DEF CON 33 · United States · 2025
Independent ESP32-S3 Wi-Fi monitoring and foxhunt badge sold for DEF CON 33
HackMy*'s maker storefront labels GigaGeiger a Wi-Fi badge for DEF CON 33 and shows a USD 120 price with a sold-out-since-August 6, 2025 state. The same listing describes a retro Geiger-counter-inspired device with a single rotary dial for 2.4 GHz channel monitoring, MAC-address foxhunting, and browser-based firmware flashing; it says the product shipped with a lanyard and batteries. Its linked public Penzz-HM repository publishes an MIT-licensed Arduino/C++ implementation for an ESP32-S3-WROOM, GC9A01 display, rotary input, Wi-Fi scanning, promiscuous-mode packet counting, RSSI tracking, and a local web updater, plus firmware binaries, Gerbers, and enclosure STL files. A separately published GigaGeiger PCB project on PCBWay is dated June 25, 2025, names Matt Wagner, provides Gerbers, and is marked CC BY-SA. These sources establish a real independent 2025 BadgeLife artifact and a public design trail, not official DEF CON issuance, admission, a completed event handoff, a complete electrical specification, universal radio/OTA safety, or a rights-cleared hero image.
People
The PCBWay GigaGeiger PCB project names Matt Wagner and presents a separate Gerber/download page with a CC BY-SA label. This credit records the named project-publisher role without inferring identity equivalence with HackMy*, repository authorship, final badge manufacture, event distribution, or image-reuse authority.
SourceThe Tindie product page identifies HackMy* as the GigaGeiger maker/seller and links its source, documentation, and design files. This credit records the source-named storefront role only, not sole hardware, firmware, artwork, manufacturing, or DEF CON organizational authorship.
SourceThe public Penzz-HM repository is linked directly from the HackMy* GigaGeiger listing and publishes the reviewed firmware, binary, Gerber, enclosure, and MIT-license material. This credit records visible repository-publisher context, not final production responsibility, sole authorship, image-reuse authority, or event-organizer status.
SourceGigaGeiger is a concrete DEF CON 33 community badge whose source trail connects a maker sale page to firmware, fabrication, and enclosure material. It is also a useful example of an audit-oriented Wi-Fi device where marketing language and public source files need to be read narrowly: the repository can substantiate packet counting, access-point selection, RSSI display, and a web update path, but it cannot turn an independent device into an official credential or certify radio, privacy, battery, firmware-update, or safe-use behavior.
The maker-linked README identifies an ESP32-S3-WROOM, a GC9A01 display, and a three-way rotary dial; the published sketch configures the display on GPIO 9 through 12, reads the rotary input on GPIO 15, and labels its dial layout as a 240 by 240 TFT. The storefront says a lanyard and batteries are included, while the repository contains Gerbers and multiple STL enclosure parts. No reviewed source provides a reconciled schematic, BOM, PCB source project, final board revision, display-part variant, radio antenna details, battery chemistry/capacity/protection, charger or power-path design, voltage/current limits, connector pinout, mechanical dimensions/tolerances, assembly/test record, thermal or electrical safety analysis, regulatory evidence, or a production-versus-repository parity statement.
The public MIT repository contains an Arduino/C++ sketch, ESP32-S3 build outputs, and an OTA web-update implementation using Wi-Fi, WebServer, mDNS, and Update libraries. Its README and source describe three dial-selected surfaces: packet-count monitoring on 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi channels, a scan-and-lock foxhunt mode that displays RSSI for a selected access point, and a local browser firmware-upload mode. The reviewed sketch enables ESP32 promiscuous mode and increments a packet counter; although it displays a Deauths label, the reviewed callback only increments total packets and does not parse or increment a deauthentication count. The source does not establish a supported release process, signed updates, reproducible builds, credential-management policy, recovery/rollback process, security review, privacy policy, permission to capture third-party traffic, or a guarantee that every shipped unit matches the current repository.
HackMy* presents GigaGeiger as a 1950s-Geiger-counter-styled Wi-Fi monitoring and audit tool for hacker-cons and DEF CON enthusiasts. The product page directly ties it to DEF CON 33 and records that stock was sold out before the August 7-10, 2025 conference, but it does not document an official badge drop, attendee allocation, seller handoff, recipient count, venue approval, or DEF CON organizer relationship. The PCBWay project shares the GigaGeiger title and gg.hmp.fyi reference, but its Matt Wagner credit and CC BY-SA label are recorded as that separate public fabrication source rather than assumed to establish authorship, production identity, or license scope for every storefront or repository file.
Lifecycle
The maker describes left, center, and right dial positions for 2.4 GHz channel monitoring, RSSI foxhunting, and local browser firmware flashing. The source uses a rotary input to choose operating paths, but does not establish mode reliability, range, scan completeness, update success, accessibility, safe use, or that every sold unit has identical configuration.
SourceThe maker-linked Penzz-HM repository includes the Arduino sketch, ESP32-S3 build outputs, a Gerber archive, enclosure STL files, and a root MIT license. It supplies a practical preservation and modification trail, but does not establish a complete schematic/BOM, reproducible production build, release-to-device mapping, every-dependency license, image-reuse selection, support commitment, or warranty.
SourceThe published ESP32 sketch enables promiscuous mode, sets a selected Wi-Fi channel, and increments a packet counter that it displays through the dial-style interface. It does not document capture filtering, persistence, encryption handling, packet content storage, channel coverage, sampling accuracy, traffic authorization, privacy handling, lawful-use context, test results, or RF performance.
SourceThe sketch scans nearby Wi-Fi networks, lets the user lock a selected access point by BSSID or SSID, and periodically displays the matching access point's RSSI. This documents a source-level tracking surface, not a validated locating tool, a guarantee that a BSSID belongs to the intended device, permission to scan or follow third-party equipment, a precise distance measurement, or a privacy-safe deployment.
SourceOperational history
Readers can understand the documented research surface without treating it as permission to monitor or follow third-party wireless activity, a privacy-safe product guarantee, a precise locating instrument, or a validated security tool.
The catalogue links public code and fabrication material without claiming a secure updater, complete deauthentication detector, supported release, final feature set, universal license scope, or permission to republish every artifact image.
The public trail is useful for research and preservation without turning GigaGeiger into a universally safe, electrically characterized, regulatory-cleared, production-reproducible, or fully documented device.
The catalogue preserves the documented independent DEF CON 33 association without treating a maker listing or sold-out indicator as organizer issuance, a completed conference handoff, conference admission, or a universal attendee benefit.
The record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying product photos, repository asset images, PCB previews, screenshots, placeholders, or generated approximations.