Hacker Con Badges

Queen City Con

Queen City Con 0x4

The fourth Queen City Conference, a three-day community security conference in Cincinnati on November 13-15, 2026 under the theme Cleopatra's Cipher, organized by Cannon Fodder Security. The official dates begin on November 13, 2026, the day of the first catalogue check, and no post-event source confirms how the event ran. The official GitHub organization publishes the 0x4 badge schematics for a standard, supporter, and DIY kit LoRa mesh badge, a supporter keyboard firmware, and a 3D-printable case.

151 West Fifth Street, Cincinnati, Ohio · United States · 2026

Queen City Con 0x4 Badge

The electronic badge family of Queen City Con 0x4, Cincinnati, November 13-15, 2026. The organizers' schematic export covers a triangular standard badge, a supporter badge with a CardKB-style keyboard, and a DIY kit badge, all built around an nRF52840 and an Ai-Thinker Ra-01SH SX1262 LoRa module, with connections for an I2C OLED, a keyboard, and GPS, plus a buzzer and indicator LEDs. The firmware guide notes that fitted parts differ from badge to badge. A third-party design document says the badge ships with Meshtastic, while the Offband MeshCore fork, which the conference organization forked on November 8, 2026, publishes a dedicated QCC Badge companion firmware.

Lifecycle

Add-ons & Upgrades

Queen City Con 0x4 Badge published

3D-printable case

Standard badge snap-on case

Snap-on bumper for the triangular standard badge with six retention clips, USB-C and antenna clearances, and standard and comfort fit variants.

Compatibility: Queen City Con 0x4 standard badge.

Queen City Con 0x4 Badge design and firmware published

keyboard add-on

Supporter badge keyboard

A separate ATmega328PB keyboard board for the supporter badge that speaks the CardKB I2C protocol over a HY2.0-4P cable, with firmware modified from M5Stack's CardKB code. With it, the Offband firmware lets the badge compose and send messages on its own.

Compatibility: Queen City Con 0x4 supporter badge; standard badges have a keyboard port.

Queen City Con 0x4 Badge schematic published

kit variant

DIY kit badge

The schematic export includes a DIY badge page built around a ProMicro nRF52840 and an Ra-01SH module. No public source describes how the kit was sold, assembled, or supported at the event.

Compatibility: Queen City Con 0x4.

Queen City Con 0x4 Badge third-party releases through offband-v1.7.1

replacement firmware

Offband QCC Badge companion firmware

MeshCore-based BLE companion firmware with standalone messaging, a QCC splash screen, tones, GPS modes, and preset conference channels, published as QCC_Badge UF2 and DFU images.

Compatibility: Queen City Con 0x4 badges; features depend on the fitted screen, keyboard, buzzer, and GPS.

Operational history

Issues & Camp Impact

Queen City Con 0x4 Badge note

missing rights-cleared image · local project policy · needs licensed original replacement

No Queen City Con 0x4 badge image is published. The schematic and case repositories have no license, and the Offband guide's annotated badge photos sit in an MIT code repository without a stated photo licence or attribution for the badge artwork.

The entry remains source-backed and image-free rather than copying repository renders, guide photos, social posts, or screenshots.

Resources

QCC_0x4-Standard_Badge_Case 3D-printable case · Snap-on protective bumper for the triangular standard badge, published November 4, 2026, with standard and comfort fit variants and print settings. No license is stated. qcc-0x4-badge-schematics badge schematics · EasyEDA Pro project export and schematic PDF, published November 8, 2026 with no license, covering the standard, supporter, supporter keyboard, and DIY kit badges. qcc-0x4-badge-firmware firmware fork · The organization's November 8, 2026 fork of OffbandMesh/meshcore-firmware (MIT). On November 13 it had no commits of its own and sat 39 commits behind upstream. Offband 1.7.1 release firmware release · November 10, 2026 patch release on MeshCore 1.17.0 with QCC_Badge companion and diagnostic UF2 and ZIP images; it fixes LED and display control reporting that was reproduced on a QCC badge. Use your QCC badge firmware user guide · Offband user guide for the badge: fitted-part differences, pairing, button and keyboard navigation, screens, default channels, radio defaults, tones, and GPS modes. QCC_0x4_Badge_Keyboard keyboard firmware repository · Arduino sketch for the supporter badge keyboard, modified from M5Stack's CardKB code, published November 12, 2026 with no license. Queen City Conference official site official event page · Official site for the November 13-15, 2026 Cincinnati conference at 151 West Fifth Street, with the Cleopatra's Cipher theme, agenda, hotel booking, and a link to the organization's GitHub. QueenCityCon on GitHub official organization repository list · Organizer GitHub organization linked from the official site. It holds the 0x4 badge schematics, keyboard firmware, firmware fork, and case, plus 0x3 badge code and a 0x2 badge backing. QCC 0x4 Badge Schematics (PDF) schematic PDF · Six-page schematic titled QCC 0x4 Badges, REV 1.0, drawn by abend, with standard badge microcontroller, power and charging, and peripherals pages plus keyboard, supporter, and DIY pages. Offband MeshCore firmware third-party firmware repository · MIT-licensed MeshCore fork whose qcc_badge variant runs the badge as a BLE companion radio and whose releases carry QCC Badge UF2 and DFU images.

Sources

Cannon Fodder Security: Queen City Conference Retrieved 2026-11-13 · Primary event source. It gives the November 13-15, 2026 dates, the 151 West Fifth Street, Cincinnati address, the Cleopatra's Cipher theme, Cannon Fodder Security as organizer, and a link to the QueenCityCon GitHub organization. The rendered page does not describe the badge; the agenda and registration are embedded from Whova and were not reviewed. OffbandMesh (GitHub): OffbandMesh/meshcore-firmware releases Retrieved 2026-11-13 · QCC_Badge companion and diagnostic UF2 and ZIP assets appear in offband-v1.5.0-beta7 (September 28, 2026), offband-v1.6.0-beta1 (October 22), offband-v1.7.0 (November 8), and offband-v1.7.1 (November 10). Release notes do not say which build, if any, was flashed on conference badges. OffbandMesh (GitHub): Queen City Con 0x4 badge — design of record Retrieved 2026-11-13 · Third-party firmware design document dated September 12, 2026. It describes the badge as a ProMicro nRF52840 with an Ra-01SH, a 128x64 OLED, a CardKB-compatible keyboard, a buzzer, an LED, and an optional GPS port, lists the pin map, and says the stock firmware is Meshtastic 2.7.15 from the nrf52_promicro_diy_tcxo target. It is not an organizer document. OffbandMesh (GitHub): Use your QCC badge and QCC badge radio parameters Retrieved 2026-11-13 · Offband user guide and October 5, 2026 radio note. They document the pyramid and supporter badges, the QCC- device names, the #queencitycon channel, the 919.5 MHz, 500 kHz, SF7 first-boot default chosen for FCC Part 15.247 in the 902-928 MHz band, and that fresh and already-configured badges may sit on different frequencies. The radio note is at https://github.com/OffbandMesh/meshcore-firmware/blob/firmware-base/docs/architecture/2026-10-05-qcc-badge-radio-parameters.md. Queen City Con (GitHub): QueenCityCon/QCC_0x4_Badge_Keyboard and QCC_0x4-Standard_Badge_Case Retrieved 2026-11-13 · Organizer repositories created November 12 and November 4, 2026. The keyboard README credits M5Stack's CardKB code as the base and describes ICSP or serial-header flashing; the case README calls the standard badge the base-tier electronic conference badge and describes its triangular outline, rear battery, antenna connector, and optional LCD header. Queen City Con (GitHub): QueenCityCon/qcc-0x4-badge-schematics Retrieved 2026-11-13 · Organizer repository created November 8, 2026. The README says the badges were designed in EasyEDA Pro and that the export and PDF cover the standard, supporter, supporter keyboard, and DIY kit badges. The PDF (six pages, REV 1.0, drawn by abend) shows the nRF52840-QIAA-R standard board with BQ24075 charging, XC6220 regulator, Ra-01SH, SSD1306 OLED, GPS, keyboard, buzzer, and LEDs, and ProMicro-based supporter and DIY boards with SAOv2, MUTE, and spare GPIO pads. It proves the design, not the quantities built or handed out.