This isn't valid proof, so what do you want me to provide to check off the first step of this quest?
Topic: 🔥 GingerWallet.io | LN Quest ⚡Up to 50 merits (Read 607 times)
Since I've my Umbrel node spinning for three years and something, more as a technology study than for serious LN operation, and someone needs to step up first, I'll give it a go (don't expect fast pace, my Raspi Umbrel node suffers currently a concerning full storage. I'm hesitant to lock coins into channels at the current state.
This isn't valid proof, so what do you want me to provide to check off the first step of this quest?
This isn't valid proof, so what do you want me to provide to check off the first step of this quest?
I wanted to do the same, i.e. under Windows, but I gave up because of rather low uptime of my computer.
However, in my research I've seen that LND has Windows release and I've found a pretty detailed tutorial for it. I can't say if they are actually good, but they surely look promising.
However, in my research I've seen that LND has Windows release and I've found a pretty detailed tutorial for it. I can't say if they are actually good, but they surely look promising.
Yeah... I think I went through that option. I don't remember if it was this or another tutorial I saw, but I'll look at it again.
I have a full Bitcoin node spinning, so if the whole process was less complicated I would have done it already. But, it's quite complex and complicated, and I need to have some free time to focus on it and analyze everything.
Some time ago, I still investigated about creating an LN channel in Windows. But I ended up not moving forward.
Perhaps this can be an opportunity to look at this situation again. But, what would be the best program to create an LN channel on Windows?
Perhaps this can be an opportunity to look at this situation again. But, what would be the best program to create an LN channel on Windows?
I wanted to do the same, i.e. under Windows, but I gave up because of rather low uptime of my computer.
However, in my research I've seen that LND has Windows release and I've found a pretty detailed tutorial for it. I can't say if they are actually good, but they surely look promising.
Some time ago, I still investigated about creating an LN channel in Windows. But I ended up not moving forward.
Perhaps this can be an opportunity to look at this situation again. But, what would be the best program to create an LN channel on Windows?
Perhaps this can be an opportunity to look at this situation again. But, what would be the best program to create an LN channel on Windows?
I had hopes for opening Electrum channels but have to let it go because your post took my confidence away. Three Electrum channels will not be cheap. I will read about the Electrum routing issues, when I am ready I may potentially select a new option. I have one problem less to think about because I have a fully synced node.
You misunderstood my post. You don't have to open 3 channels. You can open one if you want to. It's just that I will hand out 10 merit for each channel opened.
That way, people who don't want to run an entire LND can get merits for that part.
I chose 10 so that it won't be *too much* merit just for opening the channel.
I had hopes for opening Electrum channels but have to let it go because your post took my confidence away. Three Electrum channels will not be cheap. I will read about the Electrum routing issues, when I am ready I may potentially select a new option. I have one problem less to think about because I have a fully synced node.
You'll get 10 merits if you open a lightning channel. Since you're running Electrum, you can open up to three of them and get 10 merits for each one. More channels = better.
Channels are not cheap to open so this is a good incentive for opening them.
Besides, Electrum is known to have payment routing issues with only one channel, as I saw for myself some time ago. So better to open more than one channel.
Channels are not cheap to open so this is a good incentive for opening them.
Besides, Electrum is known to have payment routing issues with only one channel, as I saw for myself some time ago. So better to open more than one channel.
I did not dabble in LN before but I am running a fully synced Bitcoin node. Do I qualify for the 30 merits if I use Electrum wallet for opening lightening channels?
Where are our node runners? Guys, come and run some nodes. You can even get some free merits for doing so. 
You'll get 10 merits if you open a lightning channel. Since you're running Electrum, you can open up to three of them and get 10 merits for each one. More channels = better.
Channels are not cheap to open so this is a good incentive for opening them.
Besides, Electrum is known to have payment routing issues with only one channel, as I saw for myself some time ago. So better to open more than one channel.
I did not dabble in LN before but I am running a fully synced Bitcoin node. Do I qualify for the 30 merits if I use Electrum wallet for opening lightening channels?
Where are our node runners? Guys, come and run some nodes. You can even get some free merits for doing so.
I disagree partly. Technically you don't need two channels, one to send, the other to receive, to be able to send and receive coins. You can send coins when your sole channel has outbound capacity. You can receive coins with the same sole channel if this channel has inbound capacity. (In this case all coin flow from your LN node goes through your channel partner. Your channel partner needs to be able to properly route your coins to and from some other LN node.)
The thing is just that when you fund and open a channel all liquidity is usually first on the outbound side. You can immediately send coins to your channel partner or routed by him to another LN node. But as you usually don't have any inbound capacity immediately after opening a channel (what Phoenix wallet does is not common!) you can't yet receive any coins to that channel as long as you don't create inbound capacity by sending out some coins from that channel.
What is true, you need at least two channels to route coins through your node. Your node could route a payment of someone else that goes in through a channel of yours that has enough inbound capacity and that goes out by your other channel that has enough outbound capacity (you can claim a little bit of routing fees; don't even think to get greedy).
The thing is just that when you fund and open a channel all liquidity is usually first on the outbound side. You can immediately send coins to your channel partner or routed by him to another LN node. But as you usually don't have any inbound capacity immediately after opening a channel (what Phoenix wallet does is not common!) you can't yet receive any coins to that channel as long as you don't create inbound capacity by sending out some coins from that channel.
What is true, you need at least two channels to route coins through your node. Your node could route a payment of someone else that goes in through a channel of yours that has enough inbound capacity and that goes out by your other channel that has enough outbound capacity (you can claim a little bit of routing fees; don't even think to get greedy).
Yes, that is correct, but I just want to point out that most software opens channels via the way you mentioned in the second paragraph.
Where are our node runners? Guys, come and run some nodes. You can even get some free merits for doing so.
~~~
I disagree partly. Technically you don't need two channels, one to send, the other to receive, to be able to send and receive coins. You can send coins when your sole channel has outbound capacity. You can receive coins with the same sole channel if this channel has inbound capacity. (In this case all coin flow from your LN node goes through your channel partner. Your channel partner needs to be able to properly route your coins to and from some other LN node.)The thing is just that when you fund and open a channel all liquidity is usually first on the outbound side. You can immediately send coins to your channel partner or routed by him to another LN node. But as you usually don't have any inbound capacity immediately after opening a channel (what Phoenix wallet does is not common!) you can't yet receive any coins to that channel as long as you don't create inbound capacity by sending out some coins from that channel.
What is true, you need at least two channels to route coins through your node. Your node could route a payment of someone else that goes in through a channel of yours that has enough inbound capacity and that goes out by your other channel that has enough outbound capacity (you can claim a little bit of routing fees; don't even think to get greedy).
When you fund a "normal", say LND, channel with 110k sats, you have around 108k outbound capacity (around 2k sats are reserved for channel closure at current low mempool fees; the reserve amount will automatically vary with on-chain fee levels) and zero(!) inbound capacity. With zero inbound capacity your channel can't accept a single sat. So to get inbound capacity for such a channel you need to spend some sats first. If you send e.g. 38k sats, you end up with 70k sats outbound capacity (to send) and 38k inbound capacity (to receive).
And that's another thing I forgot to mention. The Lightning daemons themselves need at least two channels to work properly - a sending and receiving channel - some apps automatically create the receiving capacity for you for free, or for a small fee.
I have now a LN channel with 108k sats balance and 14.5k inbound liquidity (whatever that means lol!) Yeah, I'll do some more homework... when I'll have time for it.
At this state you can send roughly 108k sats, i.e. that is your current outbound or sending capacity. With 14.5k inbound capacity (without prior sending!) your channel can immediately accept a payment of 14.5k sats to your LN wallet. Your Phoenix channel's total capacity is thus 122.5k sats at this moment.Phoenix usually gives you about 10-15% of the funding amount as inbound capacity, so that you can immediately receive small payment without prior sending.
When you fund a "normal", say LND, channel with 110k sats, you have around 108k outbound capacity (around 2k sats are reserved for channel closure at current low mempool fees; the reserve amount will automatically vary with on-chain fee levels) and zero(!) inbound capacity. With zero inbound capacity your channel can't accept a single sat. So to get inbound capacity for such a channel you need to spend some sats first. If you send e.g. 38k sats, you end up with 70k sats outbound capacity (to send) and 38k inbound capacity (to receive).
It takes a bit to get the hang of it...
As some news, I managed to send 110k sats (i.e. what NotATether has suggested in this quest + some more to make sure I cover the fees) to my Phoenix wallet while the on chain fees are this incredibly small and they've opened a LN channel for me.
I have now a LN channel with 108k sats balance and 14.5k inbound liquidity (whatever that means lol!) Yeah, I'll do some more homework... when I'll have time for it.
I guess that I don't "qualify" for the quest since I've skipped the first two steps, however, I am pretty happy with the outcome, especially as I've wanted to do this step for months, hence thanks for this anyway.
I have now a LN channel with 108k sats balance and 14.5k inbound liquidity (whatever that means lol!) Yeah, I'll do some more homework... when I'll have time for it.
I guess that I don't "qualify" for the quest since I've skipped the first two steps, however, I am pretty happy with the outcome, especially as I've wanted to do this step for months, hence thanks for this anyway.
I tried to setup a LN using this link but I stopped because it says that as pre requisite to LN is that "You need to have a full Bitcoin node, not just a LN running a copy of Bitcoin Blockchain."
Moreover, my laptop is enough to run a node or I need to get some specialized server type machine to run a LN?
That's not very accurate because 1) you can use Neutrino mode instead of Bitcoin nodes and 2) I already have a synced node from which I can generate RPC credentials for you.
You can even run a LN node on your desktop, but to receive payments (zaps) you need to keep it on.
NotATether didn't elaborate in details what they meant by providing a Bitcoin Core node to connect a user's Lightning node to it. Simply ask for details...
So basically, you need an RPC connection and a ZMQ connection from Bitcoin core to the LND software.
Basically, you need these options in bitcoin.conf:
Code:
rpcuser=yourUsername
rpcpassword=yourStrongPassword
zmqpubrawblock=tcp://127.0.0.1:28332
zmqpubrawtx=tcp://127.0.0.1:28333
The ZMQ publishing ports are for automatically relaying new blocks and transactions to LND, but there's also a mode where you can poll the RPC server with that information. In the case of the host I'd set it to 0.0.0.0 for all users to connect.
The only thing I don't like about this is that there can only be one RPC user/password. Wallet functionality is disabled so that's not a problem. But people can still stop the node with it and cause annoyances.
~~~
Well, your Lightning node software, whatever it is, LND, c-Lightning or something else, needs to communicate to a Bitcoin node, mostly that's a Core node.Did you read and understand the initial post? Your Bitcoin Core node doesn't need to have the full blockchain on storage, a pruned node will work, too. Let the pruned node sync first, then connect your Lighning node software to it.
NotATether didn't elaborate in details what they meant by providing a Bitcoin Core node to connect a user's Lightning node to it. Simply ask for details...
I tried to setup a LN using this link but I stopped because it says that as pre requisite to LN is that "You need to have a full Bitcoin node, not just a LN running a copy of Bitcoin Blockchain."
Moreover, my laptop is enough to run a node or I need to get some specialized server type machine to run a LN?
I don't plan to join this quest, although it reminds me when i tried LN using Zap wallet (which was least painful way) many years ago. But with Ctrl-F i didn't find whether you refer to mainnet, testnet4 or either network, so you may want to mention it explicitly.
This is not testnet - this is the live network with everyone's money on it. It is more useful for people who want to do something practical with their nodes after they're done with this.
I don't plan to join this quest, although it reminds me when i tried LN using Zap wallet (which was least painful way) many years ago. But with Ctrl-F i didn't find whether you refer to mainnet, testnet4 or either network, so you may want to mention it explicitly.
Friends, we are now awarding merits to anybody who puts in the effort to run a Lightning node with these steps. A few merit sources will be collaborating with this. It is a great way for you to rank up if you are stuck between ranks. Please read the OP for details.
However... tutorials and too many questions/answers may make this topic difficult to follow and may need to be handled separately. On the other hand, unless more people start coming in here,... it's too quiet...
That's what Bitcoin Wiki is for, I can just dump most of the stuff there.
Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?
While I do like to see tutorials and while I am sure it would make the life easy for some, making and maintaining one may be a bit big effort. So I'd wait for more answers.
But even myself, I have a lot of n00bish questions/dilemmas, as you've seen (btw, I am still incredibly unsure which wallet would be better for me).
I know that Electrum may be relying on watchtowers, which may sound intriguing (I'll also have to get to understand what are they about).
However... tutorials and too many questions/answers may make this topic difficult to follow and may need to be handled separately. On the other hand, unless more people start coming in here,... it's too quiet...
I've handled that for you
Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?
Guys, if you think it helps, would you like me to make detailed connection instructions for each piece of software? Such as for Electrum, Phoenix, BlueWallet and so on?
This sounds really good, considering how you enlightened more on the setup.
I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable.
But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?
I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable.
But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?
Not much, but here are some other ways you can run a Lightning node.
You might be able to get away with running Breez app on your phone, but I haven't tried this app yet. Maybe I will connect it to my node tomorrow and see how it is.
Alby Hub if I can get it to work might be a good way for you to run a Lightning Node as well. It has the same look and feel as a Bitcoin node. Even has a desktop app. But I found a bug in the login process that I'm trying to help the dev team fix.
This sounds really good, considering how you enlightened more on the setup.
I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable.
But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?
I'm totally hearing this for the first time though, and honestly I would really love to participate, considering you've explained this like this which is quite understandable.
But asides what you have said about this LN are there more to this than, that we really need to understand further?
Yes, that is perfect! Do update us with your progress, preferably when you run programs, when the application is running properly and stuff like that.
Not sure since I have to learn all the stuff there first before doing the setup, but I will definitely update the progress if I finally decide to run a lightning node.
- Ammar M. A.
New to this, then saw an interesting video by BTC Sessions on Youtube about a tutorial on how to run the Lightning Network. Is that all we need to participate in this quest?
Source:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU
- Ammar M. A.
Source:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU
- Ammar M. A.
Yes, that is perfect! Do update us with your progress, preferably when you run programs, when the application is running properly and stuff like that.
New to this, then saw an interesting video by BTC Sessions on Youtube about a tutorial on how to run the Lightning Network. Is that all we need to participate in this quest?
Source:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU
- Ammar M. A.
Source:
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KItleddMYFU
- Ammar M. A.
~~~
While I had my first Lightning node up and running about 2-3 years ago, I didn't use it much and I'm still learning about Lightning Network.It's not ideal to have your Lightning node offline for prolongued time. Don't trust me and I can't say confidently that about 20h offline time will be just fine. If you don't have channels open, it doesn't matter, but no channels is mostly pointless.
The trustless nature of Lightning means you shouldn't need to trust your channel partner. If your channel partner plays foul and posts a wrong channel state, means he tries to steal parts or all of your channel balance fraction then your Lightning node will penalize him. Apparently, your node can't do that in a timely manner when it's offline.
Not all hope is lost though, because your channel partner usually can't screw you immediately or in very short time, as far as I understood it. To minimize risks I would avoid too long offline periods. What is too long? Can't say, really. Don't stay offline with your Lightning node (LND or c-Lightning) for longer than maybe one or two days. In my opinion that's just too risky (of course it depends on your channel capacity, but I don't like loosing even a few thousand sats for no reason).
Don't perceive this as a discouragement. Lightning is interesting by design, it's also here and there complicated and a joy when it just works. Well, most coins have two sides, haven't they?
once you run the LND program in the terminal.
I come again with my main concern related to LND:
will it be an issue if my computer is stopped an average of 20h/day?
On chain, I know that after I've broadcasted the tx I'm fine and I know that my coins will come in even if my wallet is closed ("the coins are not in the wallet"). With LN I think that I have to keep LND running to keep the channel(s) open and I hope that wrong, so please tell me.
What Lightning node software can I use?
Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options.
Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options.
I have a dilemma.
I do have a Bitcoin node (and a Fulcrum) which I fire up now and then for sync and when I need it for transactions (from Electrum). It's not running 24/7 and this may be an issue, I guess.
I've seen that LND does have Windoze binaries and I could use it, but to only set it up for a week-end may not be the best use of time and may not be the way LN is supposed to be set up.
This being said, I'd use very much an advice:
* is there something I've missed and I should just go on with LND?
* should I maybe use something like Phoenix wallet for Android (although my phone is also not online 24/7 - is that a problem?)
* do you have a better solution?
It might be a good idea to use a web frontend like Ride The Lightning for Windows once you run the LND program in the terminal.
https://dev.lightning.community/tutorial/
More information: https://www.fjordblock.com/how-to-run-a-bitcoin-lightning-node-on-windows/
It is definitely better to run LND as a windows service, but I haven't seen instructions on how to do that yet.
I will find out what pruned node is later
A pruned node still downloads the entire blockchain, just doesn't store it (it only stores a rather small amount of data).
What Lightning node software can I use?
Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options.
Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options.
I have a dilemma.
I do have a Bitcoin node (and a Fulcrum) which I fire up now and then for sync and when I need it for transactions (from Electrum). It's not running 24/7 and this may be an issue, I guess.
I've seen that LND does have Windoze binaries and I could use it, but to only set it up for a week-end may not be the best use of time and may not be the way LN is supposed to be set up.
This being said, I'd use very much an advice:
* is there something I've missed and I should just go on with LND?
* should I maybe use something like Phoenix wallet for Android (although my phone is also not online 24/7 - is that a problem?)
* do you have a better solution?
This is a very good initiative, and I am actually very surprised that no one is yet participating.
I am absolutely brand new to lightening network, this is not the first time coming across the topic but I've never did understand it as clear as I did while reading through the setup steps provided by the op, I am super hyped to jump on this but unfortunately, my pc recently developed a rather serious screen issue which I am hoping I can afford to fix soon, and as soon as I do, i will definitely get on this to learn how to setup my own LN.
I initially had two questions, the first was..
1. Do I need to download the full bitcoin network before I can be able to setup my own LN - This I already found the answer in the op, and it's a No, that a pruned node will do (I will find out what pruned node is later)
2. This maybe a stupid question, but forgive me if it actually is, I am interest to know if there are any special pc specifications required to be successful with the LN setup (like from the beginning to the last step), any special kind of pc (with maybe any special feature or specifications like memory size, storage size and all) required for this?
Thanks for the answer (in anticipation).
I am absolutely brand new to lightening network, this is not the first time coming across the topic but I've never did understand it as clear as I did while reading through the setup steps provided by the op, I am super hyped to jump on this but unfortunately, my pc recently developed a rather serious screen issue which I am hoping I can afford to fix soon, and as soon as I do, i will definitely get on this to learn how to setup my own LN.
I initially had two questions, the first was..
1. Do I need to download the full bitcoin network before I can be able to setup my own LN - This I already found the answer in the op, and it's a No, that a pruned node will do (I will find out what pruned node is later)
2. This maybe a stupid question, but forgive me if it actually is, I am interest to know if there are any special pc specifications required to be successful with the LN setup (like from the beginning to the last step), any special kind of pc (with maybe any special feature or specifications like memory size, storage size and all) required for this?
Thanks for the answer (in anticipation).
OK, I'll break the ice. Shame on me, I've never set up LN.
Yeah, there's a mix of laziness and lack of time, plus the fact the price was going mostly up lately made me consider also saving a little, for a change.
However, since I'm here, I am open to try, especially as you've written that it's a marathon. Then, no matter how slow I am, I'll try to finish it. Of course, I don't need merits and so on, the fact I'll finally have LN is good enough for me.
PS. Super cool initiative, I am surprised that nobody came around yet.
Yeah, there's a mix of laziness and lack of time, plus the fact the price was going mostly up lately made me consider also saving a little, for a change.
However, since I'm here, I am open to try, especially as you've written that it's a marathon. Then, no matter how slow I am, I'll try to finish it. Of course, I don't need merits and so on, the fact I'll finally have LN is good enough for me.
PS. Super cool initiative, I am surprised that nobody came around yet.
bump
Bump
Running a Lightning node will save you fees over the long run. If you want to start one then just reply here.
Running a Lightning node will save you fees over the long run. If you want to start one then just reply here.
Reserved for stats
By the way guys, as I have stated above, feel free to ask anything about Lightning Network in this thread!
By the way guys, as I have stated above, feel free to ask anything about Lightning Network in this thread!
The Lightning Network is becoming more popular, so I'm back with another initiative to run more LN nodes on Bitcointalk.
This is going to be the largest Lightning initiative ever. All users will get the chance to earn merits for running a node.
Start your own node, open channels, send & receive sats and learn how to use LN in your daily life!
This is a marathon, not a competition. There are different stages of this marathon, and you receive rewards after you complete each stage.
Read This Before Replying:
- You can enroll your alts, if you run another node. But you must make this clear beforehand, and don't expect your alts to receive any free sats (or merit, obviously). Two nodes are better than one.
- You need to run some sort of Lightning Network software to participate. You can either run it yourself, or lease it from a provider like Voltage.
- A bitcoin node will be provided to users who need help syncing their LN node.
- Free discussion of the Lightning Network may be held on this topic. However, please don't start arguments about LN here.
- Don't try to do silly things with your node that will cause your channel funds to be lost. I will not be liable for lost funds.
FAQ:
What do I get from this?
In partnership with a couple of merit sources, we are handing out up to 50 merits to anybody who can get their own Lightning node set up and usable. These merits will be awarded progressively as you complete each milestone of running your node.
We believe that Lightning Network will be very important in the near future, as fees begin to rise during the bull season.
Alts, AI spammers, and accounts less than 60 days old will not receive merit.
How do I run a node?
Perhaps the most important question of all in this topic. There are many software you can use to run your node, along with tutorials, such as:
- LND, C-lightning, or eclair (on Umbrel and Start9) Note: You will only receive stage 1 merit if you run one of these yourself.
- Electrum trampolines
- Breez app on Google Play or the App Store
- Alby Hub
- Phoenix Wallet
- Muun app
- LNDhub
- Ride the Lightning
- Raspiblitz
- Rent one from Bitnoder, Voltage, MyNode, or Alby.
Over time I am going to add docs for all of these on the Bitcoin Wiki for greater accessbility.
Why is this in the Bitcoin Discussion board?
This is to encourage more experienced members to run their own Lightning nodes, rather than newbies who barely understand bitcoin.
Here is a good LN thread, but it's quite old and the OP hasn't logged in for a long time. Besides, it is in the Technical board of the forum, which is more confusing to normal bitcoiners. So here is a topic where people can learn and start their own LN nodes easily with even a basic understanding of Bitcoin.
Can I join this marathon even if I am already running a node?
If your node is complete and you can send and receive sats, then no, you cannot participate with that node. However, you are welcome to help by opening channels to participants.
Additionally, you can join even if you're not registered. I accept reports from Nostr. Send them to this account, by mention (recommended for most reliable delivery) or DM. Obviously, you will be ineligible for merit prizes (even if you do register in the future), but you will still get some sats.
My node is not syncing! How do I recover?
It's probably because you're using Neutrino mode (see below). Turn that off, and ask me for dedicated RPC connection parameters to a real Bitcoin node.
What Lightning node software can I use?
Whatever works for you. You can run c-lightning, lnd, or eclair in a terminal, you can start a node through your Umbrel or Raspiblitz device, or you can even order one from Voltage or MyNode. By no means are you limited to just these options. Also see "How do I run a node?".
Do I need a Bitcoin Core node to run a Lightning node?
Yes, although you might get away with enabling "Neutrino" in your LN configuration. Note that Neutrino is an experimental protocol, so don't be surprised if your node has syncing issues because of it. You do not need the entire block history to sync it however - a pruned node will do.
Where can I spend sats?
Here is a directory of LN websites: https://getalby.com/discover
I reserve the right to modify or end this marathon at any time, with immediate effect, for whatever reason.
Good luck, and happy node running!
Disclaimer: Lightning Network Quest is not a challenge. That means you should not expect to receive any rewards for participating. Therefore, this should be used by bitcoin enthusiasts, and not bounty hunters or "Games and Rounds" farmers. Moving this topic might compromise the visibility of this initiative.
Jump to: