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..!
____________________________
October 2019 UPDATE: If you have an included model of Bushnell weather centers, Bushnell will replace them with a model that works with their new system free of charge when you mail your current unit in. Here is the information on how to get a replacement: https://www.bushnell.com/weatherfx-replacement
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
John says
Has the petition ended, and if so, why? I would love to sign it.
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.
Marsha says
Where can I write or call about this? I love these weather stations and hope they do not shut down the service.
John Burgess says
I never noticed the “B NELL offline 12-31-19” message. However, I noticed that the unit is no longer receiving weather data as of today (9/30/19). Sorry to see it go – it’s been a great item.
John Burgess says
I did not see the notice that the service would be discontinued by 12-31-19. However, as of 9/30/2019, the unit is no longer receiving weather data.
Coupon Maven says
John, as of today, 10/1/19, our weather center is still receiving data and showing the forecast for this week (yes, it really is this hot today in Chicago!)
Mark says
Is yours still working in Chicago? Mine stopped a few days ago?
Coupon Maven says
Our area had a power outage today. When our power came back on, our weather forecast didn’t. :( It is powered up, but it now receives no forecasts.
Chad Horton says
Have any of you stumbled on to any other forecasters similar to this one? There are weather stations out there that just guess a forecast based on barometer readings, but I’m hoping there’s another one out there that gets an actual forecast from NWS or something like that. We have less than 3 months left with this one now. Thanks.
Coupon Maven says
Unfortunately, no, not yet — I actually bought one of the 3-day barometric ones as I saw it on clearance at Ace Hardware a few months ago. It’s awful. Its predictions are rarely accurate at all (shows clouds when the Bushnell one shows sun, temperature predictions are 5-10 degrees off the actual, etc.) It made me appreciate even more how great these Bushnell units are. :(
Mark kraft says
Chad, Three months left, mine stopped working only a few days ago (Columbus OH) is yours still updating?
Chad horton says
The current temp is no longer updating on mine. Still getting the 5 day forecast. Someone just said that the end of their 7 day forecast is blank so this could be it.
ducksworth says
Here in Central Ohio, my two are still showing Sunday’s forecast and temps, which seems to be from around 4PM or so. I see signal indication on both devices, so I’m pretty sure it’s not the paging service these piggyback on. This is exactly what the Market Maven did when it was shut off – the device simply stopped updating one day and would never download new data (because there wasn’t any.) The clock continued until the device was reset.
I’ve re-powered the larger device to see if it gets new data, and I’ve also contacted Bushnell to see if they have anything to say. I’ll report back if anything of interest is found.
Clb says
Don’t turn yours off. We did to move it and now it won’t come back on.
Jeff f. says
Uh Oh, I just found a link on Bushnell’s website stating:
“Effective December 31, 2019, service for the Bushnell WeatherFX Weather Forecaster will end. As a thank you for being a valued Bushnell customer, Bushnell is offering to replace your Bushnell WeatherFX Weather Forecaster with a comparable replacement weather forecasting device.
To take advantage of this offer please ship in your Bushnell WeatherFX Weather Forecaster to the address on this page. Within 30 days upon receipt of your Bushnell WeatherFX Weather Forecaster, we will ship out a comparable replacement weather forecasting device. Please include your name, address, and telephone number.”
https://www.bushnell.com/weatherfx-replacement
The current temperature has not updated on either of my FX-7’s for two days now and the forecast for Monday 10/14 is blank as of this morning. I am very disappointed that this service appears to be truly coming to an end.
lgeorgehsv says
News from Bushnell with a Replacement offer: https://www.bushnell.com/weatherfx-replacement
Coupon Maven says
Thank you SO much! I will update this post. :)
Daniel says
I have a very old Bushnell Ambient, it only has a 3 day forecast. It’s worked great until this past week. Not really sure which day it stopped but I loved it. I think it stopped over the weekend. I noticed the forecast was really off so I rebooted it. Now I’m not getting any data :(
It sure was a great device. I’ll miss it. This is second device that’s died on me this year. RIP jawbone too.
Brooke L Kasubski says
I wonder what the replacement will be… i cant even find anything else LIKE this!
Shawn says
Ours is a 7-day that’s now only showing forecasts through this weekend. Monday (10/14) and Tuesday are blank. Guess the service is ending early! :( I wish I had a replacement ready. I’ll have to check out Bushnell’s offer.
Susan says
Mine stopped working about a week ago, so sad. I am mailing the unit to Bushnell today. I wonder what they will send me in return? I can’t imagine it will be as nice as my original Bushnell weather device : (
Coupon Maven says
I am not sure, but I am sending mine in today as well. I am guessing they will send something that either gets its forecasts over the internet, or possibly from the cellular network. (The network it currently uses is a frequency reserved for pagers.)
ducksworth says
Mine is in the mail today. I don’t expect anything decent in return – probably one of those cheap department store units that reads barometric pressure and tries to predict based on a pre-programmed model.
You never know. I’ll report back when/if I get anything.
Ed says
I saw the post about Bushnell offering a replacement and called their support line yesterday afternoon to find out more information. After being on hold for 15 mins – hung up and sent them an email. As of today no response.
The good news is that my Bushnell 7 -day forecaster came back on last night at 6pm after being off line for 3 days.
I seriously have my doubts about this offer as their website does not show any weather products for sale.
Coupon Maven says
I bought one of the barometric units earlier this year when I saw it on sale – it’s junk. Nowhere near as accurate as my Bushnell :(
ducksworth says
There’s really no way one of the barometric units could be as accurate. The WeatherFX units had the full force Accuweather behind it, with all of that company’s predictive modeling and computing power. The barometric unit just tries to guess based on certain assumptions (lower pressure means warmer, etc…)
The only way to get anything as accurate as the FX units is to just go to NOAA or Accuweather direct. Maybe it’s time to look into seeing what’s out there for small embedded controllers in regards to pulling weather data and showing it?
The FX units had a good 10 year+ run, I suppose that’s more than you can ask for in the disposable world.
Brian says
Has anyone tried to return one of the Ambient-branded versions of the Bushnell WeatherFX stations to take advantage of the exchange program? The only difference is the chrome logo on the bezel. Perhaps if that logo went “missing” before it was returned… ;-)
Traci Jan Silverman says
I am in Houston, Texas. Mine stopped working on 10/07/17. I have searched long on hard for an equivalent device with no luck. am in complete withdrawal! My device actually has the Ambient name on it. I wonder if Bushnell will replace? I’m sending it in anyway and crossing my fingers.
ducksworth says
I have an Ambient-branded unit as well, but it’s not one of the ones that looks like Bushnell’s – it’s rectangular and black. I thought about sending it back with the other one to see what would happen…
Bruce Wukovits says
We will see what bushnell sends since they don’t seem to make forecasters anymore.LaCrosse has several sharp WIFI ap controlled units but they only give 12 hour forecast.
Bruce Wukovits says
My units stopped but interestingly restarted evening of 10-9-19,
Did not think Bushnell made forecasters anymore.
La Crosse makes several sharp WIFI models but they only get 12 hour forecast.
ducksworth says
The one unit I kept also started working again. No real hard feelings about the one I sent back, most of the backlight colors quit years ago and I was tired of feeding it batteries (too bright for a bedroom on AC power.)
I guess I’ll keep using it until the service shuts off for good.
Jon says
My ambient flurry found the network and it is updating again.
I am shocked. It was dead for 2 eeeks.
At this point, I assume it will be dead for good at the end of the year. Heck, ill take what I can get.
Did anybody elses start updating again?
Coupon Maven says
I already disconnected mine and mailed it back – waiting for my replacement, whatever it may be. My parents’ house has the same unit as me, and theirs also has resumed service! Now we are waiting to see what -I- get back before sending theirs in…
Ed says
I would like to know if those folks that sent their Bushnell forecast device in for a replacement got acknowledgement from the company that they received the device. I have emailed them twice and called twice to find out more information about this replacement and got no response.
Ed says
Since 7am EST today there has beern no update of temperature, wind, and wind direction on my 7day Bushnell Forecaster for stations in New England. The time is working but is two hours behind (reading right now 1138am instead of 138pm EST).
Bruce Wukovits says
Same in Indiana except time is still working
Donald Coody says
On November 6 in South Carolina our Bushnell FX5 stopped displaying everything except the time, which was for the wrong time zone.
Sam says
Waiting to see if Bushnell will take my Ambient in trade. In the meantime, I made something similar (really superior) with an old Amazon Fire Tablet I bought for $20, running a little program called 1Weather. I added another program called Insomnia to keep the screen on at all times. Note that I used the Google Play versions rather than those from the Amazon Store.
sam says
If this is a duplicate, please delete!
I’ve also queried Bushnell to see if they will take my old Ambient in trade. In the meantime, I’ve created something as good or maybe better with an old $20 Amazon Fire Tablet and an app called 1Weather. Also used app called Insomnia to keep the screen on.
Robert e deckman says
My Ambient Flurry is not getting any data (I unplugged it, and removed the back-up battery, then reinstalled the battery and plugged it in two days ago).
Reason for rebooting it was that it was showing the incorrect time.
CLint says
Monday morning (Nov 4th) when I woke up and looked at my Brookstone (Ambient) 5 day weather clock. I noticed it was running 1 hour slow. I was confused because it had already move one back the previous morning for all time change. Looking closely I noticed a text that said low battery.
So I change the 4 batteries and when the clock lite up, all the data was missing.
Today (three days later) Thursday at noon the clock suddenly started showing the correct time and the 5 day weather forecast – as if nothing had happened!
ed says
My Bushnell 7day Forecaster came back on sometime today around 12pm (EST) and so far is working as intended for now.
NY says
Just adding a data point, New York area, the seven day forecast or is back working again. It was blank since Monday.
RC Mann says
I had the 5 day model and it stopped receiving last week. Thanks for posting the info! The old man would have blamed me forever for “breaking” it. We’ve become so dependent on having it. Loved that it was color coded to the weather. Thanks again for the replacement info.
Jim SMith says
I have a weather fx 950005 that stopped working. I shipped it to Bushnell over 35 days ago for replacement. Has any one actually received a free replacement? There’s lots of posts but no confirmation that this actually is happening.
Txako says
Having withdrawal pains. Need my weather info at-a glance!
Dave says
I own a Brookstone 5-day forecaster which is still working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Time and forecast both look good. I’ll enjoy it while it lasts.
ed says
My Bushnell 7 Day Forecast stopped working at 3pm yesterday. Unplugged it and then plugged it back in nothing happened. At 5pm I did the same thing again and at 6pm it was working again. At 1am today it stopped working. Did the unplug/plug and nothing happened. Tried it again 3pm and it worked only to stop again at 4pm. I think it maybe time to retire the unit from active duty.