I have been an ATCA/ATSA for 14 years and a met observer for 11 years. I have both a full met ticket and SAMOS trained. In my opinion the SAMOS training falls short of what is required of a Met observer. When using SAMOS all of the visual elements have to be verified by the ATSA, Vis, cloud and Wx. The cloudbase recorder is at best poor. As it only looks straight up it doesn't give the full picture and cannot be taken as gospel. I am sure that any ATSA worth his salt would take on board any help or constructive criticism from pilots. It is very helpfull to have a cloudbase report from time to time. Please be gentle with us though, met observing is a steep learning curve and we are sensitive creatures.