The radio's noise: the GNSS receiver costs 8 dB; a setting pauses it (#20)

Debug Builds: `lora noise test` changes one thing at a time, Sweeps the
band, and reports the floor under each condition; it runs on the device
by itself, since one condition pauses Wi-Fi (not saved, so a restart
brings it back). Result, at 125 kHz: -117 dBm with the antenna switched
off, -106 with the GNSS receiver in standby, -98 with it running. The
receiver's serial line isn't it (one sentence a second changes nothing),
and neither are the main loop, the CPU frequency, Wi-Fi, the screen or
the radio's own regulator, all within 1 dB.

Settings > "Pause GNSS for LoRa", off by default: the receiver waits in
standby while the radio listens or sweeps, except during a Track, and
has a Fix again about 7 s after. The GNSS App says it's paused.

11 dB remain between the antenna with GNSS quiet and the chip alone,
untouched by anything that can be switched from the firmware.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01EhqxQ49eCju4CzKYNjZzwT

docs/milestones/S1.md

@@ -112,3 +112,27 @@ Nothing needs that. The keyboard controller buffers key events; the consoles and
 - **Not measured:** the current drawn (no meter on the battery line), and how typing feels on the real keyboard: a key now waits up to 5 ms for the loop, 20 ms if it's the one that wakes the screen.
 - **The radio's noise floor didn't move** (-97 to -99 dBm at 125 kHz either way): the spinning loop wasn't the source (issue #20).
 - **Not done:** real sleep. The framework is built without power management (`CONFIG_PM_ENABLE` is off), so an idle core only halts until the next interrupt. Automatic light sleep would need the framework rebuilt with it, Wi-Fi in modem sleep, and the USB serial port's behaviour checked. A next step if battery life calls for it.
+
+## The radio's noise: the GNSS receiver (issue #20)
+
+M3 found the LoRa radio's noise floor about 15 dB above what the chip hears alone, and that the source travels with the device. Which part? Debug Builds got a self-test, `lora noise test`: it changes one thing at a time, Sweeps the band eight passes (568 readings), records the median as the floor, and puts the thing back. It runs on the device by itself, because one condition switches Wi-Fi off, and `lora noise report` prints the result afterwards.
+
+### Measured (2026-10-06, indoors, on USB power, dBm at 125 kHz)
+
+| Condition | Floor |
+|---|---|
+| Antenna switched off (the chip alone) | -117 |
+| Antenna on, GNSS in standby | -106 |
+| Antenna on, GNSS running (as shipped) | -98 |
+
+- **The GNSS receiver, while it runs, raises the floor by 8 dB.** Three runs: -98 or -99 with it running, -106 in standby, every time. On LongFast (250 kHz) the Sniffer's own reading goes from about -93.5 to -101.5 dBm.
+- **It's the receiver working, not its serial line:** with one NMEA sentence a second instead of twenty (`PCAS03`), the receiver still tracking, the floor stays at -98.
+- **Nothing else moves it by more than 1 dB**, with GNSS running or in standby: the main loop spinning or resting, the CPU at 240, 160 or 80 MHz, Wi-Fi on or off, the screen on or off, the radio chip's regulator as DC-DC or LDO, its receive gain boosted or not.
+- **11 dB remain** between the antenna connected with GNSS quiet (-106) and the chip alone (-117). It comes in through the antenna and none of those switches changes it: the surroundings, or parts of the Cardputer that can't be switched off. Not separated: that needs another place, or the antenna on a cable away from the case.
+- M3's quick check had GNSS at "1 or 2 dB": it read one frequency for a few seconds, in a noisier spot. The median over the band is the better measure.
+
+### What the firmware does about it
+
+**Settings > Pause GNSS for LoRa**, off by default: while the LoRa radio listens or sweeps, the GNSS receiver waits in standby, and wakes when the radio goes back to sleep (a Fix again after about 7 s here). Never during a Track. The GNSS App says "GNSS is paused" meanwhile. `gnss quiet on|off` on the console.
+
+It's off by default because GNSS on by default was decided in M2 (Q58), and from M4 the radio listens all the time: then "pause while listening" means GNSS mostly off, which is a decision about position, the clock and Tracks, for M4's design round (issue #23).