Hackers On Planet Earth

Can It Ham? Hackers, Hams, and the Signal Between Them

Andrew "livitup" Ohnstad, Terry "shoot3r" Schanno

Hackers and amateur radio operators have more in common than either group tends to admit. One speaker came up through 1990s hacker culture – attending 2600 meetings and contributing to 2600: The Hacker Quarterly long before becoming a licensed amateur radio operator. The other has spent decades in amateur radio, only to discover through DEF CON that the hacker mindset had been there all along. Through the story of the “Can It Ham?” contest – where participants build working antennas from unconventional materials – this talk explores how RF experimentation, system-level curiosity, and hands-on exploration form a shared foundation between hackers and hams. This is a story about rediscovery, perception, and what happens when you remove labels and just start building.

Saturday 1300 Gramercy Park Suite

Andrew “livitup” Ohnstad (N3OCQ) is an amateur radio operator and technologist with decades of experience in IT and systems work. He is active in education and youth outreach, introducing new audiences to wireless communication through direct engagement and real-world operation. Andrew brings a practical and generational perspective on how curiosity develops across domains.

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Terry “ shoot3r” Schanno (NV0O) is an amateur radio operator and builder focused on making RF experimentation accessible through hands-on, unconventional approaches. He is the founder of the “Can It Ham?” contest at DEF CON’s Ham Radio Village. Terry has early roots in hacker culture through 2600 meetings and has published contributions in 2600: The Hacker Quarterly. His background is in network engineering and systems infrastructure.