[Announcement] Block Erupter USB - page 33.

Xian01

legendary

Activity: 1652

Merit: 1067

Christian Antkow

Quote from: HTML5 Gordon on May 16, 2013, 07:54:13 PM

ASICMiner uses quad-flat no-leads (QFN) packages, so there is a metal plate on the bottom. Heat dissipates through openings to the other side, hence the heatsinks being on the bottom.

*makes motions of things going over his head*

I'll need to look into QFN on teh Googles. Interesting stuff. Thanks.

HTML5 Gordon

full member

Activity: 184

Merit: 100

Quote from: Xian01 on May 16, 2013, 06:57:04 PM

Quote from: AJRGale on May 16, 2013, 06:53:29 PM

Hmm, if the asic chip is on the top of the PCB, and the heatsink is on the bottom, what is it sinking? and why is there no pictures of that side?

I was thinking that myself... "Wouldn't you want the heatsink on the top of the plug to radiate heat up instead of through the PCB ?"

*shrugs*

ASICMiner uses quad-flat no-leads (QFN) packages, so there is a metal plate on the bottom. Heat dissipates through openings to the other side, hence the heatsinks being on the bottom.

ChinaCoin

newbie

Activity: 28

Merit: 0

Yes, you'll have to spend money on a quality Hub, and $50 will take you there.

razorfishsl

sr. member

Activity: 399

Merit: 250

Don't buy these cheap 10-12 way hubs, they are Cu**t designs

open one up and take a look
The PCB layout is along the lines of :

CHIP: con:con:con:con :CHIP:con:con:con

Rather than
con:con:CHIP:con:con: con:con:CHIP:con:con

So the USB lines are twice as long as they need to be, and they run 4*USB signals in parallel tracks side by side with no Guard bands

Then the PSU is just plugs STRAIGHT into the powerfeed for the chips... and back into the computer no VARs no blocking diodes.....

To safely power down your driving CPU you have to UNPLUG the USB cable first...........

The whole design has been thrown together by some cock sucker in a rice field.

mdude77

legendary

Activity: 1540

Merit: 1001

Quote from: PeZ on May 16, 2013, 07:31:00 PM

Quote from: CumpsD on May 16, 2013, 01:39:04 PM

Quote from: BenTuras on May 16, 2013, 01:38:00 PM

http://dx.com/s/High+Speed+10+Port+USB+2.0+HUB

various colors ;-)

Ah, DX

Too bad it takes like over a month for something I order there to get to here Wink

Might buy one for fun raspberry projects later on

Thanks!

1. Get cheap hub from China and get big problems. Here's the review from one buyer...

Quote

WARNING: I have one of these, and they used a 0 ohm resistor where there should be a diode installed. This caused the hub to backfeed power into my mainboard and it blew my mainboard. I very nearly blew the replacement board too but I was being very careful and plugging things in one at a time. The second that I plugged this in to the new mainboard, it shut down instantly. It works OK if I don't hook up the power supply to power this hub. I'm going to unsolder the jumper resistor and put in the diode that should have been in there in the first place, but I won't be buying any more of these.

2. Don't expect the Pi to work with just any hub...
http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals#Working_USB_Hubs

I was looking at hubs as well. Not impressed with what I've seen so far. NewEgg doesn't seem to have any that make it easy to plug a good number of these puppies in.

Amazon has a bunch. Those that are < $20 have horrible reviews. Almost every one says "not enough power to power all my devices at once, sometimes not enough to power one". If each of these pulls min of 0.5ma, I suspect these cheap things aren't going to cut it. Not thrilled with the idea of spending $50 on a USB hub.. but it looks like that's what I'm going to have to do.

Thoughts?

M

PeZ

sr. member

Activity: 297

Merit: 250

Quote from: CumpsD on May 16, 2013, 01:39:04 PM

Quote from: BenTuras on May 16, 2013, 01:38:00 PM

http://dx.com/s/High+Speed+10+Port+USB+2.0+HUB

various colors ;-)

Ah, DX

Too bad it takes like over a month for something I order there to get to here Wink

Might buy one for fun raspberry projects later on

Thanks!

1. Get cheap hub from China and get big problems. Here's the review from one buyer...

Quote

WARNING: I have one of these, and they used a 0 ohm resistor where there should be a diode installed. This caused the hub to backfeed power into my mainboard and it blew my mainboard. I very nearly blew the replacement board too but I was being very careful and plugging things in one at a time. The second that I plugged this in to the new mainboard, it shut down instantly. It works OK if I don't hook up the power supply to power this hub. I'm going to unsolder the jumper resistor and put in the diode that should have been in there in the first place, but I won't be buying any more of these.

2. Don't expect the Pi to work with just any hub...
http://elinux.org/RPi_VerifiedPeripherals#Working_USB_Hubs

Xian01

legendary

Activity: 1652

Merit: 1067

Christian Antkow

Quote from: AJRGale on May 16, 2013, 06:53:29 PM

Hmm, if the asic chip is on the top of the PCB, and the heatsink is on the bottom, what is it sinking? and why is there no pictures of that side?

I was thinking that myself... "Wouldn't you want the heatsink on the top of the plug to radiate heat up instead of through the PCB ?"

*shrugs*

daemondazz

sr. member

Activity: 448

Merit: 250

I'd assume that the AM design is similar to the Avalon one in which there is a large themal pad on the bottom of the ASIC chip which is connected to the heatsink through the PCB using thermal vias. That's actually a pretty standard practice.

AJRGale

hero member

Activity: 767

Merit: 500

Hmm, if the asic chip is on the top of the PCB, and the heatsink is on the bottom, what is it sinking? and why is there no pictures of that side?

wayner

newbie

Activity: 52

Merit: 0

Quote from: CumpsD on May 16, 2013, 01:39:04 PM

Quote from: BenTuras on May 16, 2013, 01:38:00 PM

http://dx.com/s/High+Speed+10+Port+USB+2.0+HUB

various colors ;-)

Ah, DX

Too bad it takes like over a month for something I order there to get to here Wink

Might buy one for fun raspberry projects later on

Thanks!

Just search your local ebay for "10 Port USB Hub" and you should find it.

CumpsD

sr. member

Activity: 476

Merit: 250

Quote from: BenTuras on May 16, 2013, 01:38:00 PM

http://dx.com/s/High+Speed+10+Port+USB+2.0+HUB

various colors ;-)

Ah, DX

Too bad it takes like over a month for something I order there to get to here Wink

Might buy one for fun raspberry projects later on

Thanks!

BenTuras

hero member

Activity: 826

Merit: 1001

http://dx.com/s/High+Speed+10+Port+USB+2.0+HUB

various colors ;-)

CumpsD

sr. member

Activity: 476

Merit: 250

Quote from: friedcat on May 04, 2013, 08:39:52 AM

We also tested it on the USB-hub. Seven in a row run over a whole night and are all very stable.

That's a cute hub! Could you tell me which brand/model that is?

bitzip

newbie

Activity: 53

Merit: 0

If you want a few of these USB Block Erupters. Join a buy group. This buy group needs orders for about 40 more unit.

European Buy Group
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/gb-usb-asic-miner-closed-and-completed-195037

Marrs

member

Activity: 112

Merit: 10

Quote from: markyminer on May 15, 2013, 05:48:46 PM

Quote from: Xian01 on May 15, 2013, 04:15:06 PM

You of course realize there are ways to fiat other than Dwolla, right ?

I beleive Dwolla was popular becaus it was cheap and quick to get even small $ amounts into and out of BTC.

You can still use Dwolla. You just need to use CampBX as an intermediary.

MtGox<->CampBX<->Dwolla

markyminer

hero member

Activity: 532

Merit: 500

Quote from: Xian01 on May 15, 2013, 04:15:06 PM

Quote from: markyminer on May 15, 2013, 03:47:50 PM

With you Yanks cheap and easy exit from BTC into Fiat shut off via Mt.Gox and Dwolla I think you might get a nasty lesson in just how important a route to Fiat is for the value of BTC.

I said pardon ?

You of course realize there are ways to fiat other than Dwolla, right ?

Sure. All cheap and easy routes into and out of Mt.Gox got GBP £ have been systematically shut down by UK banks since March. But Gox will happily send and receive wire transfers in Sterling or USD.

Problem is this involves hefty fees and losses in exchange rates from Yen to sterling. This makes smallish transactions into / out of BTC very expensive. Say BTC drops to $50 next week and yep i decide to take two of these USB miners now as in FIAT they have dropped from 2BTC to 1 BTC. But the costs to wire transfer and exchange £260 into 4 BTC can hit 20%!

I beleive Dwolla was popular becaus it was cheap and quick to get even small $ amounts into and out of BTC.

M

PeZ

sr. member

Activity: 297

Merit: 250

Quote from: Xian01 on May 15, 2013, 04:15:06 PM

You of course realize there are ways to fiat other than Dwolla, right ?

And those will be next on ICE's hitlist.

Naelr

full member

Activity: 231

Merit: 100

Quote from: muyuu on May 14, 2013, 09:33:01 AM

I wonder how many of these USB erupters will end up in office computers Cheesy

Mine will!!!!!

muyuu

donator

Activity: 980

Merit: 1000

Quote from: Amph on May 15, 2013, 02:23:10 PM

i still don't understand why the price is so high

1 chip + 1 mini pcb + one usb connector = 2tbc, really?

it would have been much better if they were priced 0.50-1 btc, much honest price...

At 0.5 they would be much better than the blades.

Demand meets supply at a substantially higher price than that, it's just that simple.

Xian01

legendary

Activity: 1652

Merit: 1067

Christian Antkow

Quote from: markyminer on May 15, 2013, 03:47:50 PM

With you Yanks cheap and easy exit from BTC into Fiat shut off via Mt.Gox and Dwolla I think you might get a nasty lesson in just how important a route to Fiat is for the value of BTC.

I said pardon ?

You of course realize there are ways to fiat other than Dwolla, right ?

Topic: [Announcement] Block Erupter USB - page 33. (Read 251926 times)