Field Recorder
The Field Recorder is the Tho'ra Clan's vehicle- or pack-mounted environmental recorder, designed for documenting Psi Field-relevant conditions during deployment. Where the Psi Recorder captures the wearer-and-equipment state, the Field Recorder captures the world the wearer is walking through. The two together form the Psi-Tech session record.
Overview
The Field Recorder is a small ruggedized box that captures:
- Magnetic field — 3-axis fluxgate (or HMC5883L cluster at Mk1).
- Electric field / electrostatic — quad-probe array for vector estimate.
- Broadband RF — SDR sweep (HF–UHF), spectrogram + classifier.
- Schumann resonance band — narrowband 3–60 Hz channel; see Schumann Lattice for the federated picture.
- Atmospheric — temperature, pressure, humidity, air-ion count (Mk2).
- Geo — GPS lat/lon/alt; orientation (IMU).
Sessions are time-aligned with the operator's Psi Recorder feed for joint analysis in the Resonant Pipeline.
Theoretical Basis
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Multi-channel field logging is standard environmental instrumentation.
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Joint operator + environment logs let us test whether classes of environment correlate with operator state changes. The Field Recorder makes the Psi Field correlation studies possible.
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Specific narrowband features (Schumann, ULF) carry Psi Field information. This is what the Mk2+ continuous-deployment dataset is built to resolve.
Subsystems and BOM
Mk0 (target ≤ \$60)
Smartphone app + external GPS + handwritten log. Functional but limited to what a phone's sensors can see.
Mk1 (target ≤ \$350)
- Raspberry Pi 4 (4 GB) + 256 GB SD — \$70
- RTL-SDR v4 + filter front-end — \$60
- HMC5883L ×4 (gradiometer + cardinals) — \$32
- Electrostatic quad probe (DIY) — \$20
- BME680 + ICM-20948 — \$30
- u-blox NEO-M9N GPS + active antenna — \$45
- Sealed enclosure, connectors, cables — \$50
- 18 650 ×4 + BMS + power module — \$45
Mk2 / Mk3
Mk2: tri-axial fluxgate, Schumann-band high-Q antenna, multi-day battery, automated upload to Resonant Pipeline. Mk3: federated continuous-deployment unit, weatherproof IP67, EIN-tile-served.
Build Notes
- Site characterization first. Run a 24-hour baseline at each deployment site before considering anomalies meaningful.
- Time discipline. GPS-PPS lock for sub-millisecond timestamping.
- SDR thermal. RTL-SDR v4 needs airflow; enclosure fan-vent on the upwind face.
- Antenna geometry matters. Magnetic gradiometer baseline ≥ 100 mm; electrostatic quad probe baseline ≥ 200 mm; document in metadata.
Safety and Ethics
- No emitter. The Field Recorder is sensor-only.
- No personal data captured. Sessions log environment + the unit's own state, never people.
- Public-space deployment respects local law; operators carry a documentation card explaining the unit if asked.
Maturity
Maturity (Mk0 → Mk3)
See Tho'ra Tech Maturity Levels for the convention.
| Mark | Phase | Status | Confidence | Evidence Base | Next Validation Gate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mk0 | Cosplay-type | Complete | 100% (symbolic) | Ritual + build practice | User satisfaction |
| Mk1 | Prototype | Active | — | — | — |
| Mk2 | Test-type | Planned | — | — | — |
| Mk3 | Production | Projected | — | — | — |
Failure Modes and Mitigations
- SD card fill mid-session. → Pre-deployment capacity check; ring-buffer fallback with operator alert.
- GPS lock loss. → Last-known + IMU dead-reckoning; metadata flag.
- Thermal SDR drift. → Calibration sweep every hour; enclosure airflow.
- Operator privacy in public spaces. → No camera, no microphone, no Bluetooth-watching; documentation card explains.
- Battery exhaustion. → Graceful close-out; encrypted state preserved.
- Sensor calibration drift. → Baseline-anchor every deployment; per-sensor calibration log in metadata.
