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Too Much Forum
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 16:21
Posts: 64,
Visits: 168
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| OK. Have been having an intensive look at SkyDemon over past week. As some may have gathered, like others, am generally very impressed. But one area that I think can be significantly improved is the WX functionality. In particular I wd like to make comparisons with PocketFMS whose weather in my view is very good indeed. Its key features are: Superimposes international weather symbols onto the chart, wind speed & direction (barbs), cloudbase if 500, 1000 or 2000 feet, metar/taf aerodrome circles and wind can be for 2000', 5000' or 8500'. You can also add latest satellite picture onto the map .. esp showing rain. CRUCIALLY you can advance the WX display by 1hr for as many hrs as you need. The following 2 pics show the area for central England and lets say we want to fly from Yorks to the Norfolk coast. The first pic is for 7:48 UTC and the next is for 11:48. WE can see that the Norfolk coast cloudbase is around 500' early on and it will be some 3-4hrs before its set to clear. Also you can get a sense of what is happening across the country and how fast/slow any changes are expected to be. I should say that I have bought the full Skydemon package but intend to keep up PFMS subscription for weather alone. Do not know who they use exactly but I think its some Swiss crowd; I can say the forecasts seem uncannily accurate. SUGGESTION .. wind symbols in SkyDemon could use the bark system indicating speed .. at first I thought everywhere was blowing 30KT!!  
Am showing this in the hope that the excellent development speed at SkyDemon will tackle the WX sometime soon. David PS Not sure how this forum deals with pics and whether you can zoom in on them properly. If anyone wants full copies send me a PM.
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SkyDemon Team
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 30 August 2010
Posts: 326,
Visits: 242
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| Thanks David for the suggestions. Weather is something we'll be improving over time. We're already working on getting the forecast winds aloft, at which point we'll show them on the chart (optionally) and automatically plug them into the route calculations if the user hasn't filled in the values. We've also already changed to the barb symbols in the 1.4 version, a beta of which will be released today or over the weekend  If you can find out the weather supplier to PFMS we'll talk to them too.
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Too Much Forum
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 16:21
Posts: 64,
Visits: 168
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| PFMS uses TopMeteo for SigWX, cloudbase & wind plus Meteox for Radar data re Europe. Use other sources for USA & Australia Topmeteo.eu Its specifically aimed at aviation sector. Saw them at Friedrichshafen. Looked exceedingly comprehensive. D
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SkyDemon Team
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 30 August 2010
Posts: 326,
Visits: 242
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| Does PFMS require you to have a separate subscription to TopMeteo or do they deliver data automatically through your PFMS subscription?
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Too Much Forum
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 16:21
Posts: 64,
Visits: 168
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| No separate sub required. Comes as part of PFMS. D
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 19:30
Posts: 10,
Visits: 28
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On another weather issue, would it be possible to have functionality that enables users to turn off/on the display of weather on the map?
When trying to look at some of the features on the map whilst planning they are sometimes obliterated by clouds.
MFC
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SkyDemon Team
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 30 August 2010
Posts: 326,
Visits: 242
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| Already there. Just click on the TAF or METAR icons in the Enroute Features window to toggle between which type of weather is displayed, or to turn it off altogether.
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 19:30
Posts: 10,
Visits: 28
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Ahhh, thanks for that Tim - maybe I should RTFM a bit more carefully 
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