Topic: GekkoScience BM1384 Project Development Discussion - page 56. (Read 146665 times)

Tall and skinny would be preferable.  Not sure how wide it would actually end up, but 2" is fairly wide.  Widest ones I've got are 40mm (1.57").  Longest one is 95mm (3.74")

I agree with this.

Given the side by side nature of some usb hubs, I would think that taller and skinnier would be compatible for more folks and allow more airflow for multiple units.

Freez gear.  PM send.

Also, it just occurred to me I have two options for making the Amita. I can either add about 1.5 inches to the length of the Compac by simply stacking chips, or I could shuffle things around and make it wider.

The easiest thing is going to be making it longer, I think. Wider might make power stuff a bit easier, but then it wouldn't work in side-by-side hubs near as well. Anyone got any opinions? What's better - two inches square, or one inch by four inches?

Eh, I'll have to add crap anyway to two-node it which will add a minimum quarter inch to the width anyway. And since power comes in at the top of the string but signal comes in at the bottom, I can Y my interface circuits pretty readily that way. Might work out nicely.

So yeah, opinions? Short and fat or tall and skinny?

Sounds good. I am sending a pm.

So, it's officially summer in Missouri which means for the next two months I can expect sporadic 100F days. Upgrades to hosting ventilation have dropped ambient temps in the shop quite a bit (the main building is now basically the same temp as outside, instead of ~10F warmer) but that doesn't mean it's actually nice. Looks like I'll be working the 5AM shift for a while to get crap done while it's cold. Novak's actually fairly comfortable in 90's heat, but I'm built more for 50's. So. It's funny because normally I'd be getting to work right now but today I've already fiddle-farted around a bit and assembled and tested a stick miner with the V0.4 board.

I got it to start at about 610mV and 150MHz. I also got one of them thingers what with the majiggering like Phil and CrazyGuy have for measuring USB power, and it tells me the stick is currently pulling 560mA at 4.97V, zero HW and 2100 accepted after a little over 20 minutes runtime.

All the caps fit comfortably, the new UART leveling is working quite well and one humorous side-effect of the redesign is the pot now increases voltage with counterclockwise rotation. I'll probably adjust that before running out a final batch. I think that and moving the reset cap out from under the heatsink will pretty much do it. [edit:] And I added a RESET test pad to the backside, which resets the device when grounded; the test pads on the back should also now be labeled. You can use these to measure 1.8V and 0.9V logic power as well as the hashcores' voltage, Vcore.

So, looks like I need to assemble more of these things and start disseminating them to testors. I don't have enough parts on hand, I think, to build them all but we'll probably be sending off a parts order today which will have some stuff on it for those sticks. That'll give me a few days to play with 'em myself before I ship 'em to my test/verify guys. Which will also give me a few days to get ahold of some of the test/verify guys and make sure everyone's willing to help.

I've got a majority of the funding required for chips already allocated, but we've got a sizeable outstanding invoice overdue that's tying up funds so we're pretty much a week late on placing that order. Kinda sucks. Good news is, we got word our new pick-and-place will be shipping today so once we have that up and running it'll make assembly suck an order of magnitude less.

Way cool, can't wait to see the next round of results.  The 18-chip board it gonna get a lot of people excited.

so these Compac V0.4   will be the final 1 chip usb stick design. (assuming all works)

here is hoping they match the version tested.

also good luck with the 18 chip board.

Godspeed  !

Novak and I agree about pretty much everything regarding what does and doesn't suck. He's actually a bit younger than I am too - and meaner, if you believe that, but he keeps a tight leash so it's okay I guess.

Anyways, hey guess what arrived this morning!

Some PCBs. I bet you guessed that right. PCBs for the Compac V0.4 and barebones 18-boards. I'll test Compacs first and see how those guys behave, and if they work I'll hand off a bunch to folks for testing. Lighting up the 18-board is going to be a bit trickier because I'll have to verify everything node-by-node while juggling power so it doesn't burninate, so I might not have news on that for a few days.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. -- Margaret Mead

- sidehack

Apologies for the long kind of off-topic post, but I do talk about sidehack and the new mining gear
 
I have done a small amount of business with sidehack.
I have read this thread and others where sidehack posts frequently as most of you have.
I always imagined sidehack as a 50+ yr old Engineer who was fed up with the way certain politicians and ceos have ruined our world and decided to do what he could the way he knew best.

I read a reply by him the other day stating he was twenty-something, but the quote above speaks volumes coming from anyone of any age.

I believe in the hobby miner concept and am one myself. I've taught my daughters not to be afraid of anything electrical but to respect it, and enjoy it. They understand how to learn about things they don't understand.
I spent what is a large amount of money for me doing so.
I have also had an intense amount of fun. This past weekend I worked all day at the day job, came home and my oldest and me started at 6: PM Friday night, she went to bed about 2: AM; I had a few cups of Joe and stayed at it. She got up on her own and helped me mount a fan at 8: AM and we worked until about 10: PM that night. She was given the pleasure of bringing all the breakers on, and then flipping the power supplys on one by one and for the first time I saw that intense twinkle of amazement and accomplishment of her realizing what we had done together. I  have a small setup by far losing money, for now. I am not an EE, but that doesn't stop me from bothering quite a few from time to time with questions way below what would stress their abilities (and sidehack as well, thanks for tolerating some of my off the wall, basic, redundant questions.)

I said all of that to say the quote by sidehack speaks to many people in a way politicians and most ceos can never say and be honest because of their position. They are beholden to shareholders no matter what, and the most profit is the name of the game.
When we teach our children and others in our personal lives it is not all about the profit. It is about a thing called happiness, sometimes called pride, some may say humble, but whatever word you use it is about the true meaning of life and helping each other. Truly what P2P means and I believe it is why bitcoin and the blockchain were created.

I do not think we will stop the centralization of the mining world but I know that with people like sidehack and hopefully my daughter being involved we will always have people with priorities a bit different than politicians and ceos. People that understand, and people that "get it".

Don't get me wrong, I'd love to have a bunch of money, giant mining farm to putter around in all day, send my kids to Harvard, Yale, or wherever they want, and decide when I work for two or three days straight rather than it being something I have to do to get ahead at the day job, but that isn't the place I put myself. I hope I have taught my girls to say what is on their minds, be independant, and not work 20 years off their lives for a bit of money. We are planning to take skydiving lessons this fall and go on our first solo by next summer. That is the freedom I want them to experience. The oldests last couple of birthday parties were bring donations for the SPCA, no presents. The stuff you cannot fake. Sometimes I have to reel her back in because she is too giving and I tell her she does need to lookout for herself. Growing up with only me, a hardass who says yes sir and no sir, who works every day with a man who has lived and breathed the company for the last 20 years after selling his first chain of companies for more money than anyone knows she has done pretty well. What I hear in comments like the above quote from sidehack motivates me to show her more about what is right and how to change the world one person at a time.

We may never have thousands of people using their PCs to mine bitcoin again, or have the hashrate spread around thousands of people, but that doesn't mean we are heading down the wrong path. Every Time someone starts a project like Sidehack and Novak have done with the goals they set it shows someone what they can do and if they feel that way they are not alone.  It helps justify some little boy or girl who wants to think of a way to power the world but lowers the priority to monetize it. It is what makes many teachers teach, and helps some teachers teach the right things, and the right way.  Some of the brightest minds of the human race are yet to be born, and if even a small percentage are shown that they can teach the world to fish and stop giving them fish it will have an immense impact on our society because of the network effect and others before them who have set goals of teaching people to fish, one person - one pole, at a time. Our technology advances will always make someone somewhere rich until the advances of decentralization are either understood on a level anyone can not only understand but implement, or systems are designed for each person's role to have the same impact as anyone else regardless of the contribution. I do not mean Socialistic over Capitalistic, I mean decentralization as a way of life. I do not mean Government public school systems, I mean world wide school systems where we leapfrog our current education in a way which allows the contributions of some of the smartest people int he world to reach our children and they are able to assimilate that knowledge in half the time. I mean a way of life where technological advances are the way of life because we do things in a way where a form of decentralized darwinism changes our way of thinking and acting because a level of understanding is provided where we no longer need corrupt politicians and corrupt ceos calling the shots. WE no longer need police forces because society attains an ability and understanding far surpassing the need to steal, rob, or kill and victimless crime is not seen as a crime. Again, I am far from socialist so please do not think I am down that road, I am speaking of an understanding stemming from technology which makes the most sense. The same way a miner would never attack the network because by the time they amassed enough resources to do so it makes more sense to belong to the "right" group. Bitcoin and the blockchain have already changed the world, but wait until it really shines. It is a new way of life.

This is one of the biggest reasons I've requested so many times to be on sidehacks list of customers. Thanks man, and if Novac has that same streak (as it sounds) thanks to him as well. I hope you guys let me buy you burgers in person one day soon. I would take a vacation day to come over and thank you in person. You are a motivating person with his head screwed on about as straight as it gets most of the time heh

OR sell this idea to 'Big Head' Bighetti of Hooli ("silicon valley")

LOL!!

Well the 4th of July is on the horizon.

hhhhmmmmmm.

A liquid cooled potato cannon. Interesting concept. Now if I can just get DARPA funding . . . .

Sorry, I don't have any knowledge of where AM was sourcing the heatsinks and haven't heard from Friedcat since last year.
I imagine if you weld 4 heatsinks together, you could have a pretty solid short range potato cannon, which should hold you over while sidehack works on the boards.

Hey CG, Wassssuuupppp!

You wouldn't, per chance, know who AM sourced those heatsinks from?

If one were to TIG the sinks together and TIG a cap/tank on each end with an appropriately sized piece of AL square tube stock down the center. . . .
Will post pics when finished.

Any word/rumors on FriedCat's whereabouts?

Too put a fine point to it, I'd like to see: One thousand, additional, profitable, 50TH mining farms in one thousand homes.
Howsoever the H/W is implemented.

During the time I've been involved with BTC ecosystem I've witnessed a paradigm shift in mining concentration.
When one of the "Big 4" operates the second largest pool, and pools that were huge now account for a small fractional part of the total network hash, I get really concerned.
https://blockchain.info/pools

You can always count on Americans to do the right thing - after they've tried everything else.
Winston Churchill
 

I know where about a dozen are, so I'd be surprised if there were only 200 here.