Volunteering

HRV is returning to DEF CON, and is looking for volunteers - sign up using the link at the bottom of the page.

Village Staff

Village staff handle running the village itself as well as the fox hunt contest table. Duties vary and include providing demos, talking with and answering questions from attendees, and running the fox hunt contest. During your shifts you may be using your own gear, village-owned gear, or gear from another volunteer (with their permission). This is a great chance to showcase what YOU love about ham radio as ambassadors of the hobby!

Volunteer Examiner

Volunteer Examiners help run the ham radio license exams. To be a VE, you must hold a General or Amateur Extra class license in the US.

Contest Staff

Contest staff handle running the ham radio contests at events, including the Fox Hunt and "Can it Ham?" contests.

Contests

Fox Hunt

From the Static: A HRV Fox Hunt

Find the hidden transmitters, collect the clues, and climb the scoreboard.

Somewhere on the con floor, hidden transmitters we call Foxes are quietly broadcasting. Each one carries a piece of something bigger — a fragment, a coordinate, a key. Alone they're noise. Together they're signal. Your job is to track them down using a radio or scanner, report what you find at the contest table, and figure out what they're trying to say.

It's part scavenger hunt, part signal chase, and a great excuse to put your gear (and your ears) to work. You can compete solo or as a team of up to 4. No prior experience required, and you don't need a license to participate. The HRV Fox Hunt does not require participants to transmit at licensed frequencies.

How It Works

• Stationary Foxes sit in one spot, patient and waiting, transmitting on a loop. Find one, bring its ID back to the contest table, and score points.
• Mobile Foxes are carried by volunteers moving through the crowd, broadcasting short range and blending in. They're harder to pin down, so they're worth more points. Track one down (respectfully) and the volunteer will confirm the find. They might have something for you — a token, a clue, or a piece of the puzzle to bring back to the table.
• Report your finds each day at the contest table to get them logged on the scoreboard. Fox finds are only good for one contest day and must be claimed by the end of the contest day.
• Keep playing after hours: Some Foxes have optional CTF-style puzzles attached — coded fragments, ciphers, and clues that reward a little extra effort with bonus points. Hunt the Foxes for the core game, or dig into the puzzles if you want to test yourself further. Puzzle answers can be checked at the Fox Hunt contest table during the contest day. Solving the puzzle is not needed to claim points for finding a fox.

What You'll Need

This isn't a contest where the most expensive gear wins. Whether you're running an SDR, a handheld radio, or just tuned into the right frequency, you've got a shot.

To hunt the Foxes, you'll need a radio or scanner that can receive the 2m and/or 70cm amateur bands:

• 2m: 144.000 – 148.000 MHz
• 70cm: 420.000 – 450.000 MHz

We'll have the possible frequencies for each day posted at the contest table if you need a hint.

Recommended:

• Something to listen with and capture signals (handheld radio, SDR, scanner, etc.)
• Something to take notes with
• Something to capture clues (a camera or a steady hand)
• A token from the Ham Radio Village (to be picked up at the Fox Hunt table) — check in at the contest table to be eligible for prizes

Prerequisites

There is no pre-qualifier for the Ham Radio Village Fox Hunt. Just show up, register at the contest table, and start hunting.

Teams must be registered to collect points and be eligible for prizes.

Points & Gameplay

Points come from finding Foxes and, if you want to go further, solving the puzzles tied to them. Here's what's worth what:

• Find a stationary Fox and report its ID — base value.
• Find a mobile Fox (carried by a roaming volunteer) — higher; they're harder to corner.
• Solve a puzzle tied to a Fox — bonus, worth more the earlier you solve it.
• Solve the combined daily puzzle — bigger bonus, also rewards solving early.
• Easter eggs & bonus discoveries — vary by event; may award a prize instead of points.

Puzzle points decay as more teams solve them, so moving fast pays off. A few other things worth knowing:

• Everything resets each day. Fox finds count for that contest day only, and new puzzles are released daily. Previous days' puzzles physically disappear once the Foxes are reset each night. However, you can keep submitting answers for puzzles you've already started right up until the submission deadline on the last contest day. You don't have to finish one day to take on the next.
• No log, no points. Finds and puzzle answers are submitted in person at the contest table by your team's designated point of contact (or bring the whole team). Nothing counts until it's logged at the table.
• Ties go to whoever reported first. If two teams end up even on a find or puzzle, whoever got their submission to the table first comes out ahead; it's built in to the scoring system. A tie in the final contest standings is settled with a tiebreaker event.

Can It Ham? Contest

Making Garbage Radiate Since DEF CON 33

Can It Ham? is a live build contest from the Ham Radio Village where hackers, makers, and radio weirdos turn unconventional materials into working antennas—and then prove they actually work.

Tin cans, tape measures, scrap wire, mystery hardware, and questionable engineering judgment are all welcome here.

What Is This?

Can It Ham? is built around one simple question:

Can you turn random stuff into something that actually radiates?

Participants build antennas from unconventional materials, validate that the build functions, and compete on a mix of creativity, performance, and RF effectiveness.

Some builds are clever. Some are cursed. A few are both.

The Rules (TL;DR)

We keep it fun—but not stupid.

• No pre-built antenna kits — if you bought it as an antenna, it’s not in the spirit
• Must be safe — no dangerous builds, no injury risk, minimal “hold my beer” engineering
• No radioactive materials — yes, this needed to be said
• Must resonate on at least one amateur radio band — we’ll help you figure that out
• Must plausibly function as an antenna — we will test it
• Creativity > perfection — this is not a lab-grade competition

You do not need to be a licensed ham to participate.

Not sure what “resonate on a band” means? No problem. The Ham Radio Village and contest ops area are staffed with friendly RF goblins who will help you tune, test, and get your build across the line.

Examples of bands you might target:

• 2m / 70cm (VHF/UHF) — easier builds, shorter elements, good starting point
• HF (20m, 40m, etc.) — bigger builds, weirder physics, higher bragging rights
• ISM / Part 97-adjacent experimentation (e.g., Meshtastic) — bring your mesh goblin energy

If you don’t know what any of that means, that’s fine. Show up with something weird—we’ll help you make it radiate.

Full rules and judging criteria will be published separately.

Suggested Materials (a.k.a. The Junk Drawer)

Looking for inspiration? If it conducts (or kinda does), it might radiate.

• Arrow shafts
• Dryer vents
• Speaker wire
• Tin cans
• Metal trash containers
• Wire shelving
• Cattle panels
• Tape measures
• Random coax you "found"
• That one weird piece of metal you refuse to throw away
• The toilet from a decommissioned prison (we will have questions, but also respect)

If it’s weird, conductive, and you can connect it to a feed point, it’s fair game.

Starter Builds (Coming Soon)

Not sure where to start? We’ll be publishing simple build guides for classic, proven designs to help you get on the air quickly.

Think:

• Tape measure yagi
• Basic dipoles (HF & VHF)
• Ground planes from scrap
• Quick-and-dirty portable builds

Use them as-is or mutate them into something cursed—we won’t judge (we will judge).

Beyond Ham Bands

While the contest focuses on antennas that resonate on amateur radio bands, similar ideas apply elsewhere:

• Wi-Fi / AREDN — directional builds, mesh links, and hacker-friendly networking
• 900 MHz ISM — great for experimentation and practical off-grid comms
• Part 97 experimentation — maximum flexibility, maximum bragging rights

If you’re not sure where your idea fits, bring it anyway. We’ll help you aim it at something useful.

What To Expect

• Live builds and demonstrations
• Validation and test workflows (SWR, on-air, or equivalent)
• nanoVNA testing (first gate) — we’ll use a nanoVNA (a handheld antenna analyzer) to check if your build actually resonates where it should
• Finalists go on-air — top 3 builds on each band will be operated live from the outdoor patio (3rd floor) on Sunday morning at DEF CON 34
• Judging and prizes
• Community chaos
• Radio people encouraging bad ideas for good reasons

Who Should Show Up?

• Licensed hams
• Curious hackers
• Makers and tinkerers
• RF experimenters
• First-timers with a funny idea

No experience required—just curiosity and a willingness to try something weird.

Stay Connected

Got questions, want to share an idea, or just want to hang out? Join the Ham Radio Village Discord; it's the fastest way to reach us and keep up with announcements. You can also find us across our social channels linked at the bottom of the page.

Can It Ham?

Sometimes the answer is no.

That has never stopped anyone from trying.