ZACon V 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.
ZACon
ZACon V
A free South African security conference represented by Andrew MacPherson's source-backed mesh-networked badge with 433 MHz RF interaction tracking.
South Africa · South Africa · 2013
Lifecycle
Add-ons & Upgrades
ZACon V Badge
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.
ZACon V Badge
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.
Operational history
Issues & Camp Impact
ZACon V Badge
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.
ZACon V Badge
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.
Resources
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.
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.
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.