Ambient Information Network - Datacasting Service

[skybug]

Hi Michael, I did some of the experiment. Only because I have a bad BNC jumper cable and ran out of them and also, the antenna I used for checking that out is on back another radio at this time monitoring. But on my FX5, I unplugged the unit for a minute and plugged it back in, blankscreen after it went thru it screen checkout sequence, then dashes with "In-network message, please wait one hour" came up and was about 40 til the hour. Within 10 minutes, my Nashua area 5 cities showed up and out of the other 150 cities, 20+ so cities were also showing up as well at that same time, approx.. As I scrolled thru, there was numerous ones missing still and within the first hour after power up, most of the others showed up except maybe 3 I think where still blank. So on that listing that had my area only, not sure how the other cities got populated at the same time unless that batch of shorter lines I saw scroll thru minutes later filled in the rest of them. Before I came down to the shack, there was one still missing.

 

[kjsorenson]

Sunday while over at my moms house, I placed both our identical Brookstone units together while watching my laptop screen running PDW.
On both units I long pressed reset buttons to clear data and then also removed and replaced the 4x AA batteries to wipe the slates clean.
My experiment results were that BOTH units went from blank dashes on screen to fully populated by receiving the same exact data page !
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both the 2 Brookstone 5 Day Weather Forecasters (2007) populate and get their updates from these pages 30 min apart ( :04 & :34 times)
Notice in SATX this CAP codes group page sends weather data for 5 cities by using only 3 digit description codes: ELP, AUS, SAT, DAL & ABQ
These Brookstone units ONLY display these same 3 letter codes and not the full spelling: So examples AUS=Austin and SAT=San Antonio, TX

Address - Time - Date - Mode - Type - Bitrate - Monitored Messages (in PDW v3.12 Software decoding 929.6625 Mhz at IF RX stage)

011061271 01:04:02 25-02-20 FLEX-C ALPHA 6400 !T%*
&R[/8"7#"~<!00"TF_U]UbXdZf]!!F##ELPPEdX_SaWeYeZ"!!!!AUSRFeX`UbWeZf["!!!!SATQF`W\UaWcYc["
!!!!DALNAZR[S_U`VaX"!!""ABQ [28]

011061271 01:34:22 25-02-20 FLEX-C ALPHA 6400 !TC*
&R[/8"7#@~<!00"TD_T]TbXcZf]!!F##ELPREcY_SaWeYf["!!!!AUSQFeY`UbXeZf]"!!!!SATQD`W\UaXcYe["
!!!!DALN@ZQ[S_U`VbY"!!""ABQ [29]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Both the 2 Radio Shack 5 Day Weather Forecasters (2004) populate and get their updates from these pages 30 min apart ( :19 & :49 times)
Please note this different CAP codes group page sends weather data for the same 5 cities but they are fully spelled out not 3 letter codes etc.
These Radio Shack Cat#63-1085 units DO DISPLAY the 5 cities names fully spelled out including the 2 letter state postal code as shown below:
btw ~ When RX conditions are poor I have often seen an incomplete or partial city name on the RS forecasters that also show same in PDW.

Address - Time - Date - Mode - Type - Bitrate - Monitored Messages (in PDW v3.12 Software decoding 929.6625 Mhz at IF RX stage)

010652057 23:49:18 24-02-20 FLEX-A ALPHA 6400 !TR* &R[/8"5#M~G(+!a_U]UbXdZf]!!F##El Paso TX +!\dX_SaWeYeZ"!!!!Austin TX
+!^eX`UbWeZf["!!!!San Antonio TX +!\`W\UaWcYc["!!!!Dallas TX
+!YZR[S_U`VaX"!!""Albuquerque NM . [63]

010652057 00:49:19 25-02-20 FLEX-A ALPHA 6400 !TR* &R[/8"6#N~G(+!`_U]UbXdZf]!!F##El Paso TX +"[dX_SaWeYeZ"!!!!Austin TX
+"]eX`UbWeZf["!!!!San Antonio TX +"\`W\UaWcYc["!!!!Dallas TX
+!XZR[S_U`VaX"!!""Albuquerque NM . [65]

010652057 01:49:48 25-02-20 FLEX-C ALPHA 6400 !TR* &R[/8"7#O~G(+"__T]TbXcZf]!!F##El Paso TX +"]cY_SaWeYf["!!!!Austin TX
+"\eY`UbXeZf]"!!!!San Antonio TX +"[`W\UaXcYe["!!!!Dallas TX
+"XZQ[S_U`VbY"!!""Albuquerque NM . [67]

Also noticed during these early morning hours today updates only occurred every hour instead of 30 min updates like I normally log etc.
I noticed this CAP code group page was only going out once an hour and not 30 min apart like the different CAP code group pages above.
In that :19 min time slot there were other alpha numeric hospital pages so maybe these WX updates get bumped by higher priority traffic ?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: To test my 2 dead Radio Shack units I had to substitute the 929.6625 Mhz pager RX daughter boards from my working Brookstone unit !
Well so much for the 9 digit CAP Code theory in that SAME pager board responded to a different CAP Code once in a different model unit !!!
It would seem a good next experiment would be to solder test jack pigtail harnesses to the pager RX boards TX, RX and GND unused pads
and connect them to an RS-232 port on a computer and run a serial port data logger and see if my 2 dead RS pager RX boards have output ?
I would expect to discover an X-ON / X-OFF software type handshaking and a 6400 baud rate will be where I shall try first but we shall see.

Would someone that has an IF discriminator tapped scanner / radio / SDR (VB Audio Cable) and PDW (Pager Display for Windows) program
that also has reception of the USA Mobility Nationwide paging network also please cut and paste their own 5 city page example in this thread!
I hope we can discover what CAP Codes and pager messages update the Bushnell Weather FX series with 150 pre-loaded city code names ?

Also Frank I wonder if the pages your Bushnell Weather FX series are also updated at :19 and :49 minutes (of course with random exceptions)
Frank or any reader if you have a tapped scanner, receiver w/ IF output or an SDR USB dongle and can run PDW that would really help out !
Here is the link to download the PDW program: https://www.discriminator.nl/pdw/index-en.html

ps ~ Frank, for now you can call me Michael (hence my user Michael-SATX)
Maybe later in a few years if I decide to run & "pull a Bloomberg" I just might shorten my name to Mike 2024, oh yeah ... so I can git er done

Hi Michael,

Fantastic results there. I've been unable to put any time into this project because of other commitments last week, but I'm clear this week to try and catch up. I did build a 10 element antenna which allowed me to pick up some message strings on 929.6625, but nothing received concerning the city codes your mention in your post. Receiving is just too weak here. I'm going to head out with the car with SDR and laptop on Friday and see if I can get close enough to a tower toward the east to capture some audio. The Brookstone is still waiting to be hooked up to a terminal.

Keep up the good work.

Jim

So I'm still with you

 

[Michael-SATX]

Jim, welcome back and good luck on figuring out Friday what direction to head out - see the list of 150 cities via Bushnell manual PDF above
Using your home brew Yagi antenna, I take it that you RX 929.6125 good but that 929.6625 is still to fringe for SDR / PDW Flex page decoding ?

Frank, click on this link (the only Bushnell Weather FX5 on ebay $149) and tell me these are some of the same screen examples your unit gets ?
The seller has 12 pictures showing various AIN reception stages ... ie "IN NETWORK -- PLS Wait 1 HR" to blank dashes instead of temp data etc.

Bushnell 950005 WeatherFX 5 Day Weather Forecaster (29757950000) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bushnell 950005 WeatherFX 5 Day Weather Forecaster (29757950000) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

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[Michael-SATX]

Frank, click on this link (the only Bushnell Weather FX5 on ebay $149) and tell me these are some of the same screen examples your unit gets ?
The seller has 12 pictures showing various AIN reception stages ... ie "IN NETWORK -- PLS Wait 1 HR" to blank dashes instead of temp data etc.

Bushnell 950005 WeatherFX 5 Day Weather Forecaster (29757950000) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bushnell 950005 WeatherFX 5 Day Weather Forecaster (29757950000) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

And just like that ....... this unit sold for $149 + $13 shipping less that 24 hours after I linked to it in this thread !!! --- poof --- Gone

Bushnell 950005 WeatherFX 5 Day Weather Forecaster (29757950000) for sale online | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Bushnell 950005 WeatherFX 5 Day Weather Forecaster (29757950000) at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

ps ~ still kicking myself for not buying the same Brookstone Weather FX5 as above for ONLY $42 + free shipping !!! (it just sold on 2/19/20)
I emailed this seller and his still received WX updates but was selling it "As Is" just in case the service stopped one day the buyer would be cool
His original ebay add makes mention of the "B Nell Offline 12-31-19" and he said it just kept searching .. but told me he just wanted to cash out!

Bushnell Weather FX5 5 Day Weather Forecast, *AS-IS* | eBay

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ITEM(S) & OUR STORE READ FULL DESCRIPTION.

www.ebay.com

 

[skybug]

Hey Michael, that's the one I have. The other day we had some fierce winds and power got knocked out for an hour. So of course it had to reset again. Took some time to fill in this go-around. Took about 3 hours to totally fill in all the cities and even thou my area forecast came up within the hour, there were missing ones thru-out the list. Every time I hit a blank one, the wait 1 hour displayed but was ok with my area already loaded so it knew it was missing some.

 

[Michael-SATX]

Update - I have a new discovery and info to share that might explain why some cities are reporting no service !
Ambient Devices uses 2 different frequencies for their 2 flavors of various models of retail branded weather forecasters.

I have another one of my big questions answered now - here is what I just learned from an ebay purchase.
I just bought a used Brookstone Ambient 5 Day Weather Forecaster (2009 Executive Woodgrain front bezel)
I got it cheap because the seller said it did not work and had a rattle like something loose inside it ($19 as is)
I knew by the sellers picture of the "Low Batt" message also occurs when the receiver pager board comes loose.
I opened the unit and was shocked to see the RX boards white label say 929.6125 and not 929.6625 like my others.
I plugged back in the pager board that came completely loose inside unit after factory tape and glue failed over time
So the mystery is solved now for why I was NOT seeing data streams to match 150 cities of WX forecast data pages.

The Weather Forecasters that ONLY have screens for 5 cities use the USA Mobility 929.6625 Mhz Paging Network.
Like both the Ambient and Radio Shack (63-1085) and many of the older Brookstone 5 Day Weather Forecasters.

The Weather Forecasters that can toggle through all 150 cities use the USA Mobility 929.6125 Mhz Paging Network.
Like Bushnell Weather FX series, Ambient 5 & 7 Day, Cirrus 7 Day, my Brookstone 5 Day wood grain with 152 cities !

I analyzed the pager traffic on 929.6125 and saw 4 large groups of pages at :14 / :30 / :43 & :59 minutes that feed
the various fields of data. With my Brookstone's memory cleared blank I just sat back and observed what made it tick.
So at the top of the hour I saw say just a quarter of the 150 cities screens populated and the rest just blank dashes.
In between these 4 group periods I would toggle through all 152 cities just to observe progress and gain some insight.
I saw the :43 minute group of at least a half dozen data pages do nothing but populate only all Real Feel temps etc.
Another groups did special area scrolling messages like "Partly sunny and cooler" and "Mostly sunny and milder" etc
All messages used the same 9 digit pager CAP Code - and no cities are in clear text it is all just Java code strings

So mystery solved and below are just 2 examples of the pages transmitted on 929.6125 Mhz I did not even know Ambient also used !

003291502 02:00:04 07-03-20 FLEX-A ALPHA 6400 !T *(-R[/'#'"L~A)V[^W`\d_h`e\eZb[dD ' @$!( ,",PzV\W]]d `eZbYaZ`[bB [ @$R!R "!@dX]W_[d_g\e\cZb[bCP ' @$!( ," P0W^V\\b^f\cYaX`YbBP + @$!( 8! P*hninimilimimininLP $! 0V!@0"$PBW`W^\b]e^dZcZ_ZaB S,@$" P,$ PXZfZc]eahbhbjbjbiE R 0$" P,# @% [09]

003291502 02:30:17 07-03-20 FLEX-C ALPHA 6400 !T>*(-R[/'#'#*~J-^Partly sunny and cooler 0Mostly sunny and milder 5Mostly sunny and milder 5Windy and warmer LTurning sunny (Winds gradually subsiding)

ps ~ I am seeing miscellaneous brands of these Weather Forecasters coming up by the day - the pickings were great this past week !!!

btw ~ Jim, since you only receive 929.6125 Mhz - why don't you snag one of these models and NOT the 929.6625 you don't get well etc.

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[brianaowens]

Here in Portland, Oregon, my unit is getting only Portland weather information. I tried to toggle the keypad on the right of the device and it does not respond, neither up nor down. So either both buttons are broke, or I am only getting Portland, Oregon weather, which is fine as this is where I live. I guess I will find out the next time there is a power outage and the batteries are dead. Below is the stock photo of my unit. (mine does not have the chrome Bushnell logo)

 

[Michael-SATX]

Hello Brian, I also have the same model of Bushnell Weather FX5 5 Day Weather Forecaster exactly like your attached picture.
The Bushnell M/N# 950015C (newer 2009+ version) and the M/N# 950005 (older 2007 version) with the Chrome Bushnell logo.
It does sound like your Location Up "+" & Down "-" buttons have both gone defective. I'd definitely leave them alone just in case
you do happen to change your units weather forecaster city / state display page and then cannot get back to Portland,OR again !
These units have loaded in their PROM's a fixed factory list of 152 cities so even after a cold boot the cities would still be all listed
but with blank dashes instead of temp data. Every 15 minutes only sections are sent taking a full hour to populate all 152 cities.
Also handy is that the 4x AAA batteries are all wired in parallel for only 1.5 volts, not in series for 6 volts, so it is best to swap out
or test say 2 batteries at a time leaving in at least 2 batteries and this way never wipe out your units clock sync or WX forecast data.
Also in order for your units display back light to function which changes color according to temp you have to be on a 5v dc adapter.
These units receive the Ambient Information Network data casting service over the USA Mobility 929.6125 nationwide paging network.
When I toggle down to Portland, I see your Saturday Hi=53*/ Lo=43* with light rain thru Sunday and it shows sunny for Mon, Tue & Wed.

I bought this actual Bushnell WeatherFX 5 Day Forecaster (950015C) NIP as pictured on ebay for $86 in March, I still want a 7 day model

 

[2E151]

Hiya! I am a former Spok technician. I wanted to tell you a few things just for clarity. Spok was formed to bring USA Mobility and Amcom Software under one 'roof', if you will. It's the same facilities and people on the paging side as have been there, in many cases, for decades from predecessor companies such as Arch, Metrocall, PageMart and others. 929.6125 MHz is their primary TX with most transmitters being programmed for 929.6625 and others. The frequencies to the pagers may be nationwide, but different regions receive different traffic to be TXd.

 

[Michael-SATX]

Hello again, I recently picked up an Ambient Devices - Cirrus 7 Day Weather Forecaster (Model # WF7D09)
These 7 Day models do show additional data such as Wind Speed & Direction, UV Levels, Hi Pollen Info Etc.
You don't see many of these models for sale and they also don't command high prices like Bushnell's (yet)
These Cirrus units lack any battery backup but after a power failure all 152 cities are re-populated in 1 hour.
You can toggle 4 diff brightness levels, 5 favorite cities, and just Ambient logo changes color with diff temps.
The mail envelope icon button was for displaying a now disco feature called "In-Touch Personal Text Messages".
I really enjoy the city specific weather conditions text line messages from AccuWeather like the Bushnell's show.
Lastly, these units receive the AIN - data casting via the USA Mobility 929.6125 Mhz nationwide paging network.

 

[brianaowens]

Any explanation Michael (or anyone) why the service is working again? I see a 7-day on eBay for $250 now. I see them from time to time. If I had the assurance that the unit would continue to function for the next 10-15 years, I would make the investment as I really like the 5 day Bushnell and amazingly I picked it up at Walmart on clearance in 2009 (I think) for right around $20. $20+$250=$270. $270/2=$135 ea. Not bad for something I enjoy so much. Especially one with a 7 day feature and don't have to hassle with an outdoor sensor that goes belly up in 6 months.

 

[Michael-SATX]

Briana, this data casting service began way back in 2005 and has worked ever since then for the most part.
Earlier this year users nationwide including myself witnessed an outage late on 2/12/20 to early on 2/15/20.
Many folks thought this was the end of the road for these cool "glance-able" weather forecaster devices etc.
Remember, on new years day 1/1/19, Bushnell units displayed a doomed "B NELL OFFLINE 12 31 19" message.
So here we are 7 months later working fine and no one seems to know when this final WX service end is coming ?
Everyone has to decide for themselves weather or not it makes sense to take a big chance and buy a unit on eBay.
I'm glad you were one of the lucky ones that got a big bargain during the Walmart cheap clearance prices in 2009 !
I just searched eBay and did not see a 7 Day for $250, only an older NIP Bushnell FX 5-Day 950005C going for $189.
I just took a chance and grabbed a Bushnell FX 7-Day 9500017C for only $50 offer "for parts/not working" on eBay etc.
The seller said it would come on and say network not found and pressing the brightness button reboots the unit etc.
I figured I needed to swap out the 929.6125 Mhz pager receiver board due to the famous "deaf RX board syndrome".
Sure enough I got it 2 weeks ago and boom pressing the brightness button made it reboot and do a startup self test.
I inserted 4x AA batteries only no AC adapter and waited for the data to populate in 1 hr and it worked with out back light.
I plugged in the adapter it came with and once I powered on the back light either on Low or High, the Ambient signal bars
dropped from 3 bars to only 1 bar and worse it would no longer update new WX forecast data just display last known data.
I suspected the 5V 450ma power supply was cratering out and swapped power supplies and presto problem totally solved.
Boy I always wanted a 7 day model but they are much bigger at 7-3/4" x 7-3/4" versus the FX5 5 day model at 5-1/2" x 5-1/2".
I also like the no outdoor sensor hassle and this model has the extra indoor temp display so I am all good on buying anymore.
Speaking of taking chances, I plan on giving a NIP Bushnell FX5 950015C as a Christmas gift I got on eBay for $86 months ago.
Yes I hope this very cool and unique WX forecasting service goes on for years to come but who really knows when the end is ?
Odd that AccuWeather says they stopped feeding data to these back in March 2014 ? So where does the WX data come from ?
Since no new Ambient powered devices have been sold to pay USA Mobility paging service cost fees how does this all continue ?
I figure why "poke the bear" and start asking questions and then someone says oh yeah and pulls the plug for good on these :-(


Check out this forum, some users have reported their cities are already offline, it will be buzzing when service finally goes offline !

Is your weather center discontinuing itself? - Jill Cataldo

Each day, we look at our Bushnell weather center to see the time, temperature, and weather forecast. Today, on New Year's Day, our Bushnell weather center presented us with this ominous message...

jillcataldo.com

 

[Michael-SATX]

I'm here in San Antonio, Texas and I took notice of an oddity that before and after midnight on September 30, 2020
that the current conditions data fields such as current temperature still says 82 when it's now 57 degrees outside !!!
I scrolled through many of the 152 cities (929.6125 Mhz models) and noticed other cities temps seem stuck as well.
All my various brands of Ambient powered weather forecasters, such as Ambient, Brookstone, Bushnell, Cirrus and
Radio Shack models that receive data both of the Ambient Information Networks of 929.6125 and 929.6625 Mhz ,
still show the 5 and 7 days of forecasted high and low temps on the displays. I will now be watching real closely the
data fields for current weather conditions of Sunny icons, wind speed and direction and "Sunny and Nice" message
to observe if they start updating and changing or just stay stuck as well as the current area temperature data field is.
All my units are still showing a full 3 of 3 Ambient signal bars from the USA Mobility Nationwide paging network.
I'm hoping that maybe a data collection server just needs to be rebooted and we will all start seeing WX updates ?
Let's hope this interruption is only brief like it was back in mid Feb 2020. Who else has also made this observation ?

 

[Michael-SATX]

Updates - Both Ambient Information Networks started up back again on October 2nd at approximately 9 AM CDT !!!

I glanced at my 929.6125 Mhz units at 9:30 AM and noticed current day position, temps and conditions had updated.
At 10 AM CDT the 6th & 7th days updated from blank to all filled in with high/low temps and weather icons populated.

Also noticed my older Radio Shack 5 Day 63-1085 and Brookstone 5 Day / 5 City on 929.6625 Mhz models also updated.

I hope everyone has learned to ride out these occasional data casting service outages from their WX parsing servers