The build log · newest first
Design · Hardware · Software · Launch
Launch
Why there is no deposit
The launch list costs nothing to join. You pay when your batch is built and ready to ship, and not a day before.
Hardware
Seven clicks per turn: tuning the dial
The tuning knob went through eleven versions before it felt like a radio from 1969 and not a volume knob from 2019.
Software
How Skyset knows when to ring
Orbital elements, your exact spot, the sun's angle and a 20-degree rule. The four steps between a satellite and a chime.
Design
Choosing the green
P31, P39 or amber P3. We lived with three phosphors for three weeks each and measured how well they kept our night vision.
Build log
Prototype 04 rang for the space station
At 22:41 on 17 June a set with a cardboard back and a borrowed tube chimed, and six of us ran out into the car park.
