More information is available at www.amb-os.com. Telephone support is available at 1-877-AMBOS2U (1-877-262-6728). There is also a manual available in pdf format.

The Amb-os system delivers audio files to the receivers instead of "real-time" audio. The files are stored on the AMR-100's own hard disk, to be available to you when you need them. The receiver can also play them through its 2 stereo (or 4 mono) output ports. This gives you a great deal of versatility. Just some of the ways the receiver can be used are:

Play on air - The receiver can play files on its audio outputs directly to your main board according to your own schedule. Relays can be set to pulse or close and open when the file is playing. This is done by setting up a playlist with the Playlist editor. There is the potential for the receiver to handle all of your on-air needs for airing recorded programs. There are also trigger (relay) inputs to the receiver to synchronize the recorded audio with local or live audio.

File transfer - The user interface program can transfer files from the AMR-100's hard disk directly to your local disk, either when they become available, or according to your own schedule. The Rename files page allows you to rename the files to your own local naming convention, and to control when they will be transferred. For example, your automation system may be set up to play the same file every weekday, eg TheDaily.mp2. You can schedule this file to be over-written at a specific time each day, so each day you will be airing the current day's program. This would be similar to recording over a file every day from the former satellite feed. Only it happens when you want it to.

Play to record - You could also set up times for the receiver to play audio to be recorded by your automation system. It would be very much like recording a satellite feed, except you would control the "feed times" using the Playlist editor and would not be bound to the former satellite schedules.

Main window features

As you enter file renaming info on the Rename files page, you can enter paths relative to this folder.

Status may be:

• ok - transferred
• misc - in misc transfer pool
• timed - scheduled for a timed transfer
• ignore - x in rename entry, the file is not transferred
• old - the file was received too late. if tranferred it might over-write the current file.
• err - an error occured in transferring the file

Custom pgms will be transfered including the station's custom liner/tag.

Multi-part pgms do not 'combine' when transfered here. Just each part transfers.

Of particular interest are the Misc transfers

These are files on the receiver for which a timed transfer has not been set on the Rename files page. It will also list files that are more than 24 hours past their transfer time. (Less than 24 hours, and they will be transferred as "LATE".)

These files will all be transferred if the Enable misc transfers box is checked. Note that if files are in the misc folder when the Enable box is checked, they will immediately be put in the transfer queue. In earlier versions, they would be transferred one at a time and you could stop their transfers at any time by un-checking the enable button. Now they are queued right away, and once in the queue, they are transferred in the processing of the queue.

Amb-OS Support functions (Support menu)

• Upload activity to rcvr
• Upload debug to rcvr
• Upload export to rcvr
• Upload ftpexport to rcvr
• Upload namechglog to rcvr
• Email activity to support
• Email debug to support
• Email export to support
• Email files db to support
• Email ftpexport to support
• Email ftplog to support
• Email namechglog to support
• FTP file to support - uploads a (damaged) file from your receiver to an FTP site for analysis.
• Backup files to Ambassador - see Offsite backups
• mp2check a file (email results)
• Check custom files (email results)
• Report custom pgms (ftp results)
• Update UI - easy way to update your UI. choose new rev from a list
• Recheck name changes - for when programs change names
• Show http headers (for debugging networks and such)

• the UI's revision (also is a link to the help files)
• 24hour Amb-OS toll-free help line
• UI Help file (local) - a link to the UI help file on your local disk
• Program permissions - a link to that web page
• Program informatin - a link to that web page
• Receiver's web page - a link to your receiver's own web page
• Receiver Manual (pdf) link to receiver's pdf manual
• Amb-OS support web page (manuals, videos, etc)
• Amb-OS home page (link)
• XDS permission web page (link)
• XDS receiver's web page (link - if you have one)
• Look up an error number - looks up the official reason for an error code (which usually makes little more sense than the number)
• UI updates - on your receiver
• UI installs - link to UI beta web page

The reason you don't need this button (except to escape bordom) is that the system automatically refreshes when the program is started, when a file is received from the satellite, and every 10 minutes.

Speaking of 10-minute refreshes, you will see Next refresh on the main window followed by a time. That would indeed be the time of the next 10-minute refresh.

Below that, just above the activity window, you'll also see a time which is updated every minute from the receiver.

Note that this is just the a "delta" refresh that looks for new files on the receiver. If you should need to start from scratch and totally rebuild the files list, see Total refresh in the Tools menu.

This setting will be saved when the UI is stopped, so when you start the UI up again, it will be set the same as it was before.

This has no effect on the Timed transfers, which happen all on their own.

An 'Edit queue' button has been added above the Transfer queue window. If something went wrong overnight and now you have a lot of files in the queue and you need to prioritize them, this button will pause the queue and let you move them to the top of the list by double-clicking each one. Also, when the UI starts up, any files in the queue are sorted starting with the current date. That should also help if something causes a backlog. If a file is being transfered, it will continue (so the 'top' of the queue will be just below that file that's being transfered). A 30-second timer is set and when it times out, the queue will re-start. We wouldn't want the queue to be stopped indefinitely. And each time you double-click an entry to move it to the top, the timer starts again at 30 seconds. Another button will appear to allow you to re-start the queue without waiting for the 30-second timer.

If you want to try this out, open the Files/Transfers menu and double-click some files to put them in the queue. Then pause it and move them around.

The list can change at any refresh. If a new file has been received by the receiver that is subject to a timed transfer, it will be added to the list, perhaps even at the top of the list. The transfers are not enabled until the file to be transferred is on the receiver.

Timed transfers are set up on the Rename files page. This enables you to control the time that a local file will be over-written by a newer file. Eg, if you use a filename like focusdaily.mp2 for your automation system, and need it to be over-written each day with the new day's program, you would want to set up a transfer time for that file. For more information, see the Rename files page.

Files that arrive late (less than 24 hours after their transfer time) will be transferred as soon as they arrive. Also, if a file gets replaced by a newer file the newer file will be transferred. These will be logged as LATE or REPL in the activity log.

Timed transfers are affected by changes in daylight saving time. Timed transfers are scheduled using Windows system timers, which operate like kitchen timers. You set them for a certain amount of time, and then they "ding". For each file to be transfered, a timer is set when the file arrives on the receiver, so if a daylight saving time change occurs before the ding, it will be at the wrong (old) time. So the UI checks for timezone changes during its periodic refresh and, twice a year, adjusts the timers so they will ding at the right time according to the new time.

• rcvg - a file is being received. The time is not necessarily when reception began, but that it was in the process of being received when a refresh occured. (This entry does not appear in the on-disk activity log.)
• rcvd - reception of a file has been completed. This will trigger a refresh so the file will be scheduled for transfer to the local disk if a transfer time has been set up on the Rename files page. Or it will be transferred any time the Enable misc transfers box is checked.
• ERR - an error occured transferring the file or during the mp2 verify (see Verify mp2 transfer in the System Info menu). The error is described following the filename. Since 3 retries are attempted in the case of errors, less than three ERRs in a row for the same file mean that a retry succeeded.
• repl - a file has arrived late or has been replaced, but within the replace window.
• REPL - a replaced/late file has been queued.
• xfer - a file was transferred. This entry is made after the mp2 file is transferred from the receiver, but before any conversion (eg wav) is done. The local filename is also printed. The time may be a bit later than the time entered on the Rename page, since many files can have the same transfer time, and they will be processed sequentially.
• comb - a file received as parts has been combined into one file.
• chng - if a file's status is changed by a rename (eg from ignore to misc or timed), the change will be reported in the activity log and window

• its local name includes date information, or
• in the case of a daily file, it arrived within 24 hours of its transfer time, or
• in the case of a weekly file, it arrived within 7 days of its transfer time.

NOTE: If the UI computer does not have internet (outside) access, you should check the Do not backup to FTP box in the System info menu.

The date and time of the next offsite backup is shown under the time of the next refresh, under the Exit button.

An offsite backup can also be done manually in the Support menu.

See also the Ebno status indicator

There are two degrees of updates. Optional updates are found in the Help menu. UI updates lists updates on your receiver for you to pick from. This list includes brief descriptions of the changes made in each rev. UI installs on the web links you to the UI beta web page where the same installs are found.

Required Updates, when sent out, cause a 'nag screen' to appear from time to time. Please do the update as soon as practical, or advise us if the update is impossible and we'll kill the nag.

The UI beta web page is www.amb-os.com/ui