Topic: Raspberry Pi 3 Mining - page 2. (Read 68054 times)

Sounds good!  I will be buying two 2Pacs instead of the Compac that I listed in the OP.  I figured that getting 2 of these will be about the same price as the Compac after shipping, and I'm still going with Gekko.   I'm glad to see that you've been able to upgrade over the last 1-2 years, I hope I can do the same!

Sidehack sticks are well worth it- bought one so far and I plan on buying one of the BF16s (if you want better bang for your buck wait for the BF16 as it's cheaper per GH and more efficient). You're also supporting the community instead of some company more focused on profit than the miners.

I started with S3's in 2015 and now I have 2 S7s and a S5 in my house hashing away. Glad to see someone taking a similar path as me

Thank you both very much for your advice!  I will look into Sidehack projects as well as substitutes to bring the costs down on what I listed above.  

FWIW, I forgot to say in the OP but I plan on joining a pool for either Bitcoin or other SHA-256 currencies.  Also, my plan would be to start off with one USB miner and pick up miners along the way.

I agree with notlist3d, you could save a few bucks by changing what you get, and unless you hit a lottery solo block, you will never earn anything with the miner. Definitely look into getting on the list for one of sidehack's new 2Pac miners. Check out the thread that notlist3d provided for details. There is also this thread with more info: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/gekkoscience-is-now-dabbling-with-16nm-asics-for-new-designs-1651958 and somewhat more of a roadmap of his USB home/hobby miner project(s).

I don't think that the USB hub that you have chosen will be sufficient to power the Compac miners. According to the description on Amazon: "Each USB port on our 12 Port hub will only provide 5 volts 250 Milliamps," which isn't a lot of power per port. The good powered hubs can provide 5 volts and more than two amps per port.

I have a Superbpag 7-port USB hub:
https://www.amazon.com/Superbpag-Portable-Charger-Transfer-Samsung/dp/B013OK10YM

It is not the cheapest, but it works great and my Compac, which has the voltage turned up to 0.800 and is overclocked to 325 MHz, has been hashing away since 29-November without a single hiccup. It would have been up for longer, but I was helping -ck test his new pool code, and that required stopping and restarting the miner.

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.17225686

Cheers,

- zed

I would REALLY look at a different option on some.  You will never make near what the 180 is on this were talking not even close.  You could use a RPI 3 without kit and just get parts you need. 

I think you could find a powered hub for cheaper, and for one compac unless OCing you will not need the fan.   On Compacs it appears secondary market is pretty high to spend 70 dollars on it.  If you can wait you can look at sidehacks current project for about 1/2 the price - https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/general-sales-closed-gekkoscience-2pac-2x-bm1384-usb-stick-miner-1718358 . 

So that would be my advice streamline the RPI and get just what you need.  Wait for sidehack on his next project as it just makes financial sense.  And look at hubs and see if you can find one for lower price.  But you can do something to learn much much cheaper then 180 dollars for a learning setup.

Hi folks,

I've been wanting to get my feet wet in SHA-256 mining as a hobby, so I went with the Raspberry Pi 3 with USB ASIC miners.  I originally started within a $300 budget, but was able to spend only half that.

ASIC miner:
2x 2Pac Miners $60.00 + $10.00 shipping
https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/general-sales-closed-gekkoscience-2pac-2x-bm1384-usb-stick-miner-1718358

Raspberry Pi 3:
CanaKit Raspberry Pi 3 Complete Starter Kit - 32 GB Edition - $74.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C6Q2GSY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_5?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A30ZYR2W3VAJ0A
**Includes 32GB, Class 10 Micro SD Card with NOOBS and CanaKit 2.5A USB Power Supply with Micro USB Cable

HDMI Cable:
Premium HDMI-HDMI Cable,1 meter 3 feet - $2.24 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000M87F0I/ref=ox_sc_act_title_4?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1DUHA28EIRWGN

USB Fan:
ARCTIC Breeze Mobile, USB-Powered 92mm Portable Fan, Portable Cooling Solution, Quiet Fan, Mini USB Fan, Mini Gooseneck Fan for laptop and PC - $7.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XN24GY/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

USB Hub:
Superbpag 7 Port Portable Multi USB Charger 70Watt 14A with USB 3.0 Hub - $35.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013OK10YM/ref=crt_ewc_img_dp_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AX8GYIG6RXC4

MicroUSB to USB 2.0
AmazonBasics Micro-USB to USB 2.0 Cable - 3 Feet (3 Pack) - $6.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013PVKQHC/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Keyboard & Mouse
Logitech MK270 Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Combo, Logitech Wireless Mouse USB (Black) - $24.99 + $0.00 shipping
https://www.amazon.com/Logitech-MK270-Wireless-Keyboard-Mouse/dp/B00BP5KOPA

All in, this setup should have cost ~$220, but $70 was taken off due to signing up for and using Amazon's credit card, so it ending up being ~$150.

After getting a crash course in Debian/Raspian, everything is up and running!  In hindsight, I didn't end up needing the microUSB cables because some came in with the Raspberry Pi kit, and the powered USB hub connects by USB 3.0.  Oops.  The RPi3 kit is pretty neat since it comes with some accessories and the NOOB, but I find that the case included to be a bit too wide to plug in the power cable without taking the RPi3 out of the case.

The "2pac" ASIC miners, at 125Hz, are cranking out about 13-15GH/s each but I hope to upgrade in the months to come.