Mathieu Stephan
Author of the Hackaday ZACon badge article used as secondary source evidence.
SourceZACon V · South Africa · 2013
ZACon V Badge
433 MHz mesh-networked South African conference badge
A South African free security-conference badge built around an ATmega328 with Arduino bootloader, Nokia 5110 LCD, 433 MHz AM/OOK transmit and receive modules, LEDs, buttons, and a mesh-style interaction graph.
EventZACon V
SeriesZACon
LocationSouth Africa
CountrySouth Africa
People
Authors & Credits
Jameel / RC1140
Named in the author writeup as a contributor who pushed the project forward and helped get hardware working.
SourceAndrew MacPherson / AndrewNohawk
Author of the mirrored ZACon V build-time writeup and commenter on the Hackaday article.
SourceWhy It Mattered
It adds an early African electronic badge record where the badge was designed as a social interaction sensor and hackable attendee artifact rather than only proof of entry.
Hardware
The public writeups describe an ATmega328, Nokia 5110 LCD, 433 MHz RF modules, RGB LED, buttons, hacked-together battery strategy, CNC-milled prototypes, final board assembly, ICSP, RX, TX, and reset pinouts.
Software & Apps
The badge transmitted badge numbers and learned relationships over RF, propagated interaction data around the network, and fed a main PC graph. Special RF codes could write EEPROM text or trigger effects such as police-car LED/display behavior.
Lore
Cost and free-community-conference constraints shaped the entire design. The final short-range no-antenna RF behavior let the badge map who was close enough together to be talking, and attendee antenna mods made some badges friends with nearly everyone.
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
hardware and firmware extension
source-backed
Hackable pinout and EEPROM commands
External ICSP, RX, TX, and reset access made reflashing and serial extension possible, while special RF codes could store text in EEPROM or trigger visual effects.
Source
social telemetry
source-backed
433 MHz interaction graph
Badges exchanged badge numbers and relationship data over short-range 433 MHz RF, then pushed interaction relationships toward a main PC graph.
SourceOperational history
Issues & Camp Impact
battery-runtime caveat
note
The author documented unexpectedly low battery capacity and 20-25 mA draw, then handled the event by providing multiple batteries per badge.
The badge record preserves the production constraint instead of describing the hardware as a polished low-power device.
- Confidence
- primary author mirror
- Status
- documented
- Timeframe
- ZACon V testing and event
- Source note
- AndrewNohawk ZACon V build-time mirror.
missing rights-cleared image
note
No local ZACon V badge image has been added because a rights-cleared original photo and attribution have not been verified.
The record ships without imagery rather than copying mirrored photos or article images without image provenance.
- Confidence
- local project policy
- Status
- needs licensed original replacement
- Timeframe
- current catalogue build
- Source note
- badge.gallery image policy, Hackaday article, and AndrewNohawk mirror.
Resources
Hackaday ZACon V badge report
article · Hackaday report summarizing the free South African security-conference badge hardware, mesh behavior, 77 final boards, and Maltego visualization.
ZACon V badge build mirror
archive mirror · Mirror of Andrew MacPherson's build-time writeup with Arduino/ATmega328, 433 MHz RF, Nokia 5110, battery, pinout, EEPROM, and attendee-hack details.
Sources
AndrewNohawk / Sechub mirror: ZaCon V Badge [1/2]: Build Time
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Primary author writeup mirror for design goals, free-conference constraints, RF behavior, pinouts, battery limitations, EEPROM effects, and attendee hacks.
Hackaday: Building A Mesh Networked Conference Badge
Retrieved 2026-05-15 · Secondary article source for the South African conference context, ATmega328, Nokia 5110 LCD, 433 MHz RF modules, mesh relationship tracking, 77 final boards, and Maltego visualization.