PMDG 777 Weather Radar & ASN Accuracy

[sidh 29]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to make something sure on which I have doubt.

On my PMDG T7 screen I saw red and yellow colors  ND.. Tiny but once reduced range it went bigger(Ofcourse) .

 

However, When I approach them which I did today to test it out it began to shed off on the WXR ND screen it first turned green and almost dissapeared. I was using Auto -2A at cruise . even tried 0M still it was dissapeared from screen.

So my question is is this a bug or a real world thingy because that cloud was just 1 minute away so it also cannot be that it went off by the time I reached...

Is it a bug? If its not a bug than why does that happen?

Edited August 29, 2014 by firehawk44
Title edited to removed all caps (shouting)

[tcas_climb 45]

It's not a bug, as you got closer to the cloud the radar beam went over the top of the major water content of the cloud, while the cloud may still be directly in front of you and maybe even above you, that part of the cloud probably doesn't have enough for the radar to reflect off, still you must be careful especially if it is a thunderstorm, as that part of the could will have hail (thanks to ASN) , and that's something the radar will not detect

[ybarshavit 0]

Can it also be that the weather changed when he got there? He said he had little specks on long range, but when he reduced the range it turned a lot bigger. Maybe it took some time to get there and the precipitation stopped? Just an idea.... 

[sidh 29]

Can it also be that the weather changed when he got there? He said he had little specks on long range, but when he reduced the range it turned a lot bigger. Maybe it took some time to get there and the precipitation stopped? Just an idea.... 

The bad weather was like a minute away so it could not change in an instant.

It's not a bug, as you got closer to the cloud the radar beam went over the top of the major water content of the cloud, while the cloud may still be directly in front of you and maybe even above you, that part of the cloud probably doesn't have enough for the radar to reflect off, still you must be careful especially if it is a thunderstorm, as that part of the could will have hail (thanks to ASN) , and that's something the radar will not detect

So lowering tilt would have helped? I did it as well did not seem to help much.

BTW I am using ASN Sp1 Beta ,

[markadeane 272]

 

 

So lowering tilt would have helped? I did it as well did not seem to help much.

 

Yes, lowering the tilt would have shown up more of the weather, However, once you're within a minute (approx 8nm) of any weather, unless it extends well above your height, the WXR will not be pointing at it so will not produce a return on the ND screen, even if you tilt it down a fair bit.

 

Remember that the radar has a wide lateral beam but a fairly narrow vertical beam, it's only looking at a vertical 'slice' of the 3D picture, not all of the weather at any one location. Think of a wedge of watermelon, lying on it's side, with the airplane at the middle of the narrow end of the wedge. that's a good representation of the shape of your scan area.

 

Next time you encounter weather, have a play with the tilt a little further out and you'll see the resulting change in depiction..The automatic mode sets the tilt fairly well for the majority of situations but it's a tool for you to use as you see fit, so don't be afraid to 'use the force' and go manual if you want to interrogate a weather situation more closely.

 

For example if I am approaching TOD and I see weather after the T/D point, I will scan down a little lower to get a clearer picture of what I can expect to run into as I descend.

[tcas_climb 45]

You can also play around with the gain. I find this useful in seeing weather that is far out (around 40nm) away better.

[sidh 29]

Thanks for all your replies guys, I will try to play around with it.

One more doubt, Suppose we see a cloud(Red/magenta) at about 60NM from our airplane now if ASN refreshes weather would the cloud be still there? If no wouldn't that make it unrealistic?

[markadeane 272]

If ASN refreshes the weather and the cloud is no longer there out the front window, then yes it should be gone from the WXR display. Given that ASN works off real world weather data and updates from that data fairly regularly, you would more likely see the cloud gradually dissipate rather than just vanish.

[sidh 29]

If ASN refreshes the weather and the cloud is no longer there out the front window, then yes it should be gone from the WXR display. Given that ASN works off real world weather data and updates from that data fairly regularly, you would more likely see the cloud gradually dissipate rather than just vanish.

Thanks for reply my refresh time is 5 minutes