Firmware versions: what 2.34+ unlocks

The app reads your radio’s firmware version from its status feed and adapts automatically, so you generally do not have to think about it. This page is for when you want to know why a feature is, or is not, available. It is about the official firmware and its version numbers; if you have flashed the Monster fork or H. J. Berndt’s firmware, read Alternative firmware instead.

What needs firmware 2.34 or newer

• Bluetooth LE control. Older firmware is USB-only.
• Fast tuning, landing on a frequency in one step instead of walking the dial. See Tuning.
• The newer theme-editor command set the app uses.

One difference runs the other way, and it is the only place where upgrading takes something away. The CB band range. Firmware below 2.34 offers 25–30 MHz on the CB band entry; 2.34 and later narrow it to 25–28 MHz, so upgrading loses the 28–30 MHz top end. Both ranges were measured here on real hardware, 2.33 against 2.38 — and the firmware repository’s own README states it the wrong way round.

On firmware 2.34 and later, the USB remote interface is also off by default, so you enable it once with USB Port → Ad hoc. See Connecting your ATS Mini.

Older firmware still works

On earlier firmware, USB remote control, tuning, memory, screenshots and the rest all work. The app simply falls back to slower step-by-step tuning and hides the features the firmware cannot do. You lose convenience, not core function. The same goes for the hardware: an older V3S board runs the same 2.34 features as a V4, and the differences between the revisions are covered in ATS Mini receiver versions.

Firmware that is not the official one

Two alternatives exist, and the app handles both: the Monster fork, which builds on the official firmware, and H. J. Berndt’s firmware, which is a separate project and does not speak the official protocol at all. You do not have to tell the app which you have — with one exception, where it asks. What changes on screen, and which features survive the switch, is in Alternative firmware.

Keeping firmware up to date

New firmware adds features and fixes. This site has a firmware installer that writes a release to the radio over USB from the browser: it reads the PSRAM type off the chip, flags an archive built for the other kind of board, and offers to back the current image up first. Installing firmware walks through it and covers the desktop tools as well.