Active Sky Wx Radar - Radar not matching ASN

When I turn on the weather radar in the Dash 8, it shows a large number of red areas ahead of the aircraft.

When I look at the map on ASN, it doesn't show any precipitation, and other aircraft with Active Sky weather radars will also be clear in the same situation.

I have the ASN_INTERFACE=1 flag set in the ini file (as well as the WXAR one set to 0). I do get weather returns, but they seem to not match anything that Active Sky is sending.

Is there some other flag I need to set for Active Sky for P3Dv4?

Comments

  • Images to support you query are always of assistance, but that is correct you will not see the exact depiction from the ASN radar unit, but a representation of the weather that is ahead of the aircraft.

    1. The ASN flag in the .ini is the only thing required.

    2. Are the radars (Q400 and the ASN) both set for the same parameters?

    Sitting on the ground with the radar tilted 7 deg upwards
    https://gyazo.com/9a2ec2b472a7e286bcd4cacd8b73033e

  • Thanks for the reply. I have attached an image below, showing the Dash 8 weather adar showing a major red area ahead of the aircraft, yet the Active Sky radar and weather map in the image show no weather at all in the vicinity.

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/fq22gk7lwo16qsm/DH8D WXR.png?dl=0

  • I've done a few more flights now, and the weather radar doesn't seem to display anything remotely similar to what Acitve Sky is sending.
    There are several occasions when one sweep it's showing a little bit of green, and then the next sweep has a massive amout of red.

    I assume the radar is supposed to display the precipitation that Active Sky is sending, like the PMDG and FSLabs radars do, or is it just detecting clouds within P3D?

  • The image on your Q400 radar is not an ASN representation (if you compare the image I posted to the one that you posted) , but more a representation of the default Q400 radar which uses triangulation based on surrounding weather stations, and in some cases the indication will be totally inaccurate as this concept was developed back when the aircraft was originally released (back then ASN representation was not applicable).

    If possible post a snippet of the weather section of your "mjc84.ini", which from your original post sounds like you do have everything required set correctly.
    Here is a snippet of mine:


    [INTERFACE]
    ; GENERAL SUPPORT OF THE INTERFACES
    JOYSTICK_INTERFACE =1
    ASN_INTERFACE=1
    WXAR_INTERFACE=0


  • My section of the ini file is exactly the same as yours.

    I think the issue I'm seeing is going to be down to the method of depicting the weather - as you have said, it doesn't use the new method of getting the location of precipitation from AS, but estimates weather based on local stations.

    I guess that as this method has been available for a number of years now there are no plans to implement it into the Dash 8?

  • as you have said, it doesn't use the new method of getting the location of precipitation from AS, but estimates weather based on local stations.

    That is correct...ONLY if ASN is not being used. Since you are using ASN I am not sure why you are not able to see the radar representation UNLESS you are not using the PRO Edition of the MJC Q400, as this feature is only available in the PRO Edition.

    We can start by un-installing the aircraft and then re-installing, be sure to use Administrator Rights by right clicking on the installer and Run As Administrator.

    Cheers

  • I'm not using the Pro version.

    Just to clarify then:
    The PILOT version only estimates weather based on local METARs
    The PRO version gets the radar data directly from Active Sky
    Is this correct?

    I ask as the features table just says weather radar is in both PILOT and PRO versions. It doesn't say anything about better radar functionality in the PRO than the PILOT versions.

  • edited April 2019

    Just to clarify then:
    The PILOT version only estimates weather based on local METARs
    The PRO version gets the radar data directly from Active Sky
    Is this correct?

    OK well that explains your issue since the weather radar for the PILOT Edition will read weather but only on an interpolation basis.

    Excerpt from our Product page:

    PILOT Edition:
    The Weather Radar is capable of interpolating the weather returns, based on the actual FSX weather, using the FSX Weather Stations reports. The Weather Radar can work with both the FSX Real Weather, and the Weather Environment addons capable of setting the per-station weather.

    PRO Edition:
    The PRO version of the Q400 is capable of reading the weather radar data from the ASN. The beam geometry is also simulated in order to depict the weather based upon the aircraft altitude, antenna tilt and the altitude of the weather itself. There is ground clutter and the weather shadow effects. In addition there is a ground mapping mode simulation, capable of showing the surrounding terrain. The weather clutter in the ground mode is also simulated.

    Apologies if our information was unclear in anyway.

    Cheers

  • Right, that all makes sense now!

    I didn't realise you could click on the items in the table for further information.
    I'll probably just upgrade to the Pro version as you can do so and just pay the difference.

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