Bushnell 950007 WeatherFX 7 Day Weather Forecaster

BUSHNELL 95 0007 WEATHERFX 7-DAY WEATHER FORECASTERREAL-TIME 7-DAY ACCUWEATHER FORECAST FOR 150 CITIES; NETWORK SYNCHRONIZED CLOCK ; MEASURES WIND SPEED and DIRECTION, and UV INDEX ; WEATHER ALERTS; COLOR-CHANGING BACKLIGHT; NO SUBSCRIPTION OR INSTALLATION REQUIRED; AC OR BATTERY POWERED;;;;

This is a great product that is very easy to use and setup. Just take it out of the box and plug it in (or use batteries) and it will get the forecast via radio signal. The display will change color depending on current temp forecast, which is a great feature. I got this as a gift and it is very easy to use for users that are not tech savvy.
Just make sure your city is available or a city that is close.

First off it's not a forecaster. (I sent a comment to Jeff's 2 star rating that I think was very unfair and I said it was a forecaster. That was incorrect.) It's more a repeater of forecasts made elsewhere, I assume by humans. Secondly I am a gadget nut from way back. On top of that I am also a WX station nut. So when I saw this I looked it over and figured I'd get one. I LOVE it! Okay now into the nitty gritty.

Okay it doesn't have a barometer reading. It doesn't have a humidity reading. The readings are not as often as they could be. The wind speed and direction are pretty worthless since that can change a lot in the blink of an eye. It doesn't cover every little podunk berg in the country. Yes the temp reading can be very different from yours. I wish the time showed seconds also. All these and some others and I still love it. Does it serve a useful function in my life. Maybe not. Some years ago I had a similar but much smaller gizmo. It didn't work very well at all and was pretty much a waste of money. Because of that bad experience I had a little trepidation in buying this one. Being the geek I am there are some things I don't understand about how it works and asking Ambient or Bushnell gets zero replies. I believe the previous set used FM radio signals for the data? I have a feeling this gets the info from a satellite but I am not sure. There is an Ambient logo in the manual that shows a radio transmitter antenna but I still think it's satellite. The other one had numerous problems receiving a good signal. This one has none that I have found. It's in my computer room that has all sorts of EMI radiating from all the computers and radio scanners running. I haven't found anywhere in my house that it doesn't get the max 3 bars on the signal strength meter. I am very familiar with Ambient, having bought numerous WX stations from them through the years. They may be the preeminent company in this field. Where they come into the system I cannot find out. Just because it has Bushnell on it doesn't mean they made it. As I ramble on the one 2 star seemed very unfair. If he had bothered to read the specs he would have known it doesn't do any of what he complained about. Reading all these negatives might make you wonder why I like it so much. I like coffee ice cream too and cannot stand real coffee. When was it required that us humans had to be logical all the time? GGG

Bottom line is it doesn't do any of the things my dedicated WX stations do. If you want a WX station buy one. I like it. Is it perfect? Heck no. Read the specs first. The 7 day model is not inexpensive, that's for sure. Lastly I started keeping up a text file on it's written forecast for rain vs actual rainfall for each period. It's not all that accurate. UGH.

I almost forgot. I got, and still get, quite a laugh about an item in the small manual. You don't really need one. You plug it into power, put back up batteries in, select your closest city and that's it. It takes a while to sync the first time. Anyway it does have what looks like a telescoping radio antenna on the top. The notice in the manual is very specific about NOT pulling the antenna up! Being a retired USN radioman I am dying to pull it up and see what happens. But since the said not to I will leave it alone. That's why I think it's satellite and not FM or AM radio signals. If so why have an antenna built in if it's not to be used?
I'd love to know.

Someone wrote about a stock ticker they had. I believe that's a system
run by MicroSoft. Unfortunately they don't cover my area. Don't waste your time trying to find out anything about that system. MS in their typical fashion won't reply to any messages I've sent asking for some basics.

Before buying, you might want to check what cities are available for your area unless you're in a major city. The closer to one, the better! I've had my Bushnell weather forecaster for several weeks now. I'm about 20 miles from Providence, RI. I like my Bushnell weather forecaster though I've grown a little tired of it, at times. The Bushnell tends to show confusing forecasts every so often. Example: Right now my Bushnell weather forecaster shows an icon image that indicates rain and windy for today, but the subtitle beneath the icon reads sunny, breezy and cooler! Sunny?? What are we suppose to think? The smaller icon for tomorrow's forecast doesn't indicate sun of any kind, but light rain and windy...so go figure. I still keep my LCD barometer nearby. They go well together. The Bushnell looks great and is really well-designed except for what I've mentioned about the forecasts. There are no settings on the unit except to choose what city. Set the city you want after locating the unit where you have at least two bars on the signal indicator. The data will slowly start showing on the display. Use the power cord and you'll have use of the many colored back-light the unit has. I love the bright back-lighting. Makes a great nightlight, too. There are no external antennas and no plugs or jacks for any on the unit. No need for any, I guess. The unit can be mounted on a wall or can sit a desk using the fold-out stand, but the unit is a bit large for an average-sized desk. The unit measures 7 7/8 inches X 7 7/8 inches square and is 1 inch thick. Mine changes color according to temperature the way it's suppose to. Maybe because I have a good location with three bars on the signal indicator, but I don't know. The digital LCD display is impressively sharp if being viewed at the correct angle. It seems the unit reads best if it's on a desk or mounted on a wall at chest-level. Viewing angle is a bit sensitive, but not a problem. IF these units didn't have confusing forecasts at times and also would display the date and day, I'd give Bushnell 100% score!

Overall very good. My biggest complaint is not enough updates. Company says updates every 15 minutes. In my area Chicago this is not true. In the morning when the temperature is rising it can be off 2 to 6 degrees. Also the viewing angle is rather limited. Overall happy with my purchase but could be better.

This was a birthday gift for my husband. He loves the online weather stations so I thought this to be perfect for him. We live in a hurricane area, so updates are important. We recently traveled on a camping trip and thought the portability was going to be handy.
I was disappointed that you may not always get a signal, so you may have no report at all. Also, I wish that in today's GPS age that the station would give an exact forcast for where you are rather than the nearest city (which may be 100+ miles away). Lastly, I wish the station had constant updates from the satelite, rather than once every 2 hours.
All in all, handy and a conversation piece, but not terribly useful.