Hacker Con Badges

SAINTCON 2016 · United States · 2016

SAINTCON 2016 ESP8266 LED Badge

D1 Mini ESP8266 badge kit with MAX7219 LED display and Hackers Challenge registration

The SAINTCON 2016 badge was an electronic kit badge built around a D1 Mini ESP8266 development board, MAX7219 LED driver, and two 4-digit LED modules, with public assembly, flashing, and Hackers Challenge registration documentation.

SAINTCON United States Utah Provo ESP8266 D1 Mini MAX7219 LED Display NodeMCU Lua Hackers Challenge Hardware Hacking Village North America
EventSAINTCON 2016
SeriesSAINTCON
LocationUtah Valley Convention Center, Provo, Utah
CountryUnited States

People

Authors & Credits

community extra contributor

Jesse Howerton

The upload-code documentation credits Jesse Howerton for the Binary to Hex converter community extra.

Source

event archive publisher

UtahSAINT / SAINTCON

The official 2016 archive establishes SAINTCON 2016 dates, Provo context, and Hackers Challenge navigation.

Source

Why It Mattered

It extends the Utah SAINTCON lineage back before the Raspberry Pi Zero W and ESP32 years, showing an earlier conference-bag hardware kit that linked soldering, HHV part pickup, Lua customization, flash stations, and event-game registration.

Hardware

The badge assembly documentation says conference bags contained a badge PCB, resistors, capacitors, fuses, headers, a D1 Mini ESP8266 development board, a USB battery, and a screw or washer exchangeable at the Hardware Hacking Village for a MAX7219 LED driver IC and two 4-digit LED displays. The BOM lists 0.1 uF and 10 uF capacitors, a 1N4148 diode, resettable PTC fuses, a 24-pin IC socket, MAX7219 driver, 8-pin headers, and 4-digit common-cathode displays.

Software & Apps

The flashing documentation describes HHV Raspberry Pi flash stations, local flashing with esptool.py, CH340G driver setup, a D1 Mini NodeMCU/Lua environment, download of a `latest-spiffs.bin` badge image, custom Lua upload via nodemcu-uploader or ESPlorer, and serial output containing UUID/MAC/flash identifiers.

Lore

The official 2016 archive frames SAINTCON as an October 11-14, 2016 cybersecurity conference in Provo. The badge docs tie each assembled badge into the Hackers Challenge by having attendees register a badge ID from flash-station output or the D1 Mini boot message so the badge could show recent game score information.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

assembly kit documented

Conference-bag badge kit

The assembly guide says attendee conference bags contained the badge PCB, passives, fuses, headers, D1 Mini ESP8266 board, USB battery, and exchange token for HHV display parts.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2016 badge assembly

Source
badge display documented

MAX7219 and dual 4-digit LED modules

The HHV exchange path provided a MAX7219 LED driver IC and two 4-digit LED modules, with the BOM and soldering notes documenting sockets, headers, display color options, and resistor selection.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2016 ESP8266 LED Badge

Source
event challenge integration documented

Hackers Challenge badge registration

The registration guide says Hackers Challenge registration prompted for a badge ID and that the badge could show the current game score from the last 30 seconds.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2016 Hackers Challenge

Source
firmware workflow documented

NodeMCU Lua and esptool flashing workflow

The upload-code guide documents HHV Raspberry Pi flash stations, CH340G driver setup, esptool.py flashing, `latest-spiffs.bin`, and Lua upload tools such as nodemcu-uploader and ESPlorer.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2016 ESP8266 LED Badge

Source
microcontroller module documented

D1 Mini ESP8266 badge core

The public guide identifies the D1 Mini ESP8266 development board as the badge compute module and documents header orientation and USB flashing behavior.

Compatibility: SAINTCON 2016 ESP8266 LED Badge

Source

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

image-rights boundary note

The ReadTheDocs badge documentation includes finished-example and assembly photos, but no recovered source pairs those images with a reusable image license, explicit permission basis, attribution, and processing notes for publication.

The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying documentation photos or archive media without complete provenance.

Confidence
local project policy
Status
needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
badge.gallery image policy and SAINTCON 2016 badge documentation media.
missing rights-cleared image note

No SAINTCON 2016 ESP8266 LED Badge image is published because the current public source trail has not been paired with a reusable original badge or artifact photo or official upstream raster render with source URL, license or permission basis, attribution, and processing notes.

The United States record remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying source-page media, documentation screenshots, event photos, social media, placeholders, or generated approximations.

Confidence
local project policy
Status
needs licensed original replacement
Timeframe
current catalogue build
Source note
badge.gallery image policy and SAINTCON 2016 official archive, venue map, badge assembly, flashing, and registration documentation source trail.
source-code and production gap note

The public documentation proves the kit contents, assembly path, flashing workflow, and Hackers Challenge registration behavior, but this pass did not recover a public schematic archive, PCB source, production count, complete Lua source tree, final firmware image mirror, or badge-team repository.

The record preserves verified public hardware and workflow facts without inventing unrecovered firmware internals, board-source details, or manufacturing data.

Confidence
official event archive plus public badge docs
Status
needs badge-team archive
Timeframe
current SAINTCON 2016 pass
Source note
SAINTCON 2016 archive, venue map, badge assembly, upload-code, and registration documentation.

Resources

SAINTCON 2016 Badge Assembly assembly guide · Badge assembly source for conference-bag contents, D1 Mini ESP8266, MAX7219 driver, LED displays, BOM, orientation notes, and HHV part exchange. SAINTCON 2016 Badge Registration challenge registration · Hackers Challenge registration source for badge ID, UUID, serial boot output, and badge game-score behavior. SAINTCON 2016 Badge documentation badge documentation · Public badge documentation landing page linking assembly, upload-code, and registration instructions. SAINTCON 2016 Upload Code firmware instructions · Flashing source for HHV flash stations, CH340G setup, esptool.py command, NodeMCU/Lua workflow, custom code upload tools, and community extras. SAINTCON 2016 archive official event archive · Official archive source for October 11-14, 2016 dates, Provo, Utah event context, and Hackers Challenge navigation. SAINTCON 2016 venue map official venue page · Official venue source documenting Utah Valley Convention Center, 220 Center Street, Provo, Utah as the SAINTCON 2016 location.

Sources

SAINTCON 2016 Badge / Read the Docs: SaintCon 2016 Badge Documentation Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Badge documentation source for assembly, flashing, and registration navigation. SAINTCON 2016 Badge / Read the Docs: Badge Assembly Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Assembly source for the badge kit, D1 Mini ESP8266, MAX7219 LED driver, 4-digit LED modules, BOM, header/socket cautions, and HHV part exchange. SAINTCON 2016 Badge / Read the Docs: Upload Code Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Flashing source for HHV flash stations, esptool.py, CH340G drivers, NodeMCU/Lua customization, badge firmware image link, and community extras. SAINTCON 2016 Badge / Read the Docs: Badge Registration Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Registration source for Hackers Challenge badge ID, UUID output, serial boot message, and score display behavior. UtahSAINT / SAINTCON: Venue Map Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official venue source for Utah Valley Convention Center in Provo, Utah. UtahSAINT / SAINTCON archive mirror: SAINTCON 2016 Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Official event archive source for October 11-14, 2016 timing, Provo context, and Hackers Challenge event navigation.