The first time you run the program, the Airport Code text box will be empty. Enter your
airport code there. Use the full 4-letter ICAO code. Next, add your airport's runways to
the runway lists. Do this by clicking the "Add Runway" button. Enter the runway
with or without leading zero, and an optional L, R or C designator for parallel runways. After you
enter a runway, it will show up on both the Landing and Departing runway selection lists.
Next, edit the ATIS template. (A sample template is provided by default.) The template text is
used as the "skeleton" of your
ATIS. When a new METAR is retrieved, ATISMaker will insert information from the METAR into
your ATIS Template, in order to assemble the actual ATIS which you will then paste into ASRC. Information
from the METAR is inserted using placeholders in the template, such as %vis% for visibility,
%clouds% for sky conditions, etc. See below for a full list of placeholders.
Note: All placeholders must be enclosed within percent symbols. E.g. %winds%
| %icao% | Airport ICAO Code |
| %id% | ATIS Identifier (Alpha, Bravo, etc.) |
| %time% | METAR Timestamp |
| %wind% | Winds, including variable wind direction |
| %winds% | Winds, including variable wind direction |
| %vis% | Visibility Distance |
| %visibility% | Visibility Distance |
| %sky% | Sky conditions (cloud layers) |
| %clouds% | Sky conditions (cloud layers) |
| %precip% | Precipitation |
| %precipitation% | Precipitation |
| %alt% | Altimeter setting |
| %altim% | Altimeter setting |
| %altimeter% | Altimeter setting |
| %temp% | Temperature |
| %temperature% | Temperature |
| %dew% | Dewpoint |
| %dewpoint% | Dewpoint |
| %metar% | Full text of the METAR, unmodified |
| %runways% | Runways in use, including visual approaches and LAHSOs if applicable |
| %profile% | The name of the current profile |
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If you want ATISMaker to automatically update the atis.txt file in your ASRC folder, choose "ATIS.txt Location"
from the Options menu. In the window that appears, navigate to your ASRC folder and double-click the atis.txt file.
This step tells ATISMaker where you have ASRC installed so that it can automatically update the atis.txt file for you.
This saves the step of copying and pasting the text into the ASRC settings window. Note that you will still have
to open and close the ASRC settings window for the changes to take effect.
The first time you use ATISMaker in a given session, you'll want to press the "Refresh ATIS Now"
button once, in order to get the current METAR. You can then select the runways you wish to use by
checking the checkbox next to each runway in the Landing and Departing runway lists. Also indicate
whether or not visual approaches are in use by checking the box below the runway lists as appropriate.
Once you have selected the active runways, you can put ATISMaker in "automatic update" mode by
pressing the button labeled "Start" at the bottom left of the window. This will cause
ATISMaker to retrieve the current METAR from VATSIM every 5 minutes. If a new timestamp is detected in
the METAR, ATISMaker will regenerate the ATIS based on your template, and inform you of the new
ATIS code. You will see a popup window with the new code, and ATISMaker's icon will flash in the taskbar.
Within this popup window, ATISMaker will show a list of which parts of the METAR have changed, so that you
can easily inform pilots of the new weather information. Press the "OK" button on the popup window
to copy the new ATIS to your Windows clipboard. You can then paste the ATIS into your ASRC settings window. If
you have ATISMaker set to automatically update the atis.txt file, then the new ATIS information will already
be shown in the ASRC settings window when you open it. You only need to close the settings window for the new
ATIS to take effect. You can enable/disable this feature by checking the "Update ATIS.txt Automatically"
option in the Options menu.
If the winds shift during your controlling session, you can change the active runways and generate a new
ATIS by clicking the "Refresh ATIS Now" button, followed by the "Copy to Clipboard"
button.
ATISMaker allows you to store your various configurations as "Profiles" for later use. A Profile
consists of the Airport Code, the ATIS template, the list of runways, and the active runway selections. For
example, I have one profile called "KBOS 33L/27 Visual" which I use when those runways are in use
with good weather conditions. I have another called "KBOS Night Ops" which has runway 15R for
departures, and runway 33L for arrivals, which is the configuration used at Boston Logan after 11 PM for
noise abatement.
Profiles allow you to quickly switch between common runway configurations, or between different positions
(TWR, APP, CTR, etc) each of which may have a different ATIS template, or even between different airports
if you commonly work different areas.
To save a profile, press the "Save" button along the top of the window. The program will prompt
you for a name for the profile, defaulting to the last loaded profile name, if any. Press the "OK"
button when you have entered the name for your profile. The profile will then be available via the
"Saved Profiles" dropdown list.
To load a previously saved profile, choose the profile from the dropdown list and press the "Load"
button. The program will prompt you to save the current configuration if any changes have been made since
you last saved a profile. The program will then load the airport code, template, runway list, visual approaches
selection, and active runway selection from the specified profile. You can then press the "Refresh
ATIS Now" button or the "Start" button (if ATISMaker isn't already in automatic mode) in order
to generate an ATIS with the new profile configuration.
That's it! Feel free to
(Ross Carlson) with suggestions or comments. Enjoy!
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