chore: add captures to .gitignore

.gitignore

@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+/bridge/captures

docs/instantel_protocol_reference.md

@@ -40,6 +40,10 @@
 | 2026-03-02 | §14 Open Questions | `0x082A` hypothesis refined: 2090 decimal. At 1024 sps, 2 sec record = 2048 samples. Possible that 0x082A = total samples including 0.25s pre-trigger (256 samples) at some adjusted rate. Needs capture with different record time. |
 | 2026-03-02 | §14 Open Questions | **NEW items added:** Trigger sample width (default=2), Auto Window (1-9 sec), Aux Trigger (enabled/disabled) — all confirmed settings from operator manual not yet mapped in protocol. |
 | 2026-03-02 | §14 Open Questions | Monitoring LCD Cycle resolved — removed from open questions. |
+| 2026-03-02 | Appendix A | **CORRECTED:** Previous entry stated logger strips DLE from ETX. This was wrong — it applied to an older logger version. `s3_bridge v0.5.0` confirmed to preserve raw wire bytes including `0x10 0x03` intact. HxD inspection of new capture confirmed `10 03` present in S3→BW record payloads. |
+| 2026-03-02 | Appendix A | **UPDATED:** New capture architecture: two flat raw wire dumps per session (`raw_s3.bin`, `raw_bw.bin`), one per direction, no record wrapper. Replaces structured `.bin` format for parser input. |
+| 2026-03-02 | Appendix A | **PARSER:** Deterministic DLE state machine implemented (`s3_parser.py`). Three states: `IDLE → IN_FRAME → AFTER_DLE`. Replaces heuristic global scanning. Properly handles DLE stuffing (`10 10` → literal `10`). Only complete STX→ETX pairs counted as frames. |
+| 2026-03-02 | Appendix A | **VALIDATED:** `raw_bw.bin` yields 7 complete frames via state machine. `raw_s3.bin` contains large structured responses (first frame payload ~3922 bytes). Both files confirmed lossless. BW bare `0x02` pattern confirmed as asymmetric framing (BW sends bare STX, S3 sends DLE+STX). |
 
 ---
 
@@ -829,6 +833,99 @@ The `.bin` files produced by `s3_bridge` are **not raw wire bytes**. The logger
 
 ---
 
+## Appendix C — Logger & Parser Validation (2026-03-02)
+
+> Documents the logger integrity verification and parser refactor completed 2026-03-02. Tooling behavior only — not protocol semantics.
+
+### C.1 Logger Validation
+
+**Concern:** Earlier sessions noted that the `s3_bridge` logger may have been stripping `0x10` from `DLE ETX` sequences, producing bare `0x03` terminators in the capture file.
+
+**Resolution:** HxD inspection of a new capture produced by `s3_bridge v0.5.0` confirmed that `10 03` sequences are present intact inside S3→BW record payloads. The `forward_loop` function writes raw bytes to the `.bin` before any sniffer or framing logic runs — there is no ETX stripping in v0.5.0.
+
+The earlier stripping behavior applied to a previous logger version. v0.5.0 is confirmed lossless with respect to wire bytes.
+
+**Confirmed wire framing:**
+- Frame start: `0x10 0x02` (DLE STX) ✅
+- Frame end: `0x10 0x03` (DLE ETX) ✅
+- DLE stuffing: `0x10 0x10` in payload = literal `0x10` ✅
+
+### C.2 Capture Architecture (Current)
+
+As of 2026-03-02 the capture pipeline produces two flat raw wire dump files per session:
+
+| File | Contents |
+|---|---|
+| `raw_s3.bin` | All bytes transmitted by S3 (device → Blastware), in order |
+| `raw_bw.bin` | All bytes transmitted by BW (Blastware → device), in order |
+
+No record headers, no timestamps, no framing logic applied by the dumper. Files are flat concatenations of `serial.read()` chunks. Frame boundaries must be recovered by the parser.
+
+### C.3 Parser Design — DLE State Machine
+
+A deterministic state machine replaces all prior heuristic scanning.
+
+**States:**
+
+```
+STATE_IDLE       — scanning for frame start
+STATE_IN_FRAME   — consuming payload bytes
+STATE_AFTER_DLE  — last byte was 0x10, awaiting qualifier
+```
+
+**Transitions:**
+
+| Current State | Byte | Action | Next State |
+|---|---|---|---|
+| IDLE | `10 02` | Begin new frame | IN_FRAME |
+| IDLE | any | Discard | IDLE |
+| IN_FRAME | `!= 10` | Append to payload | IN_FRAME |
+| IN_FRAME | `10` | — | AFTER_DLE |
+| AFTER_DLE | `10` | Append literal `0x10` | IN_FRAME |
+| AFTER_DLE | `03` | Frame complete, emit | IDLE |
+| AFTER_DLE | other | Treat as payload (recovery) | IN_FRAME |
+
+**Properties:**
+- Does not scan globally for `10 02`
+- Only complete STX→ETX pairs are emitted as frames
+- Incomplete trailing frames at EOF are discarded (expected at capture boundaries)
+- DLE stuffing handled correctly
+
+### C.4 Observed Traffic (Validation Captures)
+
+**`raw_bw.bin`** (Blastware → S3):
+- 7 complete frames via state machine
+- Mostly small command/control frames, several zero-length payloads
+- Bare `0x02` used as STX (asymmetric — BW does not use DLE STX)
+- Contains project metadata strings: `"Standard Recording Setup.set"`, `"Claude test2"`, `"Location #1 - Brians House"`
+
+**`raw_s3.bin`** (S3 → Blastware):
+- First frame payload ~3922 bytes (large structured response)
+- Repeated `"Instantel"` / `"MiniMate Plus"` / `"BE18189"` strings throughout
+- Multiple medium-length structured frames
+- DLE+ETX confirmed intact
+
+### C.5 Key Lessons
+
+1. **Global byte counting ≠ frame counting.** `0x10 0x02` appears inside payloads. Only state machine transitions produce valid frame boundaries.
+2. **STX count ≠ frame count.** Only STX→ETX pairs within proper state transitions count.
+3. **EOF mid-frame is normal.** Capture termination during active traffic produces an incomplete trailing frame. Not an error.
+4. **Layer separation.** The parser extracts frames only. Decoding block IDs, validating checksums, and interpreting semantics are responsibilities of a separate protocol decoder layer above it.
+
+### C.6 Parser Layer Architecture
+
+```
+raw_s3.bin / raw_bw.bin
+        ↓
+DLE Frame Parser (s3_parser.py)   <- framing only
+        ↓
+Protocol Decoder (future)         <- SUB IDs, block layout, checksums
+        ↓
+Semantic Interpretation           <- settings, events, responses
+```
+
+---
+
 *All findings reverse-engineered from live RS-232 bridge captures.*  
 *Cross-referenced from 2026-03-02 with Instantel MiniMate Plus Operator Manual (716U0101 Rev 15).*  
 *This is a living document — append changelog entries and timestamps as new findings are confirmed or corrected.*