Skip to content
The End Effector
Sign inJoin

Downrange / Manual

How Downrange works

A practical guide. Skim the tiers, then jump to the workflow you need.

What Downrange is for

Downrange is an event intelligence layer for tough tech. It watches funding announcements, conferences, launches, deadlines, hearings, and community meetups across the TEE sectors, then delivers them to your calendar with editorial context on why each one matters.

Browse eventsThe curated feed of conferences, launches, deadlines, and meetups.Subscribe to calendarsTokenized .ics feeds for Apple, Google, Outlook.PersonalizePick persona, sectors, urgency. Two-minute wizard.DashboardDecision windows and active clusters at a glance.

Who gets what

Downrange is gated. Public accounts get the marketing overview. The working tools — browsing, calendar feeds, personalization, and the dashboard — open up at Operator or above.

Free

Public

  • Marketing overview and event preview
  • Read the guide you're on right now

Paid

Operator & Principal

  • Browse the curated event feed
  • Editorial TEE Take on every event
  • Private tokenized .ics calendar feeds
  • Personalization setup wizard
  • Dashboard with decision windows
  • Clusters and narrative arcs
Compare plans

Workflow 1

Browse events

Filter by sector and event type. Click any card to read the TEE Take — the editorial summary of why the event matters and who should pay attention.

  1. 1
    Sign in, then open /downrange/events.
  2. 2
    Use the sector and event-type filters at the top to narrow the list.
  3. 3
    Click any event card to open its detail page and read the TEE Take.
  4. 4
    Use the registration link on the detail page to go to the source. Downrange does not handle registration itself.
Open the event feed

Workflow 2

Subscribe to a calendar feed

Downrange publishes .ics feeds you can subscribe to in Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Outlook, or anything that speaks iCal. Events appear automatically and update as details change.

  1. 1
    Open /downrange/feeds. You'll see your private tokenized feed URLs, one per sector plus the All-Events firehose.
  2. 2
    Pick the feed you want and copy its URL.
  3. 3
    Paste it into your calendar app:
    • Google Calendar:Other calendars → Add by URL → paste → Add calendar.
    • Apple Calendar:File → New Calendar Subscription → paste → Subscribe.
    • Outlook:Add calendar → Subscribe from web → paste → Import.
  4. 4
    Calendar apps poll on their own schedule, usually every few hours. New events show up automatically once they do.
Private feeds are tokenized. Each member has one access token embedded in every feed URL. Rotating the token from the feeds page invalidates every old URL the moment you click rotate — use it whenever a device is compromised or someone leaves a shared workspace.
Open the feed manager

Workflow 3

Personalize your feed

The setup wizard takes about two minutes. Your persona, sectors, and urgency preferences shape the dashboard and personalized ranking.

  1. 1
    Open /downrange/setup.
  2. 2
    Pick a persona. Founder, Investor, Corporate Strategist, Researcher, Policy Maker, or Operator. The persona drives which actionability hints you see on each event.
  3. 3
    Pick your sectors. Toggle on any of the TEE sectors. Off-sector events still appear in the global feed; they just rank lower in your personalized view.
  4. 4
    Pick an urgency preference. Critical only (act-now items), Plan ahead (act-now plus high), All significant (the default), or Everything (no filter).
  5. 5
    Decide on adaptive learning. Leave it on if you want the ranker to factor in your engagement signals. Turn it off if you want it driven purely by your stated preferences.
  6. 6
    Save. The feed updates immediately.
Open the setup wizard

Workflow 4

Use the dashboard

/downrange/dashboard is the Operator command center. Four panels give you the week at a glance.

  1. 1
    What's Coming. The next seven days in your sectors, ranked by relevance.
  2. 2
    Action Required. Events with an open decision window. Each card shows a countdown to the moment you can no longer act.
  3. 3
    Active Clusters. Themed event groupings that span weeks or months (for example, an SBIR Phase II cycle, or a launch campaign). Click through to see every event in the arc.
  4. 4
    Your profile. Persona, sectors, urgency preference, and adaptive learning state. One click jumps back to the setup wizard.
Open the dashboard

FAQ

Do I need a paid subscription?

Yes, at least Operator. Public accounts can read the marketing overview at /downrange and see a preview of upcoming events, but the event feed, calendar feed manager, setup wizard, dashboard, decision windows, and clusters all require Operator or higher.

See the pricing page for plan details.

What is a TEE Take?

The editorial note that sits at the top of every event detail page. It is our read on why the event matters, who should care, and what to watch for. We write it. It is not scraped from the source.

What is a decision window?

The span of time during which you can still act on an event. Usually it's the gap between announcement and registration or submission deadline. The dashboard's Action Required panel counts down inside this window.

What does “prerequisites” mean on an event card?

The things you need in hand before the event or deadline. A federal solicitation prerequisite might be an active SAM.gov registration. A conference talk prerequisite might be an accepted abstract.

What is a cluster?

A named group of related events across time. Clicking the cluster badge on any event takes you to the cluster page, which shows every event in the arc and how they connect.

How often does the data update?

The discovery pipeline runs regularly across all sources. The dashboard and the events page always reflect the most recent run. Calendar feeds in your calendar app refresh on whatever schedule the app uses, usually every few hours.

Why does my personalized feed look empty?

Two common causes. First, you may not have completed the setup wizard at /downrange/setup. Second, your urgency preference might be set to Critical only and there may be no act-now items in your sectors this week. Drop it to All significant and the feed will fill in.

How do I reset my preferences?

Re-run the setup wizard. It overwrites the previous answers. To wipe learned engagement signals as well, toggle adaptive learning off and back on from the same page.

How do I revoke a feed URL?

Open /downrange/feeds and rotate your access token. Every URL containing the old token stops working immediately. Copy the new URLs into your calendar apps to restore access.

I know about an event Downrange is missing. How do I tell you?

Use the suggestion form on /downrange/events. The editorial team reviews every suggestion. Accepted events flow into the pipeline with a TEE Take attached.

Something is wrong with an event. Who do I tell?

Same suggestion form on /downrange/events. Describe the issue and the event. Editorial fixes typos, corrects dates, and removes cancelled events on every pipeline run.

Still stuck?

Reach out on engagements