Amb-OS Status

Material for the Homeward weekend promos & programs has not yet been received from the producer..We’ll advise via future RSS posting when availability is known..

DB

We’re delighted to let you know that The Alternative View (The Urban Alternative’s short feature, labeled TUA__TUV5) is once again in production.
If you’ve been permissioned, you’ll see features on your receiver for this week.  The queue time is at 1:31AM, three days prior to release.
If you’d like to receive the program on your AMR-100, please email programs@amb-os.com.

If you’d like to be notified via email if your local AMR-100 receiver experiences satellite reception or server connection problems you might want to utilize an external email server (add on)  such as  the ET-2 by Etherstuff (http://www.etherstuff.com).    The AMR-100 receivers are shipped with output closure #6 defined as an “alarm” summary fault indicator and can be easily connected to instruct the ET-2 to send a notification email to an address of your choosing.

By connecting the ET-2 to the AMR’s closure #6 (see page 10 of the current AMR-100 manual, “Relay Description”) you will be notified when the receiver is experiencing any of the following faults: 1. Loss of satellite lock, 2. LNB/RF cabling short detected, 3. Loss of Ethernet link, 4. Loss of Internet communications with our servers (for backfill & status).  Pages 23 and following of the manual, “Relay Specifications”, describe connection particulars.

Responding to station requests for this type of alarm reporting, we evaluated the ET-2 in our lab and found it to be a good solution.  The device’s interconnect board also includes a temperature sensor which can be programmed to email when user-set temperature limits are exceeded.

If I can help with questions related to your particular installation don’t hesitate to email me at dick@amb-os.com.

DB

We’re pleased to announce that the Back To Genesis Daily program, beginning with the Monday, February 9th release, is now distributed through the Amb-OS system.  The programs will utilize the name designator of ICRM_BTG5 and will enter the auto-transmission queue 3 days in advance of the air date at approximately 1831 Eastern.

Science, Scripture & Salvation Weekly (ICRM_SSS1), also from ICR, will begin regularly-scheduled transmissions with the February 28th release.  When the transmission queue time and day offset parameters for SSS1 are determined we’ll advise via RSS.  Our programs listings page, http://www.focussat.net/ambos/pgms.html, will be updated shortly to reflect the new changes.

New firmware (Rev. 1.68) was sent to your AMR-100 receivers this afternoon, 1/20/2009,  at approximately 1435 Eastern.  The new firmware is a major revision which includes significantly expanded debugging capability as well as enhanced operational functionality.  We’ll be releasing a new manual as new functionality is announced; meanwhile,  receiver/UI operations should remain unchanged.

After receiving the new download the AMR will re-boot and should re-acquire the satellite feed automatically. If your AMR should happen to be playing audio at the time the firmware arrives, the re-boot process will be inhibited until the next minute after the receiver stops audio playout.

As a result of past firmware upgrades we’ve fielded a few calls reporting that after the upgrade process their UI software stopped communicating with the receiver. Many times, this has been the result of the receiver, after re-boot, being served an IP address (by your local DHCP server) which is different than the one previously entered in the UI SYSTEM INFO section. If you are running with DHCP “on” on your AMR-100 and you experience a “connect error” in the lower diagnostic window of the UI after the upgrade process, you may need to check to see that the IP address of the AMR is the same as you’ve previously entered in your UI software. For details on how to access the IP settings of your AMR-100, please refer to the current AMR manual which is available for download at www.amb-os.com/support.html. If the address of the receiver has changed, simply note what the new address is and then enter and save it in the UI SYSTEM INFO section.

In many instances DHCP uncertainty can be mitigated by turning the DHCP client in the receiver OFF and then entering a static IP address, netmask & gateway as assigned by your local network administrator. If you adopt this scenario, you would also need to enter the static address in the UI SYSTEM INFO section. If you need help in changing to a static addressing scheme send an email to support@amb-os.com or call 1.877.AMBOS2U

DB

If you’d like to be notified if your local AMR-100 receiver experiences satellite reception or server connection problems you can utilize an output closure to activate a warning device.  The AMR-100 receivers are shipped with output closure #6 defined as an “alarm” summary fault indicator.

By connecting an external audible or visual device (buzzer, light, etc.) to the AMR’s closure #6 (see page 10 of the current AMR-100 manual, “Relay Description”) you will be notified when the receiver is experiencing any of the following faults: 1. Loss of satellite lock, 2. LNB/RF cabling short detected, 3. Loss of Ethernet link, 4. Loss of Internet communications with our servers (for backfill & status).  Pages 23 and following of the manual, “Relay Specifications”, describe connection particulars.

If we can help with questions related to your particular installation don’t hesitate to call 1.877.AMBOS2U or email us at support@amb-os.com.

DB

The latest version of the User Interface software is available for download from our support webpage, http://www.amb-os.com/support.html.  Click on the bottom item, “Beta Utility (links)”, then select “14t” from the list of available versions.  A new HTML version of the 14t help file is also available by clicking on the “Latest UI help file” link under the “How to use these files” dialog.

14t contains several new features and enhancements including the ability to combine individual parts of a multiple part program when transferring files to your local automation.

DB

Just a quick reminder to use our 365 X 24/7 toll-free support number (877.262.6728 or 877AMBOS2U) for questions or problems related to Amb-OS operations.  If they can’t address your particular issue or question, they will direct you to a contact who can help or escalate your issue to our tier 2 or 3 support personnel.  If email contact works better for your particular situation, please send support questions to support@amb-os.com as this address is monitored by more folks than individual addresses.

We, as developers, love to answer questions, address concerns and fix problems if we can, but schedules sometimes don’t permit as timely a response to you as can be accomplished by our support team.

Blessings!

DB

If you find you need to reset your AMR-100,  press then release the “RESET” button (located on the rear chassis near the Ethernet connector)..This process resets the processor while retaining debug tracelog information..Unplugging the AMR as a troubleshooting technique should be done only upon consultation with a support technician..

DB