A measurement without its limits is an opinion with numbers. The equipment, the time, the position and the bands observed are part of the result. A NoMYST report writes them next to the values, not in a footnote.
Equipment conditions the measurement
A phone measures with its antenna, its modem and its software version. Two models side by side can give levels several dB apart, and some do not report every band. An external module measures with its own capabilities, wider but also defined.
That is why the report starts with the equipment used. A comparison only makes sense between measurements made with the same instrument.
Not seeing a cell does not prove its absence
An undetected cell may be outside the bands listened to, masked at that instant, or too weak for the receiver's threshold. Absence from a list is absence of evidence, not evidence of absence.
Scout therefore writes “not detected under these conditions”, and documents the conditions.
The asterisk on estimated values
Some values are computed from an assumption. When a cell's bandwidth has to be assumed to convert a reference level into total power, Scout marks the RSSI with an asterisk. The value remains useful; its status is different, and it is visible.
An instrument that displays all its values with the same confidence is hiding something.
Conditions are part of the result
Time, day, weather, a door open or closed, the module's height, the presence of vehicles: everything that changes the path of the waves changes the measurement. A finding is dated and located, or it is not a finding.
A walking campaign keeps for each point its number, its level and its context; that is what makes it possible to redo the same measurement after an intervention.
What a NoMYST report always states
The equipment and its versions, the number of passes, the bands observed, the thresholds used, the date and conditions, the estimated values, and what the protocol does not cover. Only then the observation, the probable cause and the check to perform.
A report that says “the data does not allow a conclusion” is a good report. An expensive instrument does not make biased data any truer.
A NoMYST example
