Yes, thank you for quoting something from a year and a half ago.
I do still have Bitfury 16nm samples, but last time I asked a bulk order of chips was about 9 months lead time so I started looking at alternatives. I have worked out an arrangement with someone who already had some solid R&D on a different chip to share his knowledge in exchange for help with cgminer integration (and a cut of sales), which put me about two months ahead on a new design.
I'm also talking to, or trying to talk to, a couple of those "new guys" who show up out of nowhere and whose chips may or may not exist now or sometime in the future. I know that's pretty vague and that's sorta deliberate because I don't want to get anyone's hopes up. Never promise more than you can deliver, right?
Once I have new-chip stuff ready, we'll be retiring the 2Pac in favor of a new-chip stickminer. The Terminus R808 pod will probably still be around for a while but I also intend on making a new-chip pod. It'll be more capable but it'll also be more expensive, hence why I'd keep the R808 around as a cheaper entry-level option. The new pod miner would be form-factor-compatible, all the jacks and mounting holes in the same place so a case for one would work for the other.
The new pod, and ideally the new stick as well, would have software-controlled adjustable voltage.
By now the assembly line is pretty well laid out and I don't have to do nearly as much myself, which means R&D on new stuff gets done more efficiently. That's good news.
Oh yeah and I've got a bit of a concept change for my powered USB hub project that should take out some of the headaches, so I should start prototyping on that soon. Who knows, maybe it'll be available to ship with the new 16nm stickminers.
Also for anyone who hadn't already noticed, I do have an actual salesperson now to handle customer communication so small sales are re-opened on 2Pacs, and she's making a list of people interested in pod miners and 2Pac seconds for when those are in stock. Contact
[email protected] if you're interested in buying something - yes, that's the same Laura whose medical expenses benefit from the sale of 2Pac seconds. We've figured out a mutually beneficial way of helping her both more directly and more substantially.