User Manual

Main screen

  • RSSI meter (top left corner), also serves as a mono/stereo indicator in FM mode (one/two rows).

  • Settings save icon (right after the RSSI meter). The settings are saved to non-volatile memory after 10 seconds of inactivity.

  • Bluetooth icon (right after the save icon). Different colors indicate the connection status.

  • Wi-Fi icon (top right area near the battery). Different colors indicate the connection status.

  • Battery status (top right corner). It doesn’t show the voltage when charged, see #36. The only indication that the battery is charging is the hardware LED on the bottom of the receiver, which turns ON during charging.

  • Band name and modulation (VHF & FM, top center). The rounded A or B indicator after the mode shows the active VFO slot. See the Bands table for more details.

  • Info panel (the box on the left side), also Menu. The parameters are explained in the Menu section. It can also show the current time, or the date and time after a successful synchronization. When Off Timer is enabled, this row alternates with the remaining time as Zzz: hh:mm. If the clock is not set, only the countdown is shown.

  • Frequency (center of the screen).

  • FM station name (RDS PS) or frequency name (right below the frequency). A frequency name appears for some popular frequencies like FT8, SSTV, CB channels, or a shortwave schedule. Can also display current menu option using a bigger font when the Zoom Menu setting is enabled.

  • Tuning scale (bottom of the screen). Can be replaced with additional RDS fields (RT, PTY) when extended RDS is enabled, or RSSI/SNR graphs in Scan mode.

Alternative UI

The differences are:

  • Stereo indicator is on the right side of the VFO indicator.

  • Tuning scale (right under the station name). Numbers on the left & right sides are the band limits.

  • S/N Meter (in dB). The range is 0…127 and the visual indicator linearly displays this range.

  • RSSI & S-Meter (the number is in dBµV, the meter is in S-points). Please note that the RSSI range is also 0…127 (no negative values) and according to these tables any values below S4 on HF (rssi < 4) and below S7 on VHF (rssi < 2) are bogus. Thus it is very far from being precise, and also depends on the antenna impedance.

Both meters can be replaced with additional RDS fields (RT, PTY) when extended RDS is enabled, or RSSI/SNR graphs in Scan mode.

Controls

Controls are implemented through the encoder knob:

Gesture

Result

Rotate

Tunes frequency, navigates menu, adjusts parameters.

Click (<0.5 sec)

Opens menu, selects.

Short press (>0.5 sec)

Volume shortcut in VFO mode, context-dependent action in other modes.

Long press (>2 sec)

Sleep on/off.

Press and rotate

Direct frequency input mode, fine tuning in Seek mode.

Direct frequency input mode

  • Press and rotate the encoder to select the step (digit or “half-digit”).

  • Rotate the encoder to adjust the frequency.

  • Use short press to align frequency to the current step.

  • To exit the mode, click the encoder or wait for a couple of seconds.

Settings menu

  • Brightness - Display brightness level (10…255). The minimal one draws about 80mA of the battery power, the default one about 100mA, the max level about 120mA.

  • Date/Time - Set the UTC date and time with the encoder. Click to select the next field, or short press to set the clock and close the menu. A timeout closes the menu without changing the clock.

  • UTC Offset - Affects the displayed date and time. Please note that automatic DST transitions are not supported; the offset needs to be adjusted manually.

  • Sleep Timer - Automatic sleep interval in seconds (Off - disabled).

  • Sleep Mode - Locked - lock the encoder rotation during sleep; Unlocked - allow tuning the frequency in sleep mode; CPU Sleep - the maximum power saving mode. With the display being on, default brightness, and Wi-Fi the power consumption is about 170mA, without Wi-Fi 100mA, Locked/Unlocked modes draw about 70mA, CPU sleep mode draws about 40mA.

  • Off Timer - Short press the menu entry to shut down immediately into deep sleep, or click to adjust the timer (5–240 minutes, in 5-minute steps). While adjusting, turn the encoder to start or restart the timer; short press to disable it (Off). The remaining time alternates with the date and time in the info panel. The timer works during sleep and restarts on each power-up. After shutdown, cycle the power switch or press reset to restart the receiver. This is not a true power-off state: the receiver still draws some current.

  • Theme - Color theme.

  • UI Layout - Alternative UI layouts. For now there is just one alternative UI with large S-meter and S/N-meter.

  • Zoom Menu - Display the currently selected menu item using a larger font (accessibility option).

  • Scroll Dir. - Menu scroll direction for clockwise encoder turn.

  • RDS - Radio Data System options: PS - radio station name, CT - date and time, RT - text, PTY - genre, ALL (EU/US) - everything, OFF - turn RDS off. RDS CT should contain UTC date and time, but some stations incorrectly transmit local or completely bogus values. The clock is synchronized from RDS only once. To synchronize it again, disable and re-enable RDS CT or switch the receiver off and on.

  • FM Stereo - Auto lets the receiver blend down to mono on its own as the signal gets worse, Mono forces mono audio, trading the stereo image for less hiss on a weak station.

  • FM Region - FM de-emphasis time constant by region (50µs for EU/JP/AU and 70µs for the US).

  • Calibration - SSB calibration offset (-2000…2000, per mode/band).

  • DSP Patches - Select Default or an uploaded AM/SSB patch set. Manage these experimental patches on the web interface’s Patches page.

  • Load EiBi - download the EiBi schedule (requires Wi-Fi internet connection).

  • Update FW - Check shows the available firmware version; Update installs it (requires a Wi-Fi internet connection). See updating over Wi-Fi.

  • USB Port - USB serial mode: Off (default) or Ad hoc. In Ad hoc mode, the receiver accepts the remote control commands over the USB serial port.

  • TCP Port - TCP control mode: Off (default) or Ad hoc. In Ad hoc mode, one client can use the remote control commands over Wi-Fi on port 60000. Wi-Fi must be enabled separately.

  • Bluetooth - Bluetooth LE mode: Off (default), Ad hoc, HID, or Unpair All. Ad hoc exposes the same remote control protocol over BLE. HID makes the receiver act as a BLE HID central and connect to supported Bluetooth remotes/keyboards so their buttons can control tuning and menu actions. Unpair All clears all saved Bluetooth bonds and then switches Bluetooth to Off. WARNING: it is not recommended to enable both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi at the same time (the receiver might become unstable).

  • Wi-Fi - Wi-Fi mode: Off (default), Access Point, Access Point + Connect, Connect, Sync Only. More details on that below.

  • About - Informational screens (Help, Authors, System).

Wi-Fi

The Wi-Fi mode (2.4GHz only) can be used for the following purposes (for now):

  • Time synchronization via NTP (Network Time Protocol) or the configuration web page.

  • Download the EiBi shortwave schedule.

  • Control the receiver over TCP.

  • Viewing the receiver status (date/time and UTC offset, frequency, RSSI/SNR, volume, battery voltage, etc).

  • Edit, reorder, import, and export memory slots.

  • Manage the receiver settings.

  • Upload or delete an optional splash image shown when the receiver starts.

Each web page has a footer showing used and free internal heap and PSRAM, measured while the page is generated.

There are a couple of modes:

  • Off (default)

  • AP Only - Access Point mode. The receiver creates its own access point called ATS-Mini and starts the web server on http://10.1.1.1.

  • AP+Connect - Access Point mode + try to connect to one of the three configured access points. If the connection succeeds, the receiver will synchronize the time every 4 hours and start the web server on both http://10.1.1.1 and a dynamic IP address it got from the configured access point.

  • Connect - try to connect to one of the three configured access points, start the web server on a dynamic IP, then synchronize the time every 4 hours.

  • Sync Only - connect to synchronize the clock, then disable Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi is also disabled if connection or time synchronization times out.

Initial configuration:

  • Enable the AP Only mode (the receiver will briefly display its 10.1.1.1 IP address).

  • Connect to the ATS-Mini access point from your phone or computer. There is no internet connection available on this access point. When connecting from a phone, it might be necessary to switch off the mobile data connection and any VPN/firewall software.

  • Open a browser and visit the following URL: http://10.1.1.1. The status web page should open. Alternatively, you can try the mDNS address <atsmini.local> in your browser.

  • Click the Memory link to edit slot names, bands, frequencies (in Hz), and modes. Use the up/down buttons to reorder slots, and press Save to apply changes to the receiver. Export downloads the current table as JSON; Import loads a previously exported file, including files from the legacy USB editor.

  • Click the Wi-Fi link to select the Wi-Fi mode, configure up to three access points the receiver will try to connect to and add optional login and password to protect the memory, settings, Wi-Fi, and firmware update pages. Enable Scan Hidden SSIDs only if one of the configured access points does not broadcast its network name; leaving it off makes Wi-Fi connection faster. Changing Wi-Fi mode may disconnect the browser; Off and Sync Only disable the web interface.

  • Click the Config link to set the UTC date/time manually or from the browser, and adjust display, radio, power, hardware, and USB/TCP/Bluetooth modes. Changing the Off Timer duration restarts its countdown; saving the same duration leaves it running. Select Unpair All under Bluetooth Mode and save to clear saved pairings and switch Bluetooth off. Leave Half-step Encoder off for the original EC11 20C20P encoder (20 clicks, 20 pulses), and enable it for an EC11 30C15P encoder (30 clicks, 15 pulses). Half-step mode is also required for the LILYGO T-Embed SI4732 hardware variant. See discussion #87 for more information.

  • In Config, disable Audio Clamp for receivers without an audio clamp circuit to suppress clicks when muting or changing bands or modes. Leave it enabled for receivers with the circuit and for LILYGO T-Embed SI4732.

  • After that, switch the Wi-Fi mode to AP+Connect or Connect (the receiver will briefly show its new dynamic IP address it got from a configured access point).

  • Now connect your phone/computer to the same access point and open the new URL to check whether the receiver connected to the internet.

From now on you can switch the modes as you want and connect to your receiver either via the ATS-Mini internal access point (if enabled, mostly useful when there are no access points around), or via an external access point and a dynamic IP address. The receiver will always listen on the mDNS address <atsmini.local>.

Hint

When on the go, you can set up a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot on your smartphone and use it to connect the receiver to the internet.

Firmware updates are available through Settings → Update FW or the web interface’s Update page. See updating over Wi-Fi for instructions.

On the Patches page, upload and select experimental AM/SSB patches (see discussion #377):

  1. Find the section for Custom 1, Custom 2, or Custom 3 where you want to upload the patches.

  2. Select AM or SSB, choose the matching .bin patch file (up to 32 KiB), and click Save. Repeat for the other mode if needed.

  3. Activate the patch set on the web page or through Settings → DSP Patches on the receiver. Only sets with uploaded patches are selectable.

Missing modes use Default; FM is unaffected. To replace patches in the active set, activate another set or Default first.

To remove a patch set, check Delete set and click Save. Deletion takes priority over any selected upload.

Schedule

The receiver can download the EiBi shortwave schedule and use it to display broadcasting stations, allowing you to quickly tune to them. Here’s how it works:

  • The schedule only needs to be downloaded once via Wi-Fi. It will be stored in the receiver’s flash memory so it doesn’t need to be fetched every time the device powers on.

  • To display scheduled stations correctly, the receiver’s clock must be set. You can set the UTC date/time from the Settings menu or the configuration web page, or configure a Wi-Fi internet connection and use Sync Only mode for NTP synchronization. The UTC offset setting doesn’t affect the schedule. A less reliable alternative is to use RDS CT, but this requires finding a station that broadcasts UTC time (not local time).

  • Once set up, the receiver will display station names currently broadcasting on specific frequencies (only scheduled times are considered; days of the week are ignored for now).

  • You can quickly jump between stations using the Seek mode (marked by a clock icon). To switch between modes, short press the encoder while in Seek mode.

Reset

To reset the receiver settings (current band, frequency, favorite stations, downloaded schedule, etc):

  1. Switch off the receiver

  2. Press and hold the encoder

  3. Turn on the receiver

  4. Release the encoder after the Resetting Preferences message appears

Bands table

Name

Min frequency

Max frequency

Default mode

VHF

64 MHz

108 MHz

FM

ALL

150 kHz

30000 kHz

AM

11M

25600 kHz

26100 kHz

AM

13M

21500 kHz

21900 kHz

AM

15M

18900 kHz

19100 kHz

AM

16M

17400 kHz

18100 kHz

AM

19M

15100 kHz

15900 kHz

AM

22M

13500 kHz

13900 kHz

AM

25M

11000 kHz

13000 kHz

AM

31M

9000 kHz

11000 kHz

AM

41M

7000 kHz

9000 kHz

AM

49M

5000 kHz

7000 kHz

AM

60M

4000 kHz

5100 kHz

AM

75M

3500 kHz

4000 kHz

AM

90M

3000 kHz

3500 kHz

AM

MW3

1700 kHz

3500 kHz

AM

MW2

495 kHz

1701 kHz

AM

MW1

150 kHz

1800 kHz

AM

160M

1800 kHz

2000 kHz

LSB

80M

3500 kHz

4000 kHz

LSB

40M

7000 kHz

7300 kHz

LSB

30M

10000 kHz

10200 kHz

LSB

20M

14000 kHz

14400 kHz

USB

17M

18000 kHz

18200 kHz

USB

15M

21000 kHz

21500 kHz

USB

12M

24800 kHz

25000 kHz

USB

10M

28000 kHz

29700 kHz

USB

CB

25000 kHz

28000 kHz

AM

Remote control

Various remote control options are documented on the dedicated Remote control page.