Note

Note: All upgrades to the ATEAB Tutorial will be posted on

Revised 04/28/2001. Copyrighted 1999 to 2001 by Ray Apelles.

The following screens will take you step by step through the basic use of the ATEAB program. Look at the screens closely to see exactly what is being input so that you better understand the process.

You should run the ATEAB Program at the same time as you use this tutorial so you can follow along and enter the inputs as is being done in the tutorial. You can flip back and forth from the tutorial to the program by clicking the icons on the Short Cut bar below.

Start the ATEAB program and agree to the first 2 screens until you get to this one.

Hit (Y) and ENTER to go through the VRF screens and Tutorial, the SMOA screens and Tutorial, and the ERAP screens. Look them over carefully so that you can get used to them.

Then continue until you get to the first Main screen of the ATEAB program. This is where you will decide what type of printout you are going to see. All printouts to the screen and text file are identical with the exception that the printout to the screen will not list the parameters of the chart and the paper printout and the text file will list all of the parameters that form the chart. You will notice that the first prompt already has a 10 in as the default value. This is the easiest and quickest option to use for the absolute beginner that has not gone through this tutorial. Option 10 gives you the least amount of inputs to form your chart. Option 12 allows you to re-load a parameter file from a previous gun setup that you have saved. It is often easier to load a previous chart for a particular gun that has parameters closest to the gun you are entering now and then just change a few options and save the parameter file with the new guns name. When you use this option a few times you will see just how much time it actually saves you. You can have a master parameter that always has the start and end print distances, your preferred zero, your preferred pellet, and the chart that you like to printout the most. The parameter file saves all parameters for each setup so everything is saved not just a few of the parameters. We will be changing the default value from 10 to 2 for a full printout and full prompts. This will give you full knowledge of the program. Hit the ENTER key to continue.

Hit (F) and ENTER for full description to get used to the program. You can use the Condensed version when you are more acquainted with the inputs.

Any field that already has a default value that is acceptable only needs to have the ENTER key hit to keep the default value. We are going to use option 2 and just view the results on the screen. You could change that to option 3 and the ATEAB program will automatically write the charts to a text file in the ATEAB folder on your (C) hard Drive. Then you can view the written charts later. Hit ENTER to continue.

Put in the Guns name, Scope, and/or Pellet to identify the printout. You can always change these later but you should at least put in the gun and the scope.

The Q factor is an accuracy factor. Only change it if the program locks up. The program will only lock up if some very unrealistic inputs are entered. So……. Just hit ENTER to skip to the next field.

If you are going to have the program calculate the scope height then you don't need to put an accurate one in now. We measured 1 3/4 inches to the center of the scope tube and that just happens to be the default value so…….. Just hit ENTER now.

Input the muzzle velocity of your gun. In this case the muzzle velocity of my Career 707 is 880 fps so I can just hit ENTER. This can be changed at any time.

We are going to use the Dead On option for now. Dead On is what is usually needed but there are very certain circumstances where the Best Zero option is better. An example of Best Zero follows later. We are also going to use 35 yards as our Zero so once again we can just hit the ENTER key for both of these inputs.

You will now input the parameters that will shape the chart. You will need to decide when to have the chart start printing the trajectory. When to have the chart end printing the trajectory. And at what increment to view the chart. Since we are going to leave the printer option turned off we will increment by 5 yards, and stop at 55 yards so that it all fits on one screen. ATEAB will show you each section of the chart if it won’t fit on one screen but lets make it easy to follow along by having everything fit on one screen. Notice the changes to the default settings.

I am shooting 10.5 Grain Premiers in my Career so the default values are already correct and I will just hit the ENTER key. If you are using a pellet other then what is listed here, (these values were calculated by The "A" Team), you can hit (Y) and ENTER to view the list of VRFs in the library. Values on the other screens are from other sources. Please read the VRF tutorial to learn how to calculate your own VRFs. Remember that each VRF is done at a specific VRFD. Be careful not to put in the wrong information.

Since the default values are the pellet that we are using we will just hit ENTER to accept them. Notice that I did have to input the pellet weight. This is only necessary if you want the FTLB results to print out.

I always use a 1-MPH crosswind component. If I have a 3-MPH crosswind then I mentally multiply the readout by 3. And a 5-MPH crosswind by 5 etc.….. You can ENTER any value that you like though.

After going through the SMOA Tutorial I calculated the SMOA on my Nightforce scopes. One was .1333 and the other was .1449. The one on my Career is .1449 and that is what we are putting in below.

Now check that all of your inputs are correct. If they are not then you can hit (Y) to make changes and page through by hitting ENTER until you get to the input that you need to change. Correct it, then hold down the ENTER key to get to the end of the menu. This is the same way that you can turn on the printer, change to a different pellet or change a velocity. Any input can be changed without re-entering all the others.

Also note that this is one of the places that you can save your parameter file for this gun and setup. By hitting (S) you will be shown a list of all of the parameter files in the ATEAB Folder and you will be asked for a file name to save the parameter file. If you loaded a previous file ATEAB will use the same filename and update that file.

When you are done correcting any errors from your initial inputs hit (N) to the change Data question and that takes you to the Scope height calculation screen. For now hit ENTER to skip it.

This is the printout as it appears on the screen. Notice that the 10-yard clicks (marked DIAL on the screen) tell you that we need 44 clicks of up to be dead on. Well, I shot-in that distance and know that to be incorrect. The problem arises from measuring the scope tube height and not the True Optical Scope Height. Let's have the ATEAB program calculate that now. Hit ENTER to skip the advanced section.

Hit ENTER again to continue the program. As long as you don't exit the program, ATEAB will remember all of your current inputs for the different parameters. This is another spot where you can save the parameters of this setup.

You are now back at the beginning of the program. You could go through and change any inputs you like at this time but for now just hold down the ENTER key and ATEAB will take you quickly to the end of the menu. Don't change any inputs at this time.

This is where we will have the ATEAB program calculate the scope height. Say (Y) to go to the Scope Height Calculation Screens.

You need to put in some very simple information here. We always recommend that you use 10 yards for the second distance to calculate scope height. That is why 10 is the default value. You next need to decide whether you are putting in the correction with the (C)licking method or from the (H)oldover method. I use the clicking method because I am a clicker but the hold over method works equally well. You must know the point of impact at 10 yards of your gun when it is sighted in for your zero or how many clicks you are up or down from your zeroed in distance. On my Career I need to click up 37 clicks to hit dead on at ten yards when I am zeroed at 35 yards. So that is what we have entered below. Remember, up clicks are input as a negative number and for the holdover method impacting below the line of sight is a negative number.

After the last input the ATEAB program calculates the scope height and the new trajectory. Notice that the Scope Height is 1.6202 not 1.75 and the number of clicks at ten yards is now correct. This is a MAJOR advantage for anyone setting up a gun to shoot accurately. You have the True Optical Scope Height for this setup. If you change the zero then you may want to re-calculate the scope height also. Remember : Any adjustment of the scope turrets changes the scope height.

Note that if you were viewing a chart with multiple screens you can hit (R) and ENTER to repeat the chart so that you can view different sections without going through the whole process again.

Now lets go to the advanced features. We know where the pellet hits at all distances with this setup but what happens if we put a lite Premier in instead of a heavy? This is where you will find out. Hit (A) to go to advanced features and enter the data for lite Premiers. My Career shoots the lites at 960 fps with no change to the gun. Enter it below.

After viewing the VRF screens we come back to this point and enter the data. Lite Premiers use a VRF of .833 @ a VRFD of 30 yards and weigh 7.9 grains. Enter it below.

Now hit ENTER to confirm the data input or (C) and ENTER to go back and make corrections.

You will see that where as we were on at 35 yards before we are .50 inches high now. At 55 yards we were 2.45 inches low or needed 31 up clicks to hit Dead On and now we are 1.30 inches low or need 16 clicks of up to be Dead On. That’s a 1.15-inch difference just by changing pellets. Hunters can now go into the woods knowing just what will happen if they decide to change pellets for different game. You can also use this option to change the velocity of your pellet to see the different impact points due to velocity changes. You can enter your main velocity and then enter the change in velocity from your spread and know just what minimum group you can expect from your gun. This is something that cannot be done with any other software. It gives you more information about your gun then you could have ever known before.

Now hit ENTER to skip the advanced section for the second go around. You could go through and keep changing pellets but stay with me for now.

Now hit ENTER and go through the condensed input and change your data to the following inputs. You are going back to heavy premiers 880 fps, change Dead On to Best Zero, Maximum distance for Best Zero of 50 Yards, End print distance 50 yards, VRF of .866 @ 30 yard VRFD. Your screen should look like the one below.

Then hit (N) to change data. And Hit ENTER to Skip the Scope Height Calculations.

Now look at the screen below very carefully. The Maximum Rise is .68 inches at 30 yards and the maximum drop is .67 inches at 50 yards. Remember 50 yards was our maximum impact distance. That gives us 1.35 inches total. If we hold dead on out to 50 yards we will ALWAYS hit a 1 1/2-inch kill zone. No Range finding, No clicking, No problems. If you don't shoot out to 50 yards and only go out to 40, then it's tighter yet. You will notice we don't have a Zero to sight in on. You can either Shoot-in at one of the other distances, lets say 35 yards, and make sure your POI is .59 inches high from your Aim Point as the chart below shows. OR Since we don't know the actual zero for this trajectory we can find it. If you look at the chart we are high at 40 yards but low at 45 yards.

Keep hitting ENTER until you change your inputs to a start print of 40 yards and an end print of 45 yards. Change the Yardage to increment by to .5 yards (1/2 yard increment, must be put in as decimal format).

Now hit (N) and ENTER 2 times and your new trajectory will come up. Notice that the closest you get to zero rise or drop is between 44 and 44.5 Yards. So you need to zero your gun in between 44 and 44.5 yards, which is 44 ¼ yards. This is where you need to zero your gun to have the minimum rise and drop as was in the full chart previously. You could go through and turn on the printer at any time. Turn it off. Change any parameter. The ATEAB program is completely versatile.

Now lets have the ATEAB program calculate the minimum group size we can expect from our gun. To start with change the print output screen to option number 6. My Career shoots 90 shots with a spread of 20 fps for all 90 shots. This is with an average of 880 fps. Hit the ENTER key until you start paging through the program and change the following inputs. Since half of the velocity spread is 10 then 880fps - 10fps = 870 fps. Put this in as your muzzle velocity. Use the Dead On option, and a Zero distance of 50 yards. This will show us the group size at 50 yards. Change the Start print distance to 50 yards, end print distance to 50 yards, and the increment to 5 yards. The rest of the inputs should be the same as before and your screen should look like this.

Hit (N) and then hit ENTER 2 times and you should see this screen. Notice that at 50 yards the trajectory is dead on. Now hit (A) and ENTER to go to the advanced features.

Now since our spread is 20 fps then 870fps + 20 fps = 890 fps. That is what we are going to change our velocity to. We are going to leave all other inputs at their original settings. Your screen should look like this up to the point of confirming the data. Now hit ENTER to confirm the data input or (C) and ENTER to go back and make corrections.

Now look at the 50-yard DROP. You will notice that it is .33 inches. I can never expect a group of less then 1/3 inch center to center at 50 yards for the whole charge. I may get a tighter group for 5 shots but using the entire charge my group will never be smaller then 1/3 inch. Try changing spreads and changing velocities. A slower velocity range with the same spread gives you a different group size. Play with it to find out. Try a 12 FTLB gun. A 20 fps spread with heavy Premiers at an average of 700 fps. Try it at 50 yards and then again at 55 yards as the British shoot. You will be very surprised.

This is information that has never been available to people before. Just think about it. A person on the forum says they get a 1/2-inch group with their gun at 50 yards or 60 yards or what ever. You ask for the specifics - the velocity, what pellet, the spread and now you can calculate the minimum group size possible IF the shooter does everything else exactly perfect. You will know who is realistic and who is just full of hot air. Try using this on your guns. You may be surprised. This is the reason that The "A" Team is so big on Regulators. Without one you can't get a tight spread and that opens up the group size dramatically. Imagine trying to adjust a Non-Regulated Career Power Wheel to maintain velocity and group size. A Career Power Wheel usually jumps you 50 to 70 fps with one click. It really depends on what your standards are. With the ATEAB program you can KNOW exactly what is going on which helps you figure out why.

We hope this has taken you through enough of the features of the ATEAB program so that you can more easily explore the rest.

P.S. You should find a sample Printout of one of our guns in the folder with this document. Print it out as it gives explanations to the outputs to the printer.

FTLBS This is the Foot Pounds that the pellet carries at the given yardage from the muzzle

DRIFT this is the amount of wind drift (left or right) due to the MPH of the wind you put into the program. In the Chart above the pellet will move .39 inches sideways due to a 1 MPH wind at 50 yards. You can enter a 5,10 or any mile an hour wind that you like.

DROP this is how high or low the pellet is in relation to the line of sight through the scope at the given yardage from the muzzle

HOLD this tells you to hold High Or Low. You hold the amount given in the Drop Column

OR DIAL this is how much to click the scope and the direction to click it so that the pellet will hit where the cross hairs are centered at the given yardage.

.1 "SC This is how many clicks it takes to move the point of impact 1/10^th of an inch at the given yardage

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