CONTEST TELEVISION COVERAGE:
Monday, August 11, 2003 - On TechTV, "The Screen Savers," at 4 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.
CONTEST REPORT
(Information Updated 08/07/2003)
We would like to thank all of the contestants who registered for this contest. But we'd especially like to thank all of the contestants who actually made it out to the desert to compete. We would also like to thank and acknowledge all of the sponsors who donated prizes for this contest:
J3sus pHreakers, HackerThreads, MECO - (also known as Uncle Ira), Jinx Gamers, Geeks and Hackers, BreakPoint Books, Pasadena Networks Antennas and Cables, and TechTV.
All first-place winners received magnificent swag from our generous contest sponsors. TechTV donated five $500 gift certificates from Best Buy or Circuit City for each of the first-place winning teams in the individual antenna categories. Patrick Norton from "The Screen Savers" awarded the TechTV prizes to the winners. The Dark Tangent presented a coveted DefCon Pass Badge to each winning team, which will entitle the holder to free admission to DefCon XII. There were no contestants in Category 3 - homemade omnidirectional antenna. Maybe next year. : )
Congratulations to all contestants!
THE CONTEST PROCESS
Most wi-fi antennas will do a great job under ideal conditions, with an ideal installation. But competing in the DefCon Wi-Fi Shootout was much different than setting up an antenna in your back yard, or on top of a friend's house.
The mountainous desert is a humbling experience and a hostile environment. To get better line-of-sight, many contestants decided to hike up a mountain with all of their gear.
ASLRulz team members atop the base camp peak, elevation 4,650 feet above sea level.
All contestants had to provide their own portable power sources, and then attempt to shoot their signal as far as they possibly could down the Great Basin Highway, toward another mountain range approximately 40 miles away.
The Great Basin Highway (State Highway 93), looking north from the base camp peak, toward the mountains of the Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, approximately 40 miles away, elevation 5,218 feet above sea level.
Friday's competition revealed the truly hard-core contestants, who were willing to climb up the mountain in the rain, wind, and cold -- (yes, rain, wind AND cold!) -- after being stuck in a Las Vegas traffic jam for almost two hours. Saturday's competition was hot and dusty.
Over the two days, the contestants successfully logged their best distances. Those distances were verified on the spot by contest staff using GPS coordinates and a verbal encryption scheme at both the base camp location and at the field location.
2003 MOST INNOVATIVE ANTENNA
The DefCon Wi-Fi Shootout contest staff decided to award a special prize for the antenna design that represented the most "outside-the-box" thinking, that pushed the limits of the conventional wisdom of this day and time -- an award for the antenna that could improvise, adapt, and overcome.
This unique antenna was designed on Thursday, July 31, its component parts were purchased for $98 at The Home Depot in Las Vegas. The team members report that they were almost thrown out of Home Depot because they stayed so late at closing time, trying to make decisions about the antenna materials.
On Friday, August 1, the antenna was built completely from scratch in the desert, on the side of the mountain, in the rain. The large horn was comprised of metal pipes and window screen wire mesh. It had a transceiving element made from cardboard, duct tape and aluminum foil -- and both components worked spectacularly. A bath towel was used to provide shade over the laptop screen, which was otherwise unreadable in the glare of the desert, even with the clouds overhead.
It is true that this antenna's design is an old one... going back at least as far as the early radio astronomy antennas of the 1930s. But regardless of how old the concept may be, this homemade antenna definitely surpassed all of the commercially manufactured antennas in the field of competition. It may be an old idea, but it was innovative in the unexpected resurrection of the ancient design, and in its superb distance performance. For these reasons, the contest staff chose this antenna as the Most Innovative Antenna of the 2003 DefCon Wi-Fi Shootout.
The 2003 Award for The Most Innovative Antenna is proudly presented to:
ASLRulz
DEFCON XI WI-FI SHOOTOUT WINNERS
Listed in order from the smallest to the greatest distance:
CATEGORY 4 - Homemade directional antenna
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.645, W114 55.394
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N36 44.036, W114 56.118
Using a laptop 30 mW Lucent Orinoco card, and a homebuilt directional cantenna with ¼ wave guide feed, made from two Hormel Chili cans soldered together, artistically painted and decorated, with a confirmed distance of 5.1061 miles, the winner is:
APP
CATEGORY 2 - Stock/unmodified, with commercially made directional antenna
THIRD-PLACE
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.658, W114 59.372
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N36 43.842, W114 56.088
Using a Vivato 25 dB panel antenna, with a confirmed distance of 5.6991 miles, the third-place runner-up is:
CODISYS 3/TRIAD WIRELESS
CATEGORY 2 - Stock/unmodified, with commercially made directional antenna
SECOND PLACE
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.712, W114 55.384
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N36 48.165, W114 56.510
Equipment info to be supplied later - with a confirmed distance of 9.8002 miles, the second-place runner up is:
AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE
CATEGORY 2 - Stock/unmodified, with commercially made directional antenna
FIRST PLACE
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.635, W114 55.383
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N36 48.369, W114 56.874
Using a stock Hyperlink 15 dBi Omni at the base camp, and a stock Hyperlink 24 dBi parabolic grid at the field site, with a confirmed distance of 10.1625 miles, the winner is:
4DI
CATEGORY 1 - Stock/unmodified, with commercially made omnidirectional antenna
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.635, W114 55.383
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N36 48.386, W114 56.880
Using a stock Hyperlink 15 dBi Omni at the base camp, and a stock Lucent 12 dBi Omni at the field site, with a confirmed distance of 10.1827 miles, the winner is:
4DI
CATEGORY 5 - Enhanced power, (omni or directional) commercially made antenna
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.698, W114 55.431
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N36 52.523, W114 57.389
At the base camp: Apple G4 800 MHz Notebook, with 10.2.6 ftpserver, 5G single panel AP, 3-foot tripod, 15-foot mast, angle ~150.
At the field site: 4ms 4.26 Mbps, Toshiba Satellite 1135-s1552, P4M 2.0 GHz 512 meg ram, Windows XP Pro ftp command prompt only, 5G CPE 800 mW, 16 dbi circular polarity antenna, RSSI -67 dbm, Noise floor -125 dbm, 10-foot mast, 3-foot tripod, AGL ~2 feet.
With a confirmed distance of 14.8951 miles the winner is:
5G Wireless Communications, Inc.
CATEGORY 6 - Enhanced power, (omni or directional) homemade antenna
Base Camp GPS Coordinates: N36 39.646, W114 55.394
Field Site GPS Coordinates: N37 09.910, W115 00.618
Using a monster horn, constructed from metal poles and window screen wire mesh, and a transceiving device constructed of cardboard, duct tape, and aluminum foil, with a confirmed distance of 35.2196 miles, the winner is:
ASLRulz
GRAND PRIZE
A Grand Prize is awarded for the greatest distance achieved over all, in any cateogry. This Grand Prize is a $1,000 gift certificate donated by TechTV, and other fine gifts from the contest sponsors.
With a confirmed distance of 35.2196 miles, the DefCon Wi-Fi Shootout Grand Prize winner is:
ASLRulz
Thank you everyone for participating!
We'll see you next year!
2003 CONTEST GOAL:
To see who can achieve the greatest wi-fi/802.11b connect distance.
2003 CONTEST EVENT STAFF:
Dave Moore
Michele Moore
Anna Moore
Stefan Morris
2003 CONTEST EVENT DETAILS: Basic Rules
- The contest will be open to Defcon attendees who agree to the contest rules. Contestants must register with and be accepted by contest staff in order to participate.
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The contest begins Friday at 12 noon, August 1. Contestants should meet with staff in the lobby of the Alexis Park Hotel. Look for the Wi-Fi Shootout sign. At the meeting, contestants can register, and we can coordinate to see if anyone needs a ride to the contest location. Due to the last-minute edict of the Las Vegas Fire Marshall, the roof of the Alexis Park will not be available for ANY DefCon activities.
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How to Enter the Contest:
Prior to Defcon:
Register via email ; or
Register on the Defcon Chat forum.
At Defcon:
Register at the DEF CON Info Booth before Friday 11:30 AM; or
Register with contest staff in the lobby of the Alexis Park on Friday, August 1, at 12 noon; or
Register with contest staff in the lobby of the Alexis Park on Saturday, August 2, between 12 noon and 12:30 p.m.
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Contest entry deadline is Saturday at 12:30 p.m., August 2.
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Entrants must make their physical Convention presence known to contest staff by the deadline. Exceptions may be made at the discretion of contest staff.
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2.4 GHz, 802.11b equipment only. No "g," no "a." No signal relaying.
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A total of 48 entry slots are available, and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.
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Entries may be individuals or teams, with no limit on the number of members per team. However, each entry shall appoint only one person to officially interact with contest staff at any given time. One official contact badge per entry will be issued by contest staff, and may be exchanged between entry members as desired.
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Entries may compete in a maximum of two competition categories.
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Contestants shall provide their own transceiving equipment, which must be capable of sending, receiving and displaying a specific text message provided by contest staff. Contestants will be responsible for the proper operation of their equipment, and contest staff will bear no responsibility for any liability arising from the operation of contestants' equipment.
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Winners agree to openly disclose the technology used to achieve connect distances.
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Contestants agree to compete honestly, and may be summarily disqualified at any time for behavior deemed inappropriate by contest staff, i.e. intentionally logging false distances. No cheating, jamming or sabotage!
2003 EVENT DETAILS: Competition Rules
Competition categories:
1. Stock/unmodified, with commercially made omnidirectional wi-fi antenna
2. Stock/unmodified, with commercially made directional wi-fi antenna
3. Homemade omnidirectional antenna
4. Homemade directional antenna
5. Enhanced power, (omni or directional) commercially made
6. Enhanced power, (omni or directional) homemade
There will be two transmission log times, one on Friday, and one on Saturday. Contestants must log their transmission distance entries with contest staff. Contestants may log transmission distances at both log times, or at only one of the log times. The log times are:
Friday, August 1, following the 12 noon meeting in the hotel lobby.
Saturday, August 2, following the 12 noon meeting in the hotel lobby.
- After verifying two-way transmissions from contestants' equipment, transmission locations and distances will be calculated by contest staff. Distances reported may be derived from GPS units, locating oneself on a map and determining latitude/longitude, or any other approved source.
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At both log times, transmission verification will be required in order to determine category winners.
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Award ceremonies hosted by Dark Tangent will be held Sunday, August 3, at which time category winners will be announced, and prizes awarded.
HOW TO JOIN FOR DEFCON 2004:
Put the address below into the proper format, and send us an email!
contestATwifi-shootoutDOTcom
