FL190 343/57 -22C FL200 344/63 -23C FL210 345/65 -24C
FL220 346/68 -26C FL230 348/71 -28C FL240 349/74 -30C
FL250 349/77 -32C FL260 349/81 -34C FL270 349/84 -36C
FL280 348/88 -37C FL290 348/92 -39C FL300 347/96 -41C
FL310 347/100 -43C FL320 348/103 -45C FL330 349/106 -47C
FL340 349/109 -50C FL350 350/111 -52C FL360 350/112 -55C
FL370 350/112 -57C FL380 350/113 -60C FL390 350/113 -62C
FL400 350/109 -64C FL410 350/105 -66C FL420 351/100 -67C
FL430 351/91 -67C FL440 352/86 -66C

EGKK, LONDON/GATWICK A, At Location, 090850Z
Wind 180/2 Temp 0/-1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1029mb (30.39in)

EGKB, BIGGIN HILL, 26km (14nm), NE 037, 090850Z
Wind 190/4 Temp 1/-1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1029mb (30.39in)

EGKA, SHOREHAM-BY-SEA, 36km (19nm), SSW 192, 090850Z
Wind 000/0 Temp -2/-3 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1030mb (30.42in)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MID MIDHURST 32km (17nm), WSW 251, Total 32km (17nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 325/10 -2C FL050 324/11 -3C FL060 323/12 -5C
FL070 324/14 -7C FL080 328/16 -9C FL090 333/18 -10C
FL100 340/21 -11C FL110 342/27 -12C FL120 344/33 -12C
FL130 344/38 -13C FL140 343/43 -14C FL150 342/47 -15C
FL160 342/51 -16C FL170 342/53 -18C FL180 342/55 -20C
FL190 343/57 -22C FL200 344/63 -23C FL210 345/65 -24C
FL220 346/68 -26C FL230 348/71 -28C FL240 349/74 -30C
FL250 349/77 -32C FL260 349/81 -34C FL270 349/84 -36C
FL280 348/88 -37C FL290 348/92 -39C FL300 347/96 -41C
FL310 347/100 -43C FL320 348/103 -45C FL330 349/106 -47C
FL340 349/109 -50C FL350 350/111 -52C FL360 350/112 -55C
FL370 350/112 -57C FL380 350/113 -60C FL390 350/113 -62C
FL400 350/109 -64C FL410 350/105 -66C FL420 351/100 -67C
FL430 351/91 -67C FL440 352/86 -66C

EGLF, FARNBOROUGH, 27km (14nm), NNW 336, 090850Z
Wind 150/2 Temp -2/-2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1029mb (30.39in)

EGVO, ODIHAM RAF, 30km (16nm), NW 312, 090850Z
Wind 200/5 Temp 0/-1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1028mb (30.36in)

EGKK, LONDON/GATWICK A, 32km (17nm), ENE 070, 090850Z
Wind 180/2 Temp 0/-1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1029mb (30.39in)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KENET KENET 78km (42nm), NW 312, Total 110km (59nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 306/10 -2C FL050 304/11 -3C FL060 305/12 -5C
FL070 308/13 -6C FL080 315/14 -8C FL090 322/17 -9C
FL100 330/22 -10C FL110 333/28 -11C FL120 337/34 -11C
FL130 337/40 -12C FL140 338/46 -13C FL150 338/50 -14C
FL160 338/53 -15C FL170 338/55 -17C FL180 338/56 -19C
FL190 339/58 -21C FL200 341/60 -22C FL210 343/62 -24C
FL220 344/64 -26C FL230 345/67 -28C FL240 346/69 -29C
FL250 346/72 -31C FL260 346/75 -33C FL270 345/79 -34C
FL280 344/83 -36C FL290 344/87 -38C FL300 343/91 -40C
FL310 343/94 -43C FL320 344/96 -45C FL330 345/99 -47C
FL340 346/101 -49C FL350 346/103 -52C FL360 346/105 -55C
FL370 346/107 -57C FL380 346/109 -60C FL390 346/111 -62C
FL400 346/107 -64C FL410 347/103 -66C FL420 347/99 -67C
FL430 348/92 -68C FL440 349/88 -67C

EGVN, BRIZE NORTON RAF, 27km (15nm), NNW 340, 090850Z
Wind 000/0 Temp -1/-1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1027mb (30.33in)

EGUB, BENSON RAF, 27km (15nm), ENE 066, 090850Z
Wind 170/6 Temp 0/0 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1028mb (30.36in)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
DOBEM DOBEM 109km (59nm), WNW 291, Total 218km (118nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 265/16 -1C FL050 272/15 -2C FL060 284/16 -3C
FL070 295/19 -5C FL080 305/23 -6C FL090 312/27 -6C
FL100 318/31 -6C FL110 322/35 -7C FL120 326/40 -8C
FL130 326/46 -10C FL140 326/51 -11C FL150 326/56 -13C
FL160 326/61 -15C FL170 326/63 -17C FL180 326/64 -19C
FL190 327/65 -21C FL200 329/55 -22C FL210 326/53 -24C
FL220 325/57 -25C FL230 324/60 -27C FL240 324/64 -28C
FL250 326/69 -30C FL260 328/73 -31C FL270 329/77 -32C
FL280 329/81 -35C FL290 328/84 -37C FL300 328/88 -39C
FL310 328/89 -41C FL320 330/90 -44C FL330 331/90 -46C
FL340 333/91 -48C FL350 334/92 -51C FL360 334/94 -54C
FL370 335/96 -56C FL380 335/98 -59C FL390 335/100 -62C
FL400 336/97 -64C FL410 336/93 -66C FL420 336/90 -68C
FL430 336/87 -70C FL440 337/84 -70C

EGBJ, STAVERTON (PRIVA, 52km (28nm), E 086, 090850Z
Wind 000/0 Temp 2/1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1027mb (30.33in)
Few at 4000 feet

EGGD, BRISTOL/LULSGATE, 56km (30nm), SSE 164, 090850Z
Wind 200/7, Variable 165/235 Temp 3/1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1028mb (30.36in)
Scattered at 2900 feet

EGFF, CARDIFF-WALES AR, 60km (32nm), SSW 208, 090850Z
Wind 220/10 Temp 7/4 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1027mb (30.33in)
Scattered at 3400 feet

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
RETSI RETSI 72km (39nm), N 002, Total 290km (157nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 255/18 -1C FL050 264/16 -2C FL060 275/17 -3C
FL070 285/20 -5C FL080 294/23 -6C FL090 301/27 -6C
FL100 308/30 -6C FL110 313/34 -7C FL120 318/39 -8C
FL130 318/44 -10C FL140 319/50 -12C FL150 319/55 -14C
FL160 319/60 -15C FL170 320/61 -17C FL180 320/62 -19C
FL190 321/63 -21C FL200 323/53 -22C FL210 320/51 -24C
FL220 319/54 -26C FL230 317/58 -28C FL240 316/61 -29C
FL250 318/66 -31C FL260 321/71 -32C FL270 322/76 -33C
FL280 322/80 -35C FL290 321/84 -37C FL300 321/88 -39C
FL310 321/90 -42C FL320 323/91 -44C FL330 324/92 -46C
FL340 325/94 -48C FL350 326/95 -51C FL360 326/97 -54C
FL370 327/98 -57C FL380 327/100 -59C FL390 328/101 -62C
FL400 328/97 -64C FL410 329/94 -66C FL420 329/90 -67C
FL430 330/86 -69C FL440 331/83 -69C

EGOS, SHAWBURY RAF, 35km (19nm), NNE 023, 090850Z
Wind 170/11 Temp 4/1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

EGWC, COSFORD RAF, 41km (22nm), ENE 069, 090850Z
Wind 170/5 Temp 1/-1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1026mb (30.30in)
Few at 2000 feet

EGNR, HAWARDEN (AUT), 74km (40nm), N 354, 090850Z
Wind 160/10 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
MONTY MONTY 47km (25nm), NNW 334, Total 337km (182nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 255/18 -1C FL050 264/16 -2C FL060 275/17 -3C
FL070 285/20 -5C FL080 294/23 -6C FL090 301/27 -6C
FL100 308/30 -6C FL110 313/34 -7C FL120 318/39 -8C
FL130 318/44 -10C FL140 319/50 -12C FL150 319/55 -14C
FL160 319/60 -15C FL170 320/61 -17C FL180 320/62 -19C
FL190 321/63 -21C FL200 323/53 -22C FL210 320/51 -24C
FL220 319/54 -26C FL230 317/58 -28C FL240 316/61 -29C
FL250 318/66 -31C FL260 321/71 -32C FL270 322/76 -33C
FL280 322/80 -35C FL290 321/84 -37C FL300 321/88 -39C
FL310 321/90 -42C FL320 323/91 -44C FL330 324/92 -46C
FL340 325/94 -48C FL350 326/95 -51C FL360 326/97 -54C
FL370 327/98 -57C FL380 327/100 -59C FL390 328/101 -62C
FL400 328/97 -64C FL410 329/94 -66C FL420 329/90 -67C
FL430 330/86 -69C FL440 331/83 -69C

EGNR, HAWARDEN (AUT), 34km (19nm), NNE 022, 090850Z
Wind 160/10 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

EGOS, SHAWBURY RAF, 36km (19nm), ESE 107, 090850Z
Wind 170/11 Temp 4/1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

EGGP, LIVERPOOL AIRPOR, 54km (29nm), NNE 023, 090850Z
Wind 170/9, Variable 120/220 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1022mb (30.18in)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
KEGUN KEGUN 33km (18nm), N 002, Total 370km (200nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 255/18 -1C FL050 264/16 -2C FL060 275/17 -3C
FL070 285/20 -5C FL080 294/23 -6C FL090 301/27 -6C
FL100 308/30 -6C FL110 313/34 -7C FL120 318/39 -8C
FL130 318/44 -10C FL140 319/50 -12C FL150 319/55 -14C
FL160 319/60 -15C FL170 320/61 -17C FL180 320/62 -19C
FL190 321/63 -21C FL200 323/53 -22C FL210 320/51 -24C
FL220 319/54 -26C FL230 317/58 -28C FL240 316/61 -29C
FL250 318/66 -31C FL260 321/71 -32C FL270 322/76 -33C
FL280 322/80 -35C FL290 321/84 -37C FL300 321/88 -39C
FL310 321/90 -42C FL320 323/91 -44C FL330 324/92 -46C
FL340 325/94 -48C FL350 326/95 -51C FL360 326/97 -54C
FL370 327/98 -57C FL380 327/100 -59C FL390 328/101 -62C
FL400 328/97 -64C FL410 329/94 -66C FL420 329/90 -67C
FL430 330/86 -69C FL440 331/83 -69C

EGNR, HAWARDEN (AUT), 11.6km (6.3nm), E 097, 090850Z
Wind 160/10 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

EGGP, LIVERPOOL AIRPOR, 26km (14nm), NE 051, 090850Z
Wind 170/9, Variable 120/220 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1022mb (30.18in)

EGOW, WOODVALE RAF, 44km (24nm), N 008, 090750Z
Wind 150/11 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1022mb (30.18in)

EGOS, SHAWBURY RAF, 54km (29nm), SE 143, 090850Z
Wind 170/11 Temp 4/1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGGP LIVERPOOL AIRPOR 26km (14nm), NE 051, Total 396km (214nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 255/18 -1C FL050 264/16 -2C FL060 275/17 -3C
FL070 285/20 -5C FL080 294/23 -6C FL090 301/27 -6C
FL100 308/30 -6C FL110 313/34 -7C FL120 318/39 -8C
FL130 318/44 -10C FL140 319/50 -12C FL150 319/55 -14C
FL160 319/60 -15C FL170 320/61 -17C FL180 320/62 -19C
FL190 321/63 -21C FL200 323/53 -22C FL210 320/51 -24C
FL220 319/54 -26C FL230 317/58 -28C FL240 316/61 -29C
FL250 318/66 -31C FL260 321/71 -32C FL270 322/76 -33C
FL280 322/80 -35C FL290 321/84 -37C FL300 321/88 -39C
FL310 321/90 -42C FL320 323/91 -44C FL330 324/92 -46C
FL340 325/94 -48C FL350 326/95 -51C FL360 326/97 -54C
FL370 327/98 -57C FL380 327/100 -59C FL390 328/101 -62C
FL400 328/97 -64C FL410 329/94 -66C FL420 329/90 -67C
FL430 330/86 -69C FL440 331/83 -69C

EGGP, LIVERPOOL AIRPOR, At Location, 090850Z
Wind 170/9, Variable 120/220 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1022mb (30.18in)

EGNR, HAWARDEN (AUT), 19km (10nm), SSW 206, 090850Z
Wind 160/10 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

EGOW, WOODVALE RAF, 31km (17nm), NNW 333, 090750Z
Wind 150/11 Temp 4/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1022mb (30.18in)

EGCC, MANCHESTER INTL, 38km (21nm), E 086, 090850Z
Wind 180/13, Variable 150/210 Temp 3/2 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1023mb (30.21in)

Alternates:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
EGNX EAST MIDLANDS 116km (63nm), ESE 118, Total 512km (276nm)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
FL040 258/11 -2C FL050 260/12 -3C FL060 266/13 -5C
FL070 274/15 -7C FL080 283/16 -8C FL090 295/18 -8C
FL100 307/21 -9C FL110 314/27 -10C FL120 320/33 -11C
FL130 323/37 -12C FL140 325/41 -13C FL150 326/43 -15C
FL160 327/45 -16C FL170 327/47 -18C FL180 327/48 -20C
FL190 328/50 -22C FL200 328/55 -22C FL210 329/57 -24C
FL220 329/60 -26C FL230 330/62 -28C FL240 331/65 -30C
FL250 332/69 -31C FL260 333/72 -33C FL270 333/76 -35C
FL280 333/79 -37C FL290 332/83 -39C FL300 332/86 -41C
FL310 332/90 -43C FL320 333/93 -45C FL330 334/96 -47C
FL340 334/99 -50C FL350 334/101 -52C FL360 334/102 -55C
FL370 334/104 -57C FL380 334/105 -60C FL390 334/105 -62C
FL400 335/101 -64C FL410 336/97 -65C FL420 337/93 -67C
FL430 338/88 -68C FL440 338/85 -68C

EGNX, EAST MIDLANDS, At Location, 090850Z
Wind 190/9 Temp 2/1 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1025mb (30.27in)

EGBB, BIRMINGHAM AIRPO, 51km (27nm), SW 214, 090850Z
Wind 180/6, Variable 150/210 Temp 2/0 Vis 32000m (19.9 miles) QNH 1026mb (30.30in)

N.B. The OpusFlightReport.rep text file is a simplified text report intended to supply weather and upper wind and temperature data for external flight planning packages.

OpusSidStarReport (SIDs and STARs)

The Opus SID (Standard Instrument Departure) and STAR (Standard Terminal Arrival Route) Reports are generated for your departure and specified destination stations. The SIDs are only included if you are on the ground at an airport. Both SIDs and STARs are listed in normal order to match the GPS and FMC listings. The SIDs show the headings you would be departing to, the STARs show the directions you would be arriving from. 

A report is generated when you click on the Reload or Process the Flight Plan buttons in the Flight Plan dialog, or the aircraft is relocated, or a different destination is specified. You can force a new report to be generated using the Show SIDSTAR Report option in the Addon Menu. The point of departure is always assumed to be the local airport, where your aircraft is located.

The report is saved in the text file <OpusFSI>\Weather\OpusSidStarReport.txt where <OpusFSI> identifies your OpusFSI installation folder.

Example OpusSidStarReport.txt,  

OpusFSI SID and STAR Report, Software Version 4.00.13 Beta

Generated 02 June 2014, 16:52 Hrs - Live

Simulator 02 June 2014, 15:51 Zulu

EGNX East Midlands, SIDs (Standard Instrument Departures)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Name Rwy Fix Latitude Longitude Distance Heading
---------------------------------------------------------------
ASNI2N 27 ASNIP 53.478611 -2.907222 128km (69nm) NW 304
ASNI3P 09 ASNIP 53.478611 -2.907222 128km (69nm) NW 304
...

WAL2N 27 WAL 53.391945 -3.134444 136km (73nm) WNW 298
WAL3P 09 WAL 53.391945 -3.134444 136km (73nm) WNW 298
---------------------------------------------------------------

EGKK LONDON/GATWICK A, STARs (Standard Terminal Arrival Routes)
---------------------------------------------------------------
Name Rwy Fix Latitude Longitude Distance Direction
---------------------------------------------------------------
ASTR1F 08L ASTRA 50.865556 -0.146389 32km (17nm) S 174
ASTR1F 08R ASTRA 50.865556 -0.146389 32km (17nm) S 174
...

WILO4C 26L WILLO 50.985000 -0.191667 18km (10nm) S 180
WILO4C 26R WILLO 50.985000 -0.191667 18km (10nm) S 180
---------------------------------------------------------------

 

FSX/P3D Limitations

There are some limitations in P3D, the sim weather report window is not transparent. Also you must close the text window before exiting FSX/P3D otherwise the sim crashes.  

 

Spy Messages

Spy messages can be seen by clicking on the top right-hand Spy button on the server's main form.

The Live Weather Engine will report its nearest weather station along with all METAR downloaded reports.

The Spy window automatically clears after ten minutes.  

Live Weather Overview and Locator

Introduction

The Weather Overview/Locator feature is independent of both the simulator and the Live Weather Engine, hence, it can be used without the simulator running and before any weather is generated. The Live Weather Overview/Locator map can also be used with Opus World Weather Themes.

The Weather Overview/Locator can be used to either locate specific weather conditions on the map area that match user specified criteria, or obtain a Weather Overview of the general weather conditions. This is very useful for locating any weather you are interested in globally, or viewing a simple overview of the weather in a specific region of the world.

The weather criteria may be good or bad, based on some very simple user specified weather options. General weather conditions are depicted on the map using coloured dots to indicate good (green),  moderately good (green yellow), moderate (yellow), moderately poor (orange), and poor (red) surface conditions.

 

Using the Weather Locator

Click on the Wx Locator option within the Server dialog, a Live Weather Overview will be displayed. Click on the Update button to display the current weather conditions. 

The Live Weather Overview/Locator map can be displayed on a client system using the Wx Locator button on the FSICLIENT's main form. The client system must be connected to the FSISERVER for this feature to function. All METAR downloads are performed on the server system.  

The Live Weather Overview/Locator map's caption displays the local time when the Met Station data was 'Last Updated'. The FSISERVER program's main Spy window indicates the origin of all METAR updates.

Weather conditions are depicted on the map using coloured dots. GREEN dots represent good conditions, YELLOW-GREEN dots for moderately good conditions, YELLOW dots for moderate conditions, ORANGE dots for moderately poor conditions, and finally RED dots for poor surface conditions.

Hovering the mouse over a met station will display the station ICAO and station name. 

Click the mouse cursor over a met station (using either left or right button) to display the weather station data. After each manual or automated update the Weather Station dialog is updated or removed if the Met Station no longer has a valid weather report. 

The most significant weather which determines the current condition (good, moderately good, moderate, moderately poor and poor conditions) is displayed in red text. Only the most significant i.e. lowest cloud layer for each cloud type (few, scattered etc) is reported.

Zooming and Moving the Map Area

Use the + and - buttons to zoom in and out on the map. To move or drag the map area hold down the right mouse button whilst dragging the mouse, this won't work when you are hovering over a met station. 

Map Type

Click on the down arrow in the map type box to select between Open Street Map, Bing Map, Bing Satellite Map, Bing Hybrid Map, Google Map, Google Terrain Map, ArcGIS Street Map, Yandex Street Map, and Ovi Street Map. The Weather Overview/Locator Options dialog (Options button) includes an option to enable/disable the Map Grey Scale.

Update

The Update button can be used any time you change the map location and need to refresh the weather data. The information box in the bottom right corner of the dialog indicates the current progress of the METAR download. N.B. the Weather Overview/Locator Options dialog (Options button) has an option to Auto Update at a user configurable time period.

Mode

Changes the mode between Live Weather OVERVIEW and Live Weather LOCATOR. The current mode is always displayed on the caption bar.

 

Options

Auto Update Every xx Minutes

Used to enable/disable the Auto Update option and set the update interval in minutes after which the current METAR data will be downloaded and updated on the map.

Anchor Weather Dialog

When enabled the Weather Station dialog will be anchored to the main Live Weather Locator dialog and aligned with the map. Select an option from the dropdown box to anchor either Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Left, or Bottom Right. When anchored the Weather Station dialog will be automatically closed each time you move the Live Weather Overview / Locator map.

Show Aircraft, Keep Aircraft in Centre, and Keep Aircraft on Map

Enable the required options to Show Aircraft, Keep Aircraft in Centre or Keep Aircraft on the visible Map. The aircraft marker will only be displayed when the sim is active and the aircraft position data has been updated. The map will show your current aircraft's location using the custom Aircraft symbol in the OpusFSI/Aircraft.bmp bitmap file which you create yourself. If Aircraft.bmp does not exist then the default Aircraft_Light.bmp is used. An AircraftHeavy.bmp and AircraftRotor.bmp are also provided. If you create your own custom aircraft symbol then use roughly the same sized square bitmap image (43x43 pixels) and use the same magenta colour for the background.

Show Aerodromes

When enabled all aerodromes that are not also met stations will be displayed on the map as grey dots.

Map Server Cache

Selecting Map Server Cache will speed up the display of the geographic map by saving it to cache instead of downloading it via the internet. Note that for Google and Bing maps you are limited to the number of downloads you can perform during a session.

Map Grey Scale

The Map Grey Scale option makes it easier to view certain data against the geographical map.  

 

Weather Overview Criteria

This option is selected via the Options dialog. The criteria for the five different weather conditions (good to poor) are all user configurable with suitable defaults provided (as per the above screenshot).

These criteria allow limits to be specified for surface visibilities, max allowed scattered cloud bases, max allowed broken/overcast cloud bases, wind speeds, wind gusts, and max allowed precipitation levels. We also include options to allow few or scattered+ CBs (thunderstorms) and TCUs (towering cumulus). In other words, decide whether to allow isolated or widespread CBs and TCUs.

Visibility

Enter the visibility in meters for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). The default values are 8000 meters or more for good visibility, 6500 to 8000 meters for moderately good visibility, 5000 to 6500 meters for moderate visibility, 3000 to 5000 meters for moderately poor visibility and less than 3000 meters for poor visibility.

SCT Cloud Base

Enter the scattered cloud bases in feet for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). The default values are 1200ft or higher for good conditions, between 1100ft and 1200ft for moderately good conditions, between 1000ft and 1200ft for moderate conditions, between 800ft and 1000ft for moderately poor conditions, and less than 800ft for poor conditions.

BKN Cloud Base

Enter the broken cloud bases in feet for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). The default values are 1400ft or higher for good conditions, between 1300ft and 1400ft for moderately good conditions, between 1200ft and 1300ft for moderate conditions, between 1100ft and 1200ft for moderately poor conditions, and less than 1100ft for poor conditions.  

Wind Speed

Enter the max allowed wind speed figures in knots for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). The default values are 12kts or lower for good conditions, between 12kts and 15kts for moderately good conditions, between 15kts and 18kts for moderate conditions, between 18kts and 24kts for moderately poor conditions, and greater than 24kts for poor conditions. 

Wind Gusts

Enter the wind gust figures in knots for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). The default values are 14kts or lower for good conditions, between 14kts and 17kts for moderately good conditions, between 17kts and 20kts for moderate conditions, between 20kts and 26kts for moderately poor conditions, and greater than 26kts for poor conditions.

FEW CBs

Tick the checkboxes to determine if few cumulonimbus (CB) clouds are acceptable for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). CBs and TCUs are interpreted with respect to the 'Thunderstorms need TS Descriptor' Weather Preferences option.

SCT CBs

Tick the checkboxes to determine if widespread (scattered or more) cumulonimbus (CB) clouds are acceptable for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor).

Precipitation

Select the maximum precipitation (rain or snow) levels from the dropdown boxes for each of the weather categories (good through to moderately poor). Available entries are None, Very Light, Light, Moderate, and Heavy.

 

Weather Locator Criteria

This option is selected via the Options dialog. The displayed screenshot illustrates a CAVOK (ceiling and visibility OK) criteria.

You may choose to specify criteria for general weather, visibility, cloud base, reported cumulonimbus or towering cumulus clouds, precipitation type and levels, wind speeds and wind gusts.

Weather

Tick this checkbox to enable general weather checking. Specify the required weather condition (good, moderately good, moderate, moderately poor, or poor) from the first dropdown box. Specify the required matching criteria (Only, or Better, or Worse) from the second dropdown box. The 'Only' criteria will match the specified  weather condition exactly.

Visibility

Tick this checkbox to enable visibility checking. The maximum visibility can be specified in metres using the textbox provided. Enter a distance code of 9999 when interested in sites that have no visibility restriction reported (i.e. visibility is greater than or equal 10000 metres). Any time you enter a visibility figure the dropdown box will be changed to 'User' indicating a user specified visibility. The dropdown box can also be used to select the visibility assigned to any required weather condition (good, moderately good, moderate, moderately poor, or poor).

N.B.

Apart from a distance code of 9999, the visibility is assumed to be a maximum distance in metres, that is, the criteria will match all sites that have visibilities equal to or less than the specified distance.

Cloud Base

Tick this checkbox to enable cloud base and coverage checking. The required minimum cloud base is specified in feet AGL. The cloud cover option (None below, Few+, Scattered+, Broken+, or Overcast) is specified using the dropdown box. A selection of 'None Below' will match sites that report no cloud at or below the specified cloud base. A selection such as 'Scattered+' will match sites that report at least 3 octas (= SCT, scattered cloud), that is, sites that have reported either scattered, broken, or overcast cloud at or below the cloud base.

Cumulonimbus

Tick this checkbox to enable the cumulonimbus (CB) cloud checks. Use the dropdown box to select the required extent (None, Few+, Scattered+) of the reported thunderstorms. A selection such as 'Few+' will match sites that report at least 1 octas (= FEW, few CB clouds), that is, sites that have reported either few, scattered, broken, or overcast cumulonimbus (CB) clouds.

Towering Cumulus

Tick this checkbox to enable the towering cumulus (TCU) cloud checks. Use the dropdown box to select the required extent (None, Few+, Scattered+) of the reported towering cumulus. A selection such as 'Few+' will match sites that report at least 1 octas (= FEW, few TCU clouds), that is, sites that have reported either few, scattered, broken, or overcast towering cumulus (TCU) clouds.

Precipitation

Tick this checkbox to enable the precipitation checks. Use the first dropdown box to select the precipitation type (All, Rain or Snow). Use the second dropdown box to select the intensity of the precipitation (None, Very Light+, Light+, Moderate+, Heavy). A selection of 'Light+' will match sites that report light, moderate, or heavy precipitation.

Wind Speed

Tick this checkbox to enable the wind speed checks. The required wind speed is entered in knots in the textbox provided. Use the dropdown box to select the required wind speed range (Exact, or Lower, or Higher).

Wind Gusts

Tick this checkbox to enable the wind gust checks. The required wind gust is entered in knots in the textbox provided. Use the dropdown box to select the required wind gust range (Exact, or Lower, or Higher).

 

Live Weather Assistant

The Live Weather Assistant (LWA) provides useful weather information for the current Opus 800 x 800 mile weather map displayed graphically as a mosaic of 6400 weather cells in either a large or small footprint map.

To display the larger LWA map select the LWA Map button from the server form (or the Live Weather Assistant Map button from the client main form). You can display the smaller map using the Wx Maps button on the server (or the Weather Maps button on the client). Up to six Weather Maps can be opened and positioned on the screen, just click on the Wx Maps (or Weather Maps) button to open each new map.  

The weather maps can be generated before the flight has been loaded provided a flight plan has been specified, identifying the point of departure. The weather generation will be a slow process whenever the simulator is not running (due to SimConnect delays), fastest when the simulator is running and the flight has not been loaded (i.e. with the start up screen displayed or minimised).

The Live Weather Assistant option displays a large dialog containing a graphic weather map in which various types of weather data can be displayed using radio buttons to toggle between Surface Visibility, Surface Precipitation Levels, Surface QNH, Surface Temperature, Cruise Level Temperature, Upper Level Temperature, Surface Wind, Cruise Level Wind, Upper Level Wind, Cruise Level Turbulence, Upper Level Turbulence, Low Cloud Cover and Medium Level Cloud Cover.

The LWA Map shows your current aircraft's location using the custom Aircraft symbol in the OpusFSI/Aircraft.bmp bitmap file which you create yourself. If Aircraft.bmp does not exist then the default Aircraft_Light.bmp is used. An AircraftHeavy.bmp and AircraftRotor.bmp are also provided. If you create your own custom aircraft symbol then use roughly the same square sized bitmap image (43x43 pixels) and use the same magenta colour for the background.  

The location of your departure point (if known) is marked using a small green balloon and the destination using a small red balloon, your alternate sites using small yellow balloons and en-route flight plan navigation and waypoints points as small magenta balloons. SID fixes are green balloons and STAR fixes red balloons. The route is indicated using a dark magenta line. If the relevant options are enabled Met Station locations are shown as blue balloons and Aerodromes are shown as white balloons.  

The caption shows the date and time of the last weather update. 

The LWA Map and Wx Maps are enabled even when the Live Weather Engine is disabled and no weather related data is available (a weather update is still required to update the map marker and overlay data).

Moving the mouse cursor about the screen displays the weather at that point in the dialog's information box, if the location identifies a Met station then the ICAO, station name, and elevation in feet AMSL are also displayed in the information box.

If SIDSTARS data for the aerodrome exists then the available runways are displayed, listed in preferred order based on the current surface wind at the station. All associated NAV and COM frequencies are also displayed below the runway information, i.e. all relevant ILS, APP (Approach), TWR (Tower), GND (Ground), COM (Unicom or Multicom), and ATIS frequencies.

Hovering the mouse over a balloon will display the station's ICAO and name. Hovering the mouse over a wind arrow will display the wind speed and direction.  

      The dialog can be resized with your mouse by dragging the edges or corners of the dialog. The LWA weather map's size and screen position are preserved and restored next time the LWA weather map is displayed. 

You can drag the map with your right mouse button held down.

      You can zoom in and out on the map using the plus and minus symbols on the dialog or using the scroll button on your mouse. The zoom level ranges from 16 (fully zoomed in) to 2 (fully zoomed out). N.B. you cannot zoom whilst hovering the mouse over a marker on the map. Navigation aids are visible at zoom level 8 and above on the LWA and Wx Maps. The more numerous Waypoints are visibile at zoom levels 9 and above.

Auto Zoom

When Auto Zoom is enabled (LWA Map or Options button) the level will automatically zoom in or out to fit both your aircraft and the departure/destination marker within the map. In Auto Zoom mode, once the aircraft descends below 100 feet AGL the aircraft is automatically centered on the map and the zoom level  changed to either 14, 15, or 16 depending on distance to the airfield marker, this is intended to aid taxiing.

Lock LWA Info Box

Left click the mouse within the map to LOCK the displayed information to the identified station. Once locked, all information within the LWA Info box will be displayed in RED.  Left click the mouse anywhere within the map display to UNLOCK the mouse and revert back to normal mouse roaming. The current state is indicated in a status text box just below the data box. The status box will also indicate when the LWE is Updating (Yellow), Disabled (Red), or operating in normal Enabled mode.

Aerodrome or Met Station Weather Monitor

Right click with the mouse over any aerodrome or met station on the LWA Map to display a small LWA Weather Monitor dialog. The dialog displays all known information about the identified station including its lat/lon coordinates, current distance and bearing to the station, all runways (in preferred order of use), all Nav and Com frequencies, and its current weather. 

The SIDs and STARs button options use the selected station's ICAO code. The button options are greyed out if no departure or arrival data is available for the selected station. Refer to the SIDs and STARs section below for further details.

The Airways button opens the LWA Map Airways dialog which can be used to search for all Airways that have Navigation Points within the specified distance from the station (default 50nm). Refer to the Airways section below for further details.

The screen positions of the first 8 LWA Monitor dialogs are remembered by the software.

N.B. When a LWA Weather Monitor dialog is first opened some of the LWA Map weather data is used to prime the weather data, this is always displayed with a TIME code of 000000. After the weather has been updated by the FSISERVER. the TIME code will revert to the usual DDHHMM format showing the day and time code for any associated METAR.

 

The LWA Map option displays a large dialog containing a graphic weather map in which various types of weather data can be displayed.

You can choose between the following geographic map background options using the drop down menu,

·         No Map

·         Open Street Map

·         Bing Map

·         Bing Satellite Map

·         Bing Hybrid Map

·         Google Street Map

·         Google Terrain Map

·         ArcGIS Street Map

·         Yandex Street Map

·         Ovi Street Map

 

The type of data displayed on the map is selected from the drop down menu,

·         No Data

·         Surface Visibility

Various shades of grey, from light to dark, represent the areas of reduced Surface Visibility.

·         Surface Precipitation

Four shades of light blue represent rain and four shades of grey to white are used for snow fall. The Precipitation map also shows the approximate location of any cumulonimbus and towering cumulus cloud formations. Active thunderstorms (CBs) are identified using a red exclamation mark, towering cumulus cloud formations (TCUs) are identified using an orange exclamation mark (in zoom levels 6 to 16).

·         Surface Pressure

The Surface Pressure (or Surface QNH) map is colour coded about the average surface pressure for the region, blue and green tints indicate areas of lower than average pressure, orange and red tints indicate areas of higher than average pressure. The full range extends +/- 15mb about the regional average.  

·         Surface Temperature

All Met Stations on the smaller Wx Temperature map are displayed in black as the full spectrum of colours are used to represent temperature ranges from -18C and below (blue) through to 42C and above (red).  

·         Cruise Level Temperature  

Colour coded about the average temperature for the region with at least a 30 degree spread.

·         Upper Level Temperature  

Colour coded about the average temperature for the region with at least a 30 degree spread.

·         Surface Wind

The Surface Wind speeds are colour coded using blue - green - yellow - orange - red tints to indicate calm (2 knots) to strong (32 knot plus) winds.

·         Cruise Level Wind  

Colour coded about the average wind for the region with at least a 30 knot spread.

·         Upper Level Wind  

Colour coded about the average wind for the region with at least a 30 knot spread.

·         Cruise Level Turbulence  

The Turbulence Levels are colour coded using blue - green - yellow - orange - red tints to indicate calm to strong Turbulence levels 1 to 8.

·         Upper Level Turbulence  

The Turbulence Levels are colour coded using blue - green - yellow - orange - red tints to indicate calm to strong Turbulence levels 1 to 8.

·         Lower Cloud Cover and Medium Cloud Cover

The Lower Cloud Cover map shows the maximum cloud cover under 6,000 feet AGL along with an indication of the reported cloud base, cloud cover in octas, and any thunderstorm and towering cumulus warnings. The Medium Cloud Cover map shows the maximum cloud cover between  6,000 feet and up to 26,000 feet AGL .

Therefore the maps do not show all the cloud layers, they report the most significant cloud layer that has the greatest cloud cover. Lower cloud bases are depicted in darker shades of grey and various brush patterns have been used to indicate areas of few, scattered, or broken cloud. Solid colour fills indicate areas of overcast conditions. Active thunderstorms (CBs) are identified using a red exclamation mark, towering cumulus cloud formations (TCUs) are identified using an orange exclamation mark (in zoom levels 7 to 16).

Upper Level Altitude Setting

An altitude can be selected for the Upper Level Temperature, Wind or Turbulence. Press the Update button to refresh the map. 

N.B. The Update button will only work if the weather and GRIB data have been updated. The LWA Weather Map will not show any cruise or upper level data if none exists and the LWA information box will append the messages 'No Cruise Altitude' and/or 'No Upper Level Data' as appropriate.  

Local Traffic

Enabling Show Traffic (Options buttton) will display all local traffic within a 50 mile (80 Km) radius of your current position. A count indicates the total number of aircraft. The traffic markers are displayed as coloured aircraft symbols whenever the zoom level is set to Zoom Level 7 or more. GREY symbols are used to depict traffic on the ground, GREEN symbols depict airborne traffic that is not in conflict with your current altitude, and RED symbols are used to depict all airborne traffic that is within 2000 feet of your current altitude. The traffic symbols depict the traffic type based on the engine type and mode of flight, distinguishing between piston aircraft (light), jet aircraft (heavy), and rotorcraft types. FSX and P3D do not generate any rotorcraft type AI traffic without an appropriate addon. Hovering over an aircraft symbol with the mouse cursor will display the traffic data (callsign, type, model, point of departure, destination, airline, flight number, elevation, ground speed). For example, G-AJLY, BOEING, B738 : EDDL to EGBB : 2147 ft 201 kts : World Travel, 3226.  

Right-clicking over a traffic symbol will display a LWA Traffic Monitor box for real time monitoring of the selected aircraft or rotorcraft traffic. The LWA Traffic Monitor box will display the callsign, type, model, flight number, airline, point of departure, destination, distance and bearing from destination, distance and bearing from your aircraft, altitude, elevation, heading, and ground speed.

N.B. To get the traffic data on the server and client LWA Maps you must tick the Enable Live Traffic Updates option in the FSISERVER and FSICLIENT Configure dialogs. The traffic radius can be adjusted in the Configure dialog and can range from 32km (20 miles) to 192km (120 miles). The Reset button for Live Traffic data is used to force a change to the reported Live Traffic radius. The option cannot be used to disable Live Traffic once enabled, you will have to restart the FSISERVER program for that.

Options

Click on the Options button to set further map options.

An altitude can be selected for the Upper Level Temperature, Wind or Turbulence.

Enable the required options to Keep Aerodrome in Centre (enter the required aerodrome ICAO code in the adjacent box), Keep Aircraft in Centre or Keep Aircraft on the visible Map.

You can Show Wind Arrows on the LWA Map or disable them via the checkbox. The wind arrows will show the Cruise Level winds if any cruise data types are selected, and the Upper Level winds if any upper level data types are selected. For all other data types the wind arrow data will automatically change according to whether your current aircraft height is closest to the Surface, Upper or Cruise levels. Wind arrows will not be displayed if the winds are calm.  

The Show Met Stations checkbox enables you to overlay the Met station locations as blue balloons. 

The Show Aerodromes checkbox enables you to overlay the aerodrome locations as white balloons.

The Show Waypoints checkbox enables you to overlay the aerodrome locations as brown balloons. The Show Navaids checkbox enables you to overlay the aerodrome locations as yellow balloons. To prevent clutter on the maps a minimum zoom level of 9 is required before these markers are displayed.

The Show Traffic option is as described in the Local Traffic section above.

Selecting Map Server Cache will speed up the display of the geographic map by saving it to cache instead of downloading it via the internet. Note that for Google and Bing maps you are limited to the number of downloads you can perform during a session.

The Map Grey Scale option makes it easier to view certain data against the geographical map. All LWA and Wx Maps all default to a monochrome map display if no user preferences have been set.

The Auto Zoom option is as described in the section above.

Set Default Size changes the LWA map or small maps to their default size. 

Set Minimum Size changes the LWA map or small maps to their smallest size, this is the same as its default size for the LWA map. 

SIDs and STARs

The SIDs and STARs button options use the current Keep Aerodrome in Centre ICAO code (or the currently selected station if you have selected the option from an Aerodrome or Met Station Monitor) and displays either the LWA SIDs or the LWA STARs dialog displaying the Standard Instrument Departures (SIDs) or Standard Terminal Arrival Routes (STARs) for the specified aerodrome. 

Combo boxes select the runway and fix point of interest. These both default to 'ALL RUNWAYS' and 'ALL FIXES' when the dialog is first displayed. These options are available on all LWA Maps however only one SID and one STAR dialog can be displayed at any one time. This allows you the freedom to either use separate LWA Maps to examine the available SIDs and STARs, or examine the SIDs and STARs on the same LWA Map, changing the specified aerodrome ICAO code as appropriate.

Individual fixes listed within the SIDs, STARs, and Airways dialogs can be selected with the mouse cursor. Once selected the LWA or Wx Map will be automatically centred on the selected navigation point and the map's zoom level will be checked to ensure a minimum zoom level of 10. To use this feature it is best to have selected the 'Plot Route On Map' option first, otherwise the navigation point may not be visible on the map. It is also necessary to turn off the map centering options if you wish to alter the zoom level and examine the area surrounding the selected navigation point.

Click on Plot Route on Map to display your selected route on the map. You can click again on the same route to remove it from the map. The text box immediately above the Plot Route On Map button displays the sequence of SID or STAR fixes in a sequential format so that they can be easily copied (highlight + Ctrl C) and pasted (Ctrl V) into your flight plan.

The new LWA Maps plot all route lines in a dark magenta colour, all flight plan waypoints in magenta, the departure in green, the destination in red, all alternates in red, all SID fixes in green, and all STAR fixes in red. In other words,

Magenta = Route Lines and Flight Plan Waypoints,
Green = GO = Departure Point and SID Fixes,
Red = STOP = Destination and STAR Fixes.

 

Airways

The Airways button opens the LWA Map Airways dialog which can be used to search for all Airways that have Navigation Points within the specified distance from the station (default 50nm). 

Clicking on any listed Airway displays a list of its Navigation Points. 

The Reverse checkbox option can be used to reverse the order of the Navigation Points making it handy to cut and paste from the lower text box. 

The Plot Route On Map option will plot the Airway's route on the LWA Map. Large pink dotted markers along the route are used to identify each of the Airway's navigation points.

Individual fixes listed within the Airways dialog can be selected with the mouse cursor. Once selected the LWA or Wx Map will be automatically centred on the selected navigation point and the map's zoom level will be checked to ensure a minimum zoom level of 10. To use this feature it is best to have selected the 'Plot Route On Map' option first, otherwise the navigation point may not be visible on the map. It is also necessary to turn off the map centering options if you wish to alter the zoom level and examine the area surrounding the selected navigation point.

The Airways option is not available on the small footprint maps.

N.B. At present the new 'Airways' LWA Map feature is not functional on FSICLIENT systems.

The Map Centre and Aircraft Position coordinates are displayed at the bottom of the LWA dialog.

The Live Weather Assistant (LWA) dialog can be resized and maximised on the screen.

If the map is not displayed then it is possible that your map may be hidden behind the sim window, if so minimise the sim, reposition the Weather Map and continue.  

 

Small Footprint Weather Maps

The Wx Map option displays weather data but with a much smaller screen footprint. Select the geographic map type and weather data options from the dropdown menus, you can also scroll through the data displays using your mouse scroll button. 

The Options button enables you to select further options as described above for the LWA Maps with the exception that you cannot display airways.

The + plus and - minus buttons are used to zoom in and out. Up to four small maps may be displayed.

Live Weather Assistant can also be used on networked client PCs/laptops. If you are using a networked client only for Live Weather Assistant (and/or Client Side Live Weather Control) then NO license, FSX, or FSUIPC4 is needed on the client, they are only required if you are using Live View.

 

Client Side Live Weather Control

If you are using the networked client PC only for live weather control (i.e. entering weather or flight plan data, or requesting reports via the client dialogs) then NO license, FSX, or FSUIPC4 is needed on the client. Configure your client PC in accordance with the Getting Started Networked PCs guide.

On the Client main form there is a button labelled Live Weather Control. Select this to display the Live Weather Control dialog.

You are presented with options to display the text reports, weather report windows, edit the flight plan and other flight parameters. Text reports are displayed on the client, weather report windows are displayed on the server.

Update Weather always checks the GRIB for currency and downloads all required METARs from your specified Weather Server (the NOAA site is the Primary source).

Refresh Weather updates the weather using the previously downloaded METARs, it builds a new weather map and refreshes the weather within FSX. If no previous weather data has been downloaded then the Refresh option does the same as the Update option.  

  

PMDG FMC Wind/Temp Data Request

You must have a PMDG aircraft selected.

Enable GRIB data. You must enter or Import your flight plan into Opus, then the FP must be activated either via the OpusFSI Process option in the Flight Plan dialog or via the FSX options. Specify your Destination and Cruise Altitude, then Update the weather.

Only after this will Opus be able to generate the file. There is no need to cut and paste anything. In the airplane on the LEGS page select WIND DATA, press WIND DATA REQUEST and the data will automatically load the values into the FMC, press EXECUTE to finish. Note that it is best if your cruise altitude is already entered on the PERF INIT page before you do this as it helps the PMDG algorithm narrow down the correct altitudes to use.

If you are using PFPX to generate your flight plan then it must be exported in two formats, one for the PMDG to its dedicated folder, and one in FSX .pln format to your docs/<SIM>/ folder so Opus can read it.

Trouble shooting ...

Make sure the GRIB data has been downloaded and decoded, if not check your \OpusFSI\FSDECODER.log file.

Check the content of your OpusPMDGData.txt text file in the OpusFSI\Weather folder. Is your wx data in this file? If so then it's a simple case of not being able to copy this file into your <FSX>\PMDG\WX folder. Perhaps it's a sharing and permissions issue.

OpusFSI uses the English (GB) culture for the decoding format, do not change any settings in this culture especially the decimal separator type.  

  

FSUIPC4 Settings

FSUIPC4 is not required on the FSISERVER system unless you intend to run FSX at increased simulation rates or enable the CPFlight MCP737/EFIS device driver. FSUIPC4 is required on Live View FSICLIENTs that are used to display camera views.

You can download a free copy from http://www.schiratti.com/dowson.html

Turn everything off in FSUIPC4, we recommend disabling all settings. We do not use FSUIPC4 for any weather or turbulence related effects.

If you choose not to install/activate FSUIPC4 then at the moment Opus will not be able to pause the sim, it is normally paused when opening certain Opus dialogs. Hence you will have to pause and unpause the sim manually.

To disable FSUIPC4 simply remove the associated <Launch.Addon>...</Launch.Addon> entries within the simulator's dll.xml file.

<Launch.Addon>

  <Name>FSUIPC 4</Name>

  <Disabled>False</Disabled>

  <Path>Modules\FSUIPC4.dll</Path>

</Launch.Addon>

 

Reporting Anomalies and Errors

Please email your c:\OpusFSI\Weather\OpusWeather.txt file along with any report. This text file contains a copy of all the downloaded METAR data along with the identity of your nearest weather station. We can use this file to import the same meteorological conditions into our system and check the results.

Please email reports to opusfsi@opussoftware.co.uk

 

FAQ

I can't get the dynamic weather to work

Ensure you have identified the correct sim type (for the sim you are currently running) and installation folder in the Configuration dialog and have sharing enabled, and set sharing and security permissions as per the Getting Started guide. 

If you don't have OpusFSI options within the add-on menu then it hasn't been installed correctly. Follow the Getting Started Guide for Single PCs very carefully. Do not install OpusFSI in a sub-folder of Opus Software, FSX or Program Files since it causes permission problems. Run your sim before runing OpusFSI. Make sure your internet connection is working. Ensure you have Enable Live Weather Engine checked in the Configure dialog. Ensure you have unchecked METAR File Import in the Weather dialog. If you open the spy window and force a weather update via the FSX addon menu (or click on Update Weather in the Weather dialog) then you should see the weather being generated. Also if you open the weather report window via the FSX add-on menu it will show the last time of update.

Unable to view Live Weather or "Unable To Update Dynamic Weather" spy message

This error most likely results from a failure to copy the generated OpusWeather.WTB file. The software needs to copy this from ... <opus_install_folder>\Weather\OpusWeather.WTB to ... <fsx_install_folder>\Weather\Weather\OpusWeather.WTB

So, you have either,

not specified the FSX option and identified your FSX installation folder correctly within the OpusFSI Configuration dialog,

or,

your system does not have sharing enabled, or security and permissions set to allow OpusFSI to write to the FSX installation folder.

You can check the first by confirming there is a Weather sub-folder.

You can check the second using the Command Prompt, navigating to c:\OpusFSI\Weather and trying to manually copy the file. Most probably you have installed FSX in the Program Files folder and there is no sharing or access rights to this folder. Refer to our Getting Started guide for details on how to set up sharing and security permissions.  

I can't load or decode GRIB data

If you have Adjust Options Automatically enabled in the weather dialog then GRIB data will be downloaded. If you don't have Adjust Options Automatically enabled then tick the Enable GRIB Forecast in the Weather Download Options dialog.

Check the Upper Atmosphere Weather Report window, it will notify you if there is no GRIB data.

Check your \OpusFSI\FSDECODER.log file for errors.

If you use a proxy server or have configured Internet Explorer to use a proxy server (IE settings, Internet options, Connections tab) then it may not allow you to download files in which case you will not get GRIB data.

If your GRIB data is not decoding then it may be caused by a setting in the Windows operating system culture setting. OpusFSI automatically selects and uses a generic English (GB) culture to ensure correct floating point number conversion. We have had problems where people have edited the English culture setting and changed the Windows Number format decimal separator from a dot to a comma. Ensure the dot character is assigned as the decimal separator in the Windows Number format, not the comma.

If you can't extract or decode GRIB data then delete everything except the degrib.exe program from your OpusFSI\GRIB folder. If this doesn't work delete the GRIB folder and reinstall OpusFSI since the degrib.exe program may be corrupted.

Ensure you don't have more than one copy of OpusFSI installed via Control Panel. If you do then uninstall all versions and reinstall the latest version. Do not install OpusFSI in a sub-folder of Opus Software, FSX or Program Files since it causes permission problems.

Never run antivirus software when using FSX, all AV software will adversely effect the FSX performance.

Weather keeps changing erratically

Ensure you don't have any other software packages injecting the weather. In FSX Free Flight, Weather, set your FSX Current Weather to any weather theme, just don't enable the real world weather options. Check that no other weather engines are running. If flying online don't inject weather from FSInn etc.

Too much haze or bad visibility in P3D

If you have a pea soup fog around your aircraft when flying with P3D then you most likely have Volumetric Fog enabled in P3D and do NOT have the option enabled within the OpusFSI Weather Preferences dialog.

FSX can't load weather theme error message

It could be that you are loading a saved flight which is referring to a non-existent weather theme. Click OK to that FSX error message, update the weather once more, then resave your flight.

FSX crashes when I load a saved flight

Load the flight without running OpusFSI, save the flight, then run OpusFSI. 

I see horizontal 'bands' of haze with clear areas between

This is a known issue with 3rd party packages, make sure you have disabled your 3rd party weather engines and in addition disabled/removed all their visibility, haze and fog effects.

A way to remove it with AS2012 is:

1: Start AS2012

2: Start FSX, load a flight

3: Once you are at airport of choice, open AS WX Options / Visibility

4: Make sure the following options are ticked;

    a: fog layer generator

    b: Untick 'Use stratus for fog'

    c: Tick 'Enable Visibility Graduation and Smoothing' and set to 9000ft

    The sliders should be set from top to bottom 0,65,65

    Save and Apply.

    Do this in the Status page also.

5: Shut down AS and FSX

Now repeat steps 1-3.

This time you will do the reverse,

a: Untick fog layer generator

b: Untick 'Use stratus for fog'

c: Untick 'Enable Visibility Graduation and Smoothing'

Save and Apply as above.

I get a consistent static cloud layer that forms above the aircraft

This is not an OpusFSI problem, we have just provided a solution to a problem that occasionally occurs on some systems due to a corrupt or faulty cirrus overcast bitmap mask file in the FSX/P3D Texture folder. If your system has a faulty bitmap file it will be quite obvious, there will be a thick cloud hovering above you wherever you fly. 

Betas 2.70.2 onwards automatically fix the problem on a restart of OpusFSI, but if you have an older version and your system suffers from this problem then please follow the instructions below for the cure.

Make sure you have disabled your 3rd party weather engines and in addition disabled/removed all their visibility, haze and fog effects. You must replace the cirrus_overcast03.bmp file within your flight simulator's Texture folder as follows,

1. Navigate to your simulator's texture folder, either <FSX>\Texture or <Prepar3D>\Texture

2. Rename your cirrus_overcast03.bmp file to cirrus_overcast03_foggy.bmp.

3. Truncate our cirrus_overcast03_Opus.bmp filename to cirrus_overcast03.bmp.

4. Restart your FSX or P3D simulator.

I tried importing METAR data from a user specified import file but it didn't work.

METARs are specific to a location unless you use the GLOB ICAO code which is global. If you use a METAR for a specific station and try to import it when you are outside the 1280km x 1280km area of the weather region then the Live Weather Engine will not accept the report since the met station is not within your area.  The met station must also coincide with one used within FSX so that OpusFSI, which has a list of all valid FSX met stations, can identify its lat/long coordinates, and hence its location relative to your aircraft's current location. If you only have one METAR then change the ICAO code to GLOB and import that.

Overspeed and Underspeed warnings

If you are flying with the sim rate speeded up, especially above x2 then it is possible to get overspeeds or underspeeds. Even at x2 speed, your auto pilot or FSX may oscillate the air speed repeatedly causing repeated overspeeds. You should disable the FSX stress causes damage option.

Overcast

Low Overcast Effects come into force whenever the overcast cloud cover is less than about 6000 feet AGL. You must be IN the Low Overcast Effect to see it. Overcast by definition means 90% or more cloud coverage. Don't expect to see solid blanket type overcast when looking vertically downward ... you WILL see transparent holes just like you do in real life until you get IN an OpusFSI Low Overcast Effect (an overcast below 6000 feet).

Wind shifts

Wind shifts should not be a problem from Beta 3.39.2 onwards which includes the new Dynamic Wind Targeting software.

The possibility of wind shifts cannot entirely be ruled out, this is due to bugs in the FSX/P3D code, that's why you should always disable the 'Aircraft stress causes damage' FSX option.

If you are flying with the sim rate speeded up, especially above x2 then it is possible to get wind shifts. Certain aircraft sims are more susceptible to wind shifts.

If the sim is struggling to cope due to the number of add-on packages, detailed scenery, high defintion high resolution cloud textures (we recommend non HD low resolution textures) etc then wind shifts are more likely.

The easiest configuration is to set your Destination, Max Cruise Altitude and enable Adjust Options Automatically. If your system has wind shifts enable the Adjust Sim Friendly Options, if your system has severe wind shifts then enable the Use Maximum Stabilisation option too.

Alternatively, if you prefer to set options manually ...

If you are flying low level (below 20,000 feet) then tick the Disable Update on Approach (Weather Download options) checkbox. On approach, all weather updates will be disabled for Disable Weather Update For minutes (default 30 minutes) on the final descent as soon as you descend through Disable Update when Below AGL (default 1800 feet AGL). This process is cancelled whenever you climb above Assume Cruising when Above AGL (default 2000 feet AGL).
The Max Speed Change option (Smoothing Options) allows you to fine tune the surface wind smoothing by specifying the maximum allowed wind speed change every 16km. You can also specify the Max Direction Change. The default values are 30 for speed and direction change.
If you do want to adhere strictly to the METARs (with a risk of wind shifts) then set the Forced Recovery altitude.
A Forced Recovery altitude allows full recovery of the reported surface winds during the final descent. The full recovery may cause a wind shift at the configured altitude, if this is not acceptable then set the altitude to 0 feet to disable it.
If you are flying high level (above 20,000 feet) then disable Adjust Options Automatically and specify your Destination within the Weather dialog and tick the Enable GRIB Forecast option to get GRIB forecast data for winds and temperatures aloft. Enable the Sim Friendly GRIB Wind Targets option to minimise the chance of wind shifts. If your system is well behaved and you want true forecast data at all times then turn off the Sim Friendly GRIB Wind Targets option. But this option gives you winds very close if not the same as the true forecast, especially if you have specified your Cruise Altitude. Select the Enable Wind Stabilisation option in the Weather Smoothing and Stabilisation dialog to minimise the chance of wind shifts. When set the surface winds injected into the simulator will be stabilised (static) everywhere until such time as they are recovered by the LWE. Stabilised winds are indicated in the Opus weather report windows with the phrase 'Static DDD/SS' immediately after the actual surface wind. If, and only if, your system still experiences 'major' wind shifts during the cruise then you can also set the Sim Friendly GRIB Wind Targets option, but most systems will not need this option. It is included for the few that do.

PMDG 737 NGX Problems
Problems with "S" turns, auto pilot disconnects, wind shear alerts at cruise altitude and severe wind shifts may be cured by putting in an assumed temp in the NGX FMC Perf page, which you can get from your GRIB report (OpusWeatherReport.txt or Upper Atmosphere weather report window), for cruising altitude, ensure you don't omit the minus sign if appropriate.

My temperatures are too high

Make sure you put in an assumed temp where possible for your aircraft sim (e.g. in the NGX FMC Perf page), which you can get from your GRIB report (OpusWeatherReport.txt or Upper Atmosphere weather report window), for cruising altitude, ensure you don't omit the minus sign if appropriate.

Ambient temperature = SAT (Static Air Temp) = OAT (Outside Air Temp)

SAT = Static Air Temp ... i.e. what the air temp would be if it were static (or when your airspeed is zero).

TAT = Total Air Temp ... the effective air temp taking into account your airspeed.

The TAT is a calculated value, it is calculated within FSX or the aircraft sim and is always warmer than the SAT due to compressional heating of the air molecules. The air has to be slowed down to be measured and hence gets heated. Hence the TAT is dependent on your airspeed (actually the square of your airspeed as a Mach number) and also on the ratio of specific heats of the ambient air (i.e. how dry or moist the air is - which effects air density - which determines the number of air molecules being heated).

At the typical airliner cruise speeds (0.75+ Mach) a TAT of 20 to 28 degrees warmer than SAT is perfectly normal.

I don't have any turbulence

If you are not using Live Camera then enable DHM in the Server's Configuration dialog.

For turbulence on the aircraft itself select both the Bump Aircraft (not in P3D) and Turbulence Effects options (Turbulent Motion and/or Turbulent Bump) within DHM. Enable FSX turbulence (which is set via the FSX menu option - Options, Settings, Display. Select the Weather tab, there is an option for turbulence and thermal effects on the aircraft). 

If you can't see the DHM effect on your aircraft then set the "\OpusFSI\FSISERVER.EXE" file properties (compatibility tab) to "Run as Administrator". This can be done by right clicking on the program in Windows Explorer or right clicking on the desktop shortcut.

I don't have any wing flex

To see wing flex enable FSX turbulence, also the 'Advanced Animations' option in the FSX menu option - Options, Settings, Display - Graphics tab.

Cloud popping 

We have introduced our new Cloud Smoothing software in Beta 3.38. This software preserves all localised cloud coverage during weather updates and hence prevents all major cloud popping during the weather updates.

You should note that,

• FSX is responsible for positioning all clouds on the screen, the weather engine cannot do this, it can only specify the cloud coverage and associated parameters such as cloud type, cloud base, depth etc.
• FSX will reposition all clouds each time the weather is injected, nothing can stop this.
• FSX selects all cloud bitmap textures and renders them on the screen, the weather engine specifies the cloud coverage, type, and other parameters, but it is FSX that does the rest.
• FSX will, for good reasons, extend patterns of cloud coverage, including areas of clear sky, across cell boundaries, each weather cell being 10 x 10 miles in size. If FSX strictly adhered to the cellular pattern then the weather would look completely phoney and unreal. So it 'bleeds' the weather across the cell boundaries, extending or retreating areas of cloud coverage as it see fit.

This last effect is what most people refer to when they talk about cloud popping, really as a result of not knowing how FSX depicts the weather and wrongly assuming the weather engine is causing it or can stop it.

If you don't have Cloud Smoothing enabled and after a weather update you see the cloud around you disappear then take a look behind you, its odds on that FSX had previously decided to extend this cloud cover all around you and after the weather update it gives more precedence to the new weather and cloud cover that is either in front or around you. It is also possible to notice cloud that is around you retreating away into the distance some miles in front of you. Again this is just FSX extending or retreating the cloud boundaries as it sees fit in an attempt to eliminate the cellular structure and prevent a mosaic effect in the sky.

If you actually monitor the Opus Lower Cloud Cover weather map you will see that the map and the cloud coverage is very stable, it obviously will change to reflect the reported cloud coverage in the METAR reports, so if they change the map will change but in a very predictable way. However you may notice that during weather updates or refreshes FSX has decided to reposition the cloud boundaries, extending some and retracting others, so that the cloud coverage around you changes drastically. Nothing much can be done about this as no engine has control over the FSX code.

You can try setting the 'Cloud Smoothing' Opus weather option, this guarantees to preserve the cloud cover surrounding your aircraft whenever it can. This can help minimise cloud popping although nothing can stop it altogether bar rewriting the FSX code.

Error message "access denied" when trying to display reports on the client LWE Control PC

You must set the sharing, sharing permissions, and security permissions on your server for the OpusFSI installation drive and folder so that the client will be able to access the files in your OpusFSI\Weather folder on your server. See the Getting Started Guide for Networked PCs for details.

In the client configuration dialog when specifying the network identity (name or IP address) of your main FSX server machine if you are using Computer Names in the configuration then try using IP addresses and vice versa.

Error message " The network name cannot be found" when trying to display reports on the client LWE Control PC

All drives should be shared using their same letter code (drive share name of C or D etc) otherwise the remote software will not be able to build its correct file specifications.

Why can't I run the Live Weather Engine on a client PC?

The LWE does not affect the performance of the simulator at all so does not need to be offloaded onto a client. If it were offloaded it would actually be far less efficient and may even impact on the simulators performance since all data would not only have to be communicated via the LAN but it would also make it more difficult to supervise the real world intelligent turbulence in real time. Hence, the clients can be used to control and monitor weather related data but the LWE itself runs on the main server system.

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