RF Village

Lunar Descent

BSides San Diego 2026 RF Villlage CTF

(staffed by Lab Tech One)

A capture-the-flag challenge based on a real bug in a radar altimeter state machine. 

The radar altimeter processor that guided ISRO's Chandrayaan-3 to a soft lunar landing runs on a single FPGA. This CTF uses a Python reference model of that system with a deliberately introduced bug in the autortracking state machine. Participants must find the bug, understand why it causes the spacecraft to crash, and fix it.

CTF is a self-contained python script and README. It can be cloned from GitHub and will be on a small supply of gift USB drives (ORI branded). Scoring and results from code edits is returned when you run the script. Prizes from ORI (pens, stickers, the bestowal of bragging rights).

RFBITBANGER

BSides San Diego 2026 Low Power HF 

Kit Available

(staffed by Palomar Hacker) 

Be a part of the future with a prototype

Batch 2 kit build of the RFBitBanger, a low-power high-frequency digital radio by Dr. Daniel Marks KW4TI. Presented by Open Research Institute, this kit is designed to produce 4 watts of power and opens up a new digital protocol called SCAMP. Your donaiton in exchange for this kit directly enablees the further development of an innovative Class E amplifier based radio design. It has a display, button menu navigation, and keyboard connecrtion for the keyboard modes and keyboard enabled navigation. This radio can be taken portable or used in a case. If you have a 3D printer, then Dr. Marks has a design ready for you to print in the repository linked below.

• Built-in digital modes: CW, RTTY, SCAMP (FSK and OOK, multiple speeds)

• Key jack supports straight keys and iambic paddles

• Open Source hardware and firmware, Arduino UNO compatible

• External sound-card FSK digital modes supported (including FT4/FT8)

• Experimental SSB support

• Serial port support (2400 baud) for send and receive in keyboard modes

SCAMP is a new protocol that allows keyboard-to-keyboard contacts with a digital protocol that has excellent connection performance. See Dr. Marks presentation about RFBitBanger at QSO Today Academy in September 2023 to learn more about SCAMP and the RFBitBanger project.

All surface mount parts on the main board are pre-installed at the factory. All the through-hole parts you need to compete the radio are provided for you to solder yourself.

Builder's notes and photos of all the components to help you identify and install are in the included instructions.

If you don't know how to wind toroids or solder surface mount capacitors, this is an excellent kit to learn on. There are just six toroids on the main board, and two on each band pass filter board and operate on a single band, or you can build an assortment. We provide 12 filter boards, enough toroids to build any 9 filters, and a supply of capacitors that will let you build those 9 filters for 9 different HF ham bands. These capacitors are size 1206, which is the largest common size for SMT capacitors and the easiest to solder manually. All you'll need is a pair of tweezers and your regular soldering iron and solder. We provide detailed instructions on winding the toroids and soldering the capacitors. You get spare filter boards to experiment with.

Friendly Support is provided through a dedicated Open Research Institute Slack channel, which can be joined at https://www.openresearch.institute/getting-started/

OPULENT VOICE

BSides San Diego 2026 RF Village Demonstration

(staffed by Mustbeart and Abraxas3d)

Open source digital protocol Opulent Voice will be demonstrated. Hear how great digital voice codec enough bits. Try out the web interface, and learn how voice, control, keyboard, and data can all be transmitted seamlessly over the air without having to switch to a separate clunky packet mode. It's a golden age for amateur radio and software defined radio, and Opulent Voice is a powerful example of modern and innovative open source communication protocols.