It’s New Year’s Day 2019! As we start most days around the Cataldo house, we head to the refrigerator, take out some breakfast foods and beverages, and check the day’s weather on our Bushnell FX5 electronic weather center.
We got this wonderful device about seven years ago during a $50 rebate deal, and it quickly became something that the entire family looks at daily.
Today, on New Year’s Day, our Bushnell weather center presented us with this ominous message:
“B NELL OFFLINE 12 31 19”
Oh no! We immediately began searching for more info on what happened or why these devices may no longer be supported. These weather centers receive data from Ambient and Accuweather, both of which are still in business. So what’s going on?
I’ll update this post when/if I find out, but this may be a situation of planned obsolescence too — not unlike what happened with our Sony flat-screen television a few years ago. We bought the TV specifically for its fantastic over-the-air channel guide grid, because we use a rooftop TV antenna. 18 months later, Sony discontinued the support for the on-screen guide in their televisions — even though the technology to transmit OTA channel info still exists. (Three years later, Sony discontinued YouTube support to the same TV too!)
I suppose we should be happy that the weather center’s data reception lasted longer than our television’s did..!
If you’re in the market for a new weather center (which apparently we will be too when 2019 comes to an end) Amazon has many to choose from, and there are quite a few models in the $20-$30 range.
Robert says
Ha, I Googled the same message moments ago, and got your site as the first result.
I got two of these on clearance for the cost of postage (after rebate), so it’s been a good (nearly-free) run.
Plenty of time to seek out an upgrade.
Happy New Year!
Coupon Maven says
Thank you — I also got mine free after the $50 rebate — I believe it was Walmart where I originally purchased the unit from for $50, then did the $50 rebate. Still, it’s frustrating — we REALLY like this thing :)
mike says
I just made a profile on change . com lets get 10000 sig and show bushnell please pass on thanks mike Schmidt Lakewood nj
Chad Horton says
Mine says the exact same thing but everything else on it still seems to work. Forecast and current temp are up to date. Maybe it’s just some glitch that we’ll have to see if it starts working again.
Mike barakat says
I have the same one too and got the same message. I’ve been looking for something similar for the past year and can’t find any weather station that show the whole week forecast. I’m going crazy now.
Robert deckman says
I got the same message on my Ambient Devices weather clock. (I found it on E-Bay several years ago for about $25, and my friends and family snapped them up after I told them about it). I hope that the clock keeps showing the time, even if the weather forecast disappears.
Chad Horton says
I got my Bushnell on Ebay as well many years ago. It says offline 12 31 19. Does that maybe mean that we have it for one more year and it will go offline at the end of this year? Maybe they’re sending a message out to everyone to let them know? Just a thought.
Coupon Maven says
Chad, that’s what I think – this is a one-year warning that it will stop receiving signals at the end of 2019. I guess it’s better than them suddenly discontinuing service to thousands of devices without warning. It’s still odd that Bushnell / Ambient / Accuweather have nothing on any of their websites about this.
Lee says
Ours is showing the same thing. You cannot find this type of weather center and we love it. Sad!
Marsha says
I love this weather center and have 5 of them! They all say the same thing. I hope somone finds an answer. I couldn’t bear to see it go offline. They are fabulous. So far working ok, but what happens next New Year’s Eve?!
Jason says
You posted this pretty quickly. I have this nice weather station alarm clock that I’ve been using because the decibel of the alarm wakes me up immediatly at 4am for work. Woke up and the entire middle of the display has the B’NELL OFFLINE 12-31-19 taking up all the real estate of the display. Lol 😂
Brad says
Thank you for the post, Jill. Was looking for information and this was the first result. This has been my family’s go-to weather center! We have this in the kitchen as well and use it every day.
It’s my understanding these operate on an older network that apparently will be shut down end of 2019. I’ve read that it is one of the same networks that used to support pagers, if that gives you any idea of how old the system is. Likely getting cost prohibitive to keep it running. :-( Either way sad to see this go next year, as we get a lot of use out of this thing — and it’s accurate.
Happy New Year everyone!
Chad Horton says
Thanks for the info Brad. Yeah, and with everyone using smartphones now for everything, that’s probably another reason they figure it’s just not worth it anymore. Still nice to glance at in the morning on the way out the door.
Lee says
I really haven’t found an equivalent. Have any of you??
Chad Horton says
I actually looked a while back when I thought my current one stopped working. I couldn’t find anything.
tom ciciora says
The maker of this device, Ambient Devices, is not the same as Ambient Weather. I sent them an email about the message, and they claim to respond within two business days,
Coupon Maven says
Thanks! My husband tried to call the 800 number on their website too, but they were closed today (of course.)
John says
Thanks for posting this! Our weather station, which we also got on a rebate, is one of my favorite pieces of technology. We look at it multiple times a day. It’s always accurate. The one line weather summaries have character and personality but are remarkably concise. It’s a beater too! We’ve dropped it by accident multiple times! I can’t find anything that rivals it. It just works.
Will be sad to see it go.
Thanks for the post! Bookmarking.
Rob says
Like the rest of you I have 4 or 5 of these devices in my home, office and garage. They are the only device that gives an accurate 5 or 7 day forecast and the color changing background makes them look great.
These devices sell for very high money on ebay, often $250+ and I find it hard to beleive that no one can produce and sell a newer version that works just as well.
Hopefully someone will see this blog and know how many people still want this device and the service.
Chad Horton says
The people on ebay trying to sell them for $250 are just trying to rip people off. When they were new, they were no more than 50 or 60 bucks. But yeah, they are a great device. Will be a shame when they stop working.
Coupon Maven says
I had NO idea the price had gone up so much on these in the eBay marketplace! https://www.ebay.com/p/RARE-Bushnell-Wireless-Weather-Station-Fx5-5-Day-AccuWeather-Forecast-Ambient/2170790550
Here’s a site still selling them for $95: http://www.weatherstationsupply.com/bushnell_weather_stations.html
I thought this was interesting too — for everyone saying that you can simply use a smartphone app for weather, the WSJ has a story today about one of the popular weather apps collecting too much personal data: https://www.wsj.com/articles/popular-weather-app-collects-too-much-user-data-security-experts-say-11546428914
Willie weatherboy says
A potentially sad day in the weather device universe…
Jimmy Shomo says
It is amazing how many people are still using these, and even more amazing that you can’t find a better product to replace these with.
Mine is dated 2008 and I have tried several times to find a replacement. I believe Bushnell was making a golf weather station forecaster recently, but I don’t even see those around anymore. In any case, they were nothing like the 7 day or 5 day ones. It was nice to have a dedicated device that didn’t rely on WiFi. I read on the back of mine that the data comes from AccuWeather, so maybe their contract with Bushnell / Ambient is expiring. I’m glad that Coupon Mavren took the time to write on this. Maybe if there are enough people out there that want this service, a work around could be developed to continue the service. Kind of reminds me of vinyl records. Old technology making a comeback! But it is obvious that these weather forecasters offered the best service and there is nothing currently available with new technologies that can replace them besides a phone app or website. I guess we will have to hang an extra smart phone on the wall!
its suprising
Kevin W Sanders says
I really loved the quick temperature estimate ( nearest city about 30 miles away ) but most importantly the temperature estimate on how I should plan my dress the next few days while brushing my teeth in the bathroom without having to go through several clicks on a phone app. I have looked for an equivalent year ago without any luck
Thomas Kovalcik says
Ambient made the 5 day and 7 day forecaster for bushnell and brookstone.
From Wiki
Services
Ambient Devices runs a data network called “Ambient Information Network”[9] that sends weather, stock market activity, sport scores, energy pricing and usage using a paging network that utilizes encoded FM radio stations to send out a data broadcast signals to ambient devices.
They also sell forecasting services to utility companies so that customers can reduce their energy usage when utilities are encountering peak usage and need an automated way of reducing energy consumption in homes and businesses.
Controversy
Brookstone licensed and sold an Ambient Device called the “Brookstone Weathercast Wireless 5-day Forecaster.” Consumers who bought this weather reporting device found out in February 2018 that Ambient Devices would no longer be sending data to these devices, rendering them e-waste.
Bill says
I have an Ambient Flurry Clock Radio that joined in this unfortunate event on New Years Day. It’s the best weather device I own and I will be sad if this is truly the end. The feed has gone offline from time to time but none like this. Sending a cryptic message that may or may not signal the end is a crappy way to cut bait and leave. While the Accuweather feed is still active having the description feed display that stupid message ruins the entire interface. Uggggh.
I’ll miss the pithy weather commentary. It’s really a shame that there doesn’t seem to be any worthy replacements. (Sigh)
Shawn says
I’m thinking of replacing mine with an old iPad running a weather app. Now to find a good weather app!
Coupon Maven says
This is actually not a bad idea – we have an old iPod Touch lying around that’s so old it’s not good for much else. It would just have to be set in “never sleep” mode… and mounted on our fridge!
Marsha says
I tried calling Bushnell customer service several times today but there is a recording saying that there is a problem with the system and to try later. I tried different extensions…no luck. But the message is off the devices today. Still very sad. These are fabulous devices. I love them and rely on them multiple times during the day. Much easier than checking weather on a phone. I hope they can somehow get us connected on another network. This is not right!
Jeff says
I own an Ambeont clock radio and have yet to find a Conor’s me device — most weather stations don’t show forecasts in this way — I hope that even if the comments go that maybe the forecast (temperature, rain.shine, stocks around).
moshe says
please sign on change.com abt bushnell thanks
Martin says
That old Sony flat screen with the roof antenna app… I have a curved screen 40″ Samsung 1080P from two years ago, and it shows what is on all the stations picked up by my roof antenna. It gives the movie or show title currently playing and the time that it started.
Many of the channels are in high-definition. The OTA Channel Master antenna is great, and I would never pay for cable.
Kevin W Sanders says
I really like the 5 day forecast without having to click a bunch on an app on an iphone etc in my bathroom when I get dressed in the morning so I know whether to dress for warm or cold weather . Maybe Jill can use her influence and make ambient realize they have quite a following . But I doubt it . I had weather in my airplane on an MX20 and WSI just decided to no longer support my equipment and that box was like 10,000$ new.
My solution is I took and old iphone 4, turned off the auto off , display lock etc , dimmed the display a bit and using WIFI , ran the default weather app which luckily stays on all the time and updates itself. No wind data :( , but does give me temp and 7 day forecast
Bill says
Ok, so the feed is back on. What gives? Did anybody get feedback from any of the manufacturers?
Happy it’s back but would like to know what the heck happened.
And who or what the heck is “B’NELL”?
Coupon Maven says
B NELL stands for Bushnell, the manufacturer of these units.
Bill says
“B NELL stands for Bushnell, the manufacturer of these units.”
FYI Mine was an original Ambient Device. Bushnell came after. There are others.
From the looks of that message it looks as if Bushnell is the now the proud owner of the service contract with U.S.A. Mobility the host for the datacasting network. Let’s hope they pay their bills on time from now on…
Happy it’s back online!
Mark says
work for an online retailer, and thanks to our Search engine Optimization (we are an authorized Bushnell dealer), we’re getting dozens of emails about this.
I spoke with my contact in Tech Support at Bushnell, and was told that it’s just a glitch with Ambient, and Bushnell is working with Ambient to resolve this. I was told there is no “expiration date”, the service “will not terminate on 12/31/2019”.
While I suggested that they post a banner on their landing page with that information, I would think the issue will be resolved before the Bushnell web content team addresses it.
OTIS says
Mark, that is great news! Let us know if you hear anything else. Happy New Year.
Coupon Maven says
Mark, I (and I’m sure many others) appreciate your post. Please feel free to update us if/when you hear more :)
Russ says
I’m saw the same thing on my two weather stations! Anyway, it sounds like we are ok with service! I just wanted to add that people that are looking for a similar solution for an old tablet, look at DAKboard software, there is a free basic version and a pay version. Anyway, I don’t work for them or anything but have been using it on old Fire Tablets for months and it really looks a lot more ‘up to date’ than my two old/working Bushnell stations.
Wayne6161 says
I have been searching for an alternative but could not find any. These units continue to work so why stop the service? Bushnell never mentioned anything about end of service when we purchased these.
Kevin W Sanders says
Well one of those last posts sounds encouraging but I would imagine before lond everything will be app based and digital just like TV broadcasts
10 years ago and now our traffic reports in VA
https://www.dailypress.com/news/newport-news/dp-nws-traffic-highway-advisory-radio-20190106-story.html
Dave says
Got the following response from Bushnell on January 10, 2019
Dave-
Unfortunately, Bushnell will no longer be able to support the AccuWeather service for the Bushnell weather stations through Ambient Weather Services and it will be discontinued by the end of 2019.
Bushnell appreciates and values all of our customers and while we truly regret any inconvenience this or any previous announcement may have caused, we are working diligently on identifying a solution that will provide similar service to our customers.
Check back with us at the end of the year and hopefully we will have a fix for these!
Thanks!
Eric
Bushnell CS Rep
Coupon Maven says
Dave, thanks for the update. I hope that they do find a solution for everyone who owns these.