CSC DUATS going away NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

[1964-M20E]

Recently when planning a flight I saw this message.  While DUATS is not a perfect system I use it religiously for filing flight plans and for weather briefings.  I know it's a learning curve but I dislike the new system they are pushing. 

My dislikes are:

1. Weather briefing are all in UTC no conversion to standard local times.  I really hate converting back and forth.  I understand the reasoning for UTC but for me and I think most of us we don't change time zones fast enough for it to matter.
2. I can't get a regular low level weather briefing if I put my departure time too far in the future.  Again I like looking at the regular full briefing even though I know my flight is a day or more away.
3. I haven't been able to look at 3 different altitudes for time in route and then I can decide which is best for me.  Yes they have an optimization mode but I rater do that.
4. It does not automatically fill in your time in route to you flight plan you have to manually enter that.
5. There are other things too but these are the main one I have seen so far.

 

The FAA will discontinue the Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS II) Program, effective May 16, 2018. Internet services, including access to weather and aeronautical information, flight plan filing and automated services will remain available at no charge to pilots at www.1800wxbrief.com.

To continue to receive free services, users are encouraged to register with www.1800wxbrief.com. The FAA will work with current DUATS II providers on transition activities, including conducting pilot outreach, establishing commercial interfaces, and providing user migration assistance.

 

[takair]

What are the other systems you dislike?  Have you tried ForeFlight?  I rarely use anything else, except for supplemental information for a particular flight.

[Hank]

I don't remember if I used DUAT or DUATS, but the 30-40 page briefings from Boston to Miami when my flight was WV to KY and back discouraged me from using it very long.

Call WXBRIEF, they're pretty good with Outlook Briefings a day or two ahead. 

AND I now have a free app, "Avi6 Weather from NOAA / NWS" which I really like!

[kortopates]

So many great features with wxbrief that this is a no brainer. Check out the ability to activate and close a VFR flight plan from your smart phone or tablet - which is integrated into the popular E6B apps.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Bolter]

Curmudgeon complaint coming... Before apps existed, DUATS is what I learned to use for on-line weather and no that I had a record of a weather briefing before a flight.  Quirky or not, I knew where to find everything on their site.  Like the OP, I have not liked the WXBrief interface when I tried it.  

 

[1964-M20E]

yes there are some pluses but some minuses as well.  similar to when MS releases a new windows they move everything around.

[gsxrpilot]

I haven't used anything but ForeFlight for weather briefings in the last five years or so. It's given in plain English, everything is decoded, the times are local, and there are pictures as opposed to charts. What's not to like?

[Andy95W]

I'm with John and Dan.

Granted, I've been using DUATS since about 1992, I will say the thing I like(d) most about it was the flight planning portion.  Fast, effective, and useful.  Plus I could print it off in a format that I like(d) and was comfortable with.

(I get ForeFlight for free from work and still preferred DUATS.  I wouldn't pay money for it.)

[Bob_Belville]

I used DUATS for a while 5  or 6 years ago but gravitated to fltplan.com which I liked better. I now use Garmin Pilot because I have a GTN and FS510 and a couple of Android devices that play nice together. I have used the wxbrief but I find I usually go to fltplan.com when I am planning a long trip several days in the future because it's easy to get a feel for wx systems.

[Andy95W]

29 minutes ago, Bob_Belville said:

I used DUATS for a while 5  or 6 years ago but gravitated to fltplan.com which I liked better. I now use Garmin Pilot because I have a GTN and FS510 and a couple of Android devices that play nice together. I have used the wxbrief but I find I usually go to fltplan.com when I am planning a long trip several days in the future because it's easy to get a feel for wx systems.

Thanks for posting, Bob.  I'll definitely give FltPlan.com a try since I already use the FltPlanGo App.

[carusoam]

Duats and DOS, then Windows 95.... 

The coolest thing was calling 1800wxbrief via cell phone to see if any TFRs had popped up during the hour between flight planning and departure... all via talking to a human.... in middle America somewhere, not very familiar with the local area....

All my duats passwords were written on the cover of my printed A/FDs...

All gone to IPad now... had to go verify the spelling of the A/FD...

Brings back memories,

-a-

[bradp]

For the folks that don’t use iPads I’d highly recommend fltplan.com.  Clunky user interface (much like duats) but a pretty robust set of tools.  

[kris_adams]

fltplan.com here too. Nice mobile web page as well so it's super easy to file flight plans from my phone.  I setup notifications to my cell phone's text email address so I get a text when my flight plan is actually filed:  I just put this in as my email address for notifications: 770558xxxx@txt.att.net  Works nearly flawlessly.

[thinwing]

Yikes I remember when dusts first came out...before that it was a phone outlook briefing....no onboard weather...takeoff IFR not really knowing when I would breakout...times change

[McMooney]

Garmin PIlot here, only use wxBrief when i want to look at larger weather maps for some reason