Mastery project: explain, measure, teach

Understand it

Mastery is a practice, not a six-week promise or a completion badge. You should be able to choose an appropriate tool, predict an outcome, test it within scope, diagnose a failure, and explain the limits of the evidence.

Measurements need limits

The Frequency Analyzer checks received signal strength at configured frequencies; it is not a calibrated wideband spectrum analyzer. A RAW .sub contains demodulated timings, not complex I/Q samples. Changing payload values can indicate sensor data, a counter, or another variable; it does not by itself prove encryption or rolling-code security.

A fair comparison holds distance, orientation, battery state, frequency and environment as constant as possible. Record repeats and failed trials. “Five successes out of five at one metre” is useful; “works everywhere” is not. Use only the permitted transmissions from your existing lab, and do not increase power to improve a result.

Four-part portfolio

Deliver an RF or IR comparison, a training-tag classification, a small hardware/software build, and a scope-and-recovery record. Synthetic simulator results are valuable, but label them separately from physical measurements.

Lab: build the evidence

1. Choose a question before touching the device: for example, “Does changing aim affect my learned IR remote?” Define the authorized target and an expected result.
2. Make a baseline and record five brief trials. Change one factor and repeat. Respect your approved radio duty-cycle limits; use IR or simulation if those are unresolved.
3. Classify two training tags using their documentation and the appropriate app. Write which information you could read and what remains unknown. Do not infer access rights from a UID.
4. Demonstrate the GPIO LED circuit or your modified app. Give another person enough detail to reproduce it on their own lab hardware.
5. Write a short report: question, scope, equipment/versions, method, results, alternative explanations, limitations, and cleanup. Redact IDs, keys, addresses, and personal information before sharing.
6. Wait at least a day, then explain the mechanism without notes. Revisit any missed quiz topics. Ask a knowledgeable peer to challenge one conclusion; log what you revised.

Show that you can do it

• A repeatable experiment with a prediction, controlled variable, and recorded failures.
• Evidence across at least three interfaces, including one hardware or software build.
• A redacted report that distinguishes observations, inferences, and untested claims.
• A successful delayed explanation and a concrete next learning question.

Record the result in your learning notebook. Repeat the explanation tomorrow without looking at this page.

Check yourself

Sources

Read the primary sources: Flipper: reading signals and presets · Flipper: demodulated RAW recordings · Flipper: GPIO pinout and electrical limits · Flipper: development documentation. Course review: 10 September 2026.