A true MUST HAVE!

[jcomm 5,955]

I'm sorry for posting here something that has been mentioned at another thread - about a visibility plugin for X-Plane 10 - but the fact that I found this NOAA GFS weather injector so great makes me post it here just in case any of you didn't notice it.

 

Don't skip this one. If you want a much better experience of higher level winds, cloud coverage, and even turbulence and temperature, make sure you:

 

1) Get and install Python for your operating system. Mine is windows 7 64 bit, so I got me this installer:

 

http://www.python.org/ftp/python/2.7.5/python-2.7.5.amd64.msi

 

2) The Python interface for X-Plane 10 from here:

 

http://www.xpluginsdk.org/python_interface_latest_downloads.htm

 

3) The NOOA GFS python script from here:

 

http://x-plane.joanpc.com/plugins/xpgfs-noaa-weather

 

 

Set the altitude up to which you want to have your weather set by the downloaded METARs (the sector altitude for the area you're flying from..., and you will get the NOAA GFS forecast data above it :-)

 

Simply BEAUTIFUL!!!!

[scotchegg 4,207]

Glad it's of use. I'm just looking for a more realistic looking sim so not so clear on the ins and outs of each plugin.

 

I'm not sure about the role of Metar altitude, how do you decide what altitude to set?

[Emerson67 248]

I'm not sure about the role of Metar altitude, how do you decide what altitude to set?

 

This is what the author says:

 

"(...)GFS data is good for upper winds, but METAR data is more up-to-date and contains other interesting parameters like visibility, but it lacks upper wind information(...)"

 

About  the METAR altitude setting (as-is):

 

"The first wind level is at FL100 let some space to let x-plane transition from the metar wind.

So yes 5000 is a great value. But you must enter the Flight Level on the settings window so 5 is the value to set.

 

That's what will happen:

 

From 0 to 5000 xplane sets weather (METAR)

At 5000 feet GFS controls weather, sets the next wind layer to FL100 and x-plane will transition as you ascents.

GFS will control winds for the rest of layers.

During the descent at 5000 feet GFS will enable METAR again and X-Plane will do a time based transition to the METAR values."

 

 

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?app=downloads&showfile=15453#commentsStart

 

UPDATE: Actually 5000FT is FL50, so 50 is the correct number in this example, not 5! The author refers to "5" because there was a bug on the older plugin version.

[Emerson67 248]

Now the next step is to create a low level turbulence plugin. :rolleyes:

 

e.g. convective turbulence

[scotchegg 4,207]

One thing I've noticed in XP is real weather downloads rarely (if ever) include high level cirrus layers. Are they really that rare in RL? Is this plugin concentrated mainly on winds, not clouds?

[jcomm 5,955]

Ups... been sleeping... happens everyday!

 

Regarding METAR "altitude", by definition, it reports CAVOK (Clear & Visibility OK) when there are no visible clouds bellow 5000' or the highest minimum sector altitude. For an airport with the sector altitude = 5000', like Lisbon, you can have a layer of overcast stratus clouds at, say, 12000', and if there are no visible CBs then your METAR will report CAVOK and a simulator based on it will gladly set a blue sky above :-)

 

Also, bare in mind that METAR are observations, issued hourly or half-hourly, while TAFs and the GFSs are forecasts!

 

The use of the METAR altitude parameter will allow the weather data for the levels up to where the GFS data starts being injected into the sim, to be set by a nearby METAR station or stations ( interpolated ).

 

When other weather injecting programs "paint" cirrus, or any other cloud layers above the sector altitude, they're simply applying cosmetic sugar to the weather depiction, unless they're really based on higher level observation or forecasts...

[strider1 575]

I can't get the plugin to work. In the configuration window "Downloading new cycle" never goes away and if I "reload Scripts", the configuration window says"XPGFS Status: Data not ready".

 

I have python 2.7.5 installed, Pythoninterface 2.7 and XPGFS installed.

 

Anybody have any ideas ?

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture2.png

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture3.png

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture4.png

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture5.png

[jcomm 5,955]

I can't get the plugin to work. In the configuration window "Downloading new cycle" never goes away and if I "reload Scripts", the configuration window says"XPGFS Status: Data not ready".

 

I have python 2.7.5 installed, Pythoninterface 2.7 and XPGFS installed.

 

Anybody have any ideas ?

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture2.png

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture3.png

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture4.png

 

http://i1086.photobucket.com/albums/j445/strid1/Capture5.png

 

Have you set the METAR alt? Set it to, say... 060 and see what happens.

[blocks_off 5]

Yep.... this one is on my "to install" list

[jcomm 5,955]

Of course it is not free from glitches, like the clouds popping in & out as you transition from the METAR alt to GFS feeding zones, and even sometimes between contiguous GFS-feeded zones, but it's very good anyay, at least to get higher level windows and a few more cloud layers ;-)

[strider1 575]

Have you set the METAR alt? Set it to, say... 060 and see what happens.

 

Yes I set it the FL 060 and still doesn't work, oh well.....

[deetee 164]

This looks promising, but when I change airport in XP the weather does not change.

In fact there doesn't seem to be any way to force a new weather d/l, whether it be by time or distance since last update.

 

Edit: correction, I have noticed a change in wind strength and direction.

However the atmospheric pressure remains at 29.92.

The NOAA site says this particular airport should be at 30.05 so that doesn't look good.

 

Edit2: just tried quitting XP and loading it up at the same airport but the plugin will not update the weather.

A shame as it seemed quite promising! Back to XP weather I guess.

[jcomm 5,955]

Surface pressure is not changing as the author stated. He plans to fix it.

 

But! for surface weather to change according to METAR you have to set a "METAR altitude". Use 060 for instance. The plugin injects weather above it starting FL100.

 

Of course when you transition from the METAR altitude to above, clouds reported in your METAR will suddenly disappear, and there can also be a sudden wind shift.

[strider1 575]

Whats your system specs ? I still can't this to work.

 

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

 

[jcomm 5,955]

i5 - 2500 @3.3 Ghz, 16 GB DDR3 RAM, Geeforce GTX 650 Ti 1GB GDDR5 , Windows 7 Home Pro 64 bit.

 

Installed Python 2.7