Mike Szczys
Author of the Hackaday source used for hardware, badge-team, and ARG details.
SourceQueercon 16 · United States · 2019
Queercon 16 Q Badge
Membrane-keyboard ARG badge
The Queercon 16 Q Badge was an electronic DEF CON-adjacent social badge with a custom membrane keyboard, 2.9-inch e-paper display, RGB lighting, Bluetooth-capable TI CC2640R2 controller, Holtek LED driver, AA battery power, RJ12 6P6C badge-to-badge connector, and ARG mechanics across Q, C, and Handler badge roles.
EventQueercon 16
SeriesQueercon
LocationLas Vegas, Nevada / DEF CON 27
CountryUnited States
People
Authors & Credits
Evan Mackay
Named by Hackaday as part of the team that produced the 2019 Queercon hardware badges.
SourceGeorge Louthan
Named by Hackaday as part of the team that produced the 2019 Queercon hardware badges.
SourceSubterfuge
Named by Hackaday as part of the team that produced the 2019 Queercon hardware badges.
SourceTara Scape
Named by Hackaday as part of the badge team; the article says Tara Scape headed the art design for the year's conference and badge package.
SourceQueercon
Hackaday documents the 2019 Queercon badge system and its role in getting attendees into Queercon events.
SourceWhy It Mattered
It adds Queercon's queer hacker and infosec social-badge lineage to the compendium and captures a badge designed as inclusion infrastructure: attendees with richer Q badges and simpler C badges had to collaborate through digital tokens, missions, and shared progress instead of playing isolated hardware puzzles.
Hardware
Hackaday documents a custom full-color membrane keyboard with embossed keys and LED windows, a 2.9-inch 128x296 eInk display, six side-view RGB LEDs beside the screen, twelve additional full-color edge LEDs, a TI CC2640R2 ARM Cortex-M3 Bluetooth-capable MCU, Holtek HT16D35B LED controller, AA battery power through a low-voltage boost regulator, and an RJ12 6P6C connector for badge-to-badge links.
Software & Apps
The Q badge acted as the active control surface for an alternate reality game while the C badge carried complementary game state. Hackaday reports digital-token exchange between Q and C badges, game objects split across badge types, missions downloaded from Handler staff badges, and a chill-room base station that reported aggregate progress.
Lore
The 2019 badge team produced two hardware badge types: Q badges for the richer control-panel artifact and C badges for all Queercon attendees who did not purchase the Q version. The ARG deliberately required both badge types, making the hardware a social graph across Queercon's DEF CON 27 gathering rather than a standalone collectible.
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
badge display platform
source-backed
E-paper and RGB light board
The badge combined a 2.9-inch 128x296 eInk screen, six side-view RGB LEDs beside the display, and twelve additional full-color edge LEDs.
Source
badge input surface
source-backed
Custom membrane keyboard
The Q badge used a full-color custom membrane keyboard with embossed keys, LED windows, and a layout tailored to the conference ARG.
Source
badge-to-badge interaction
historical
RJ12 Q/C badge token exchange
An RJ12 6P6C connector and cable linked Q and C badges so attendees could exchange digital tokens and advance the ARG across badge types.
Source
event ARG infrastructure
historical
Handler missions and base station
Handler staff badges distributed missions and a chill-room base station reported aggregate progress, turning the badge game into a venue-wide social challenge.
Source
hardware architecture
source-backed
TI CC2640R2 Bluetooth badge core
Hackaday identifies the badge controller as a TI CC2640R2 with ARM Cortex-M3 core and Bluetooth capability, paired with a Holtek HT16D35B LED controller.
SourceOperational history
Issues & Camp Impact
artifact-depth caveat
note
This pass relies on contemporary Hackaday technical coverage and DEF CON host-event context but does not recover an official Queercon 16 badge repository, firmware archive, full ARG ruleset, or production photo set.
The catalogue records verified hardware and social-game behavior while leaving firmware, challenge, and complete variant archaeology for a later pass.
- Confidence
- source-backed but incomplete
- Status
- needs deeper archive recovery
- Timeframe
- current Queercon 16 pass
- Source note
- Hackaday Queercon 16 article and DEF CON 27 host archive.
missing rights-cleared image
note
No Queercon 16 Q Badge image is published because the Hackaday article photos have not been paired with complete original-photo provenance, explicit reuse rights, attribution, and processing notes.
The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying article photography without a clear catalogue reuse basis.
- Confidence
- local project policy
- Status
- needs licensed original replacement
- Timeframe
- current catalogue build
- Source note
- badge.gallery image policy and Hackaday Queercon 16 article media.
Resources
DEF CON 27 event archive
host event page · Official DEF CON archive source for the host-event context around Queercon 16's DEF CON 27-adjacent badge record.
Queercon 16 hardware badge hands-on
article · Hackaday source for the 2019 Q and C badge split, custom membrane keyboard, e-paper display, RGB LEDs, TI CC2640R2, Holtek LED driver, RJ12 connector, AA power, Handler badges, base station, and ARG flow.
Sources
DEF CON: DEF CON 27 Hacking Conference
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official host-event archive source for DEF CON 27 context around the Queercon 16 badge record.
Hackaday: Hands-On: Queercon 16 Hardware Badge Shows Off Custom Membrane Keyboard
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary technical source for the Q badge hardware, C badge counterpart, badge-team credits, membrane keyboard, e-paper display, RGB LEDs, TI CC2640R2, RJ12 token exchange, Handler missions, and base-station progress behavior.