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These are my opinions and observations with the Apollo 2 BTC Founders Edition Full Node Miner.


Packaging from Futurebit is always Apple like in quality.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/packaging.jpg
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/packaging2.jpg
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/thankyou.jpg

The hardware itself is an absolute tank and is incredibly well built.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/side.jpg
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/top.jpg

Overview Section:
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/overviewpage.jpg
Love the fact you can put the UI into "Dark Mode"

Mining:
Over 9TH @ 345W on turbo which is great for a home miner. Love that these don't need a separate PSU.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/minersettingspage.jpg

Mining Integration with Apollo Gen1 BTC:
Flawless.... Plugged in the unit and the hashboard showed up within seconds of a reboot. Couldn't ask for easier or better.
Adding 1 Gen 1 Apollo pushes this up to 12TH+ at around 544W according to the GUI.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/minerpage.jpg
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/hashboardpage.jpg
*Wish the GUI would show the best share submitted for the session when using any other pool (not the solomining option) than built into the miner.*

Pool Configuration:
Simple and straightforward.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/poolspage.jpg
*Wish there was the option for a failover pool.*

SoloMining:
So the stats seem to be legit on the localized solo mining pool in solo mode with just a bit of latency on reporting the last share submitted.
"SOLO LAN Mining Point any Bitcoin Miner on your local network to your Solo Pool with the following URL: IP:3333 Username: <bitcoin address>"  
Does this allow for btcadd.workernames? I assume it does as they show in the UI. However this should be clarified further to eliminate confusion.
Does this allow for more than 1 User? It appears so but I won't be trying until this is clarified further!

Showing the difficulty per workername would be helpful as well.
*There needs to be mouseovers explaining what each stat means for the average home user. I took the time to match the stats up locally with other connected miners so I would assume this could lead to confusion.*
*Would be incredibly helpful to identify the idle workers in red  ;) *
*The Solomining starting pool difficulty seems awful low @ 42 this option would be ideal to be configurable or bumped up via the GUI.*

With 18 workers around 38TH pointed at the Apollo 2 FE I show the CPU use is at 4% and Memory use is at 33%. It appears the MCU unit is capable enough of running the CKPool & mining services required for most small home farms.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/solominingpage.jpg
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/solominingpage2.jpg


BTC Node:
Finally got the blockchain to sync up of the Apollo 2 FE... Took way wayyyyyy too long about 3-4 days.
The system should really ship with the blockchain more recently downloaded and alot closer than where is does.
The FE shipped with a 2TB drive so there's plenty of room for growth.
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/nodepage.jpg
In an attempt to get past the 32 connection limit the UI ignores the command *Would love to be able to allow more than 32 connections. (Adding a few manually allows the work around but this should be expandable within the UI IMHO).*

BTC Node Settings:
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/nodesettingspage.jpg
Here is where I added nodes manually and removed onion connections.


Systems Page
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/systempage.jpg

Systems Settings
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/systemsettingspage.jpg

Extra Settings
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/extrasettingspage.jpg
Allows for you to reset to factory, format your NVME drive as well as backup and restore your config files easily.

Noise level:
I wouldn't put this in my bedroom unless I was planning for a divorce but it isn't bad for a garage or mining shed at turbo levels.

Local Pool Stats Page:
So after adding a 2nd user to the pool there was no way to actually view the stats for that 2nd user from the UI
*Consider adding a pool stats page for those that wish to add more than 1 user*

My over impression is that Futurebit has delivered again on their promises for early birds with a sweet piece of mining gear.
Superb build, decent performance and a simple to use UI.
This miner / node / solomining combo although expensive does hit the sweet spot for the average home miner who wants to contribute and help secure the BTC network.
They did this with the understanding that many have energy restrictions and now give every purchaser the option to roll the dice to go for the solo block.

Small Farm Solo Mining Capabilities

Here we are at over 1PH

https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/1PH.jpg

And here is the CPU / Memory use with that hashrate

https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/1PHCPU.jpg

With the Futurebit Apollo II and CK's pool code integration this looks like it can really offer a small farm a fighting chance!

Great news! Can't wait to get mine. I ordered as soon as orders went live so I'd imagine I'd be one of the first to get the non FE units

I'm still waiting on 2 standard units as well that were purchased in close proximity to when I ordered the FE.

Thanks for the photos! Definitely made me more eager to get mine now. I know you're waiting on two more but at least you've got one to play with :p

Thanks for the cool writeup!

Solo page is still a WIP, but lots more functionality will be incoming in the months ahead.

Good to see lots of workers attached since we didn't really test more than 3-4, need to work on the UI for that.

Regarding your questions:

Yes, you can add more "users" via a different payout address, workers can be broken out with a .xxx at the end of the address as you have done.

Adding explainers on the whole UI is on our to-do list

We set diff really low so users can connect ANY device (even nerd miners ) easily. If diff is too high they will never find a share and it wont show up in the UI. Our stratum implementation quickly corrects to higher diff, but as you can see there are lots of rejected shares on startup.

The max connection node setting works, but the UI is hard configured to show xx/32...as you can see you are at 39 connections so its working...will probably add this option in the node settings so the UI is updated properly.

@jstefanop

Really appreciate the work you put in on this as well as your response here on the forum.

I did notice that when adding a 2nd user the user does show up under the solo-mining page as connected however there were no stats being displayed for that 2nd user.
It may be helpful to have a pool page so that you can view the mining stats for every user individually that is mining to the Apollo II.  Just a thought!

But I'll say again well done on bringing this to market.

Well found out my unit has shipped by getting the customs duty email from FedEx :D

At least it's on its way, can't wait to get mine and have a play!

With the halving / halfening or whatever you want to call it upon us and the pool code I have been working on is just not there yet so.... I decided to throw the house at the Apollo II's solomining pool just to see how it would hold up.

I have to say this things a beast in a box.

Here is the performance at 4.55PH
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/4.55PH.png

And a look under the hood to see how the entire system is doing while mining and acting as a solo mining pool.

https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/HTOP4.55PH.jpg


Impressive right??

Okay so I decided to throw all I had at it and I mean everything in my private mining and pro arsenal... About 7.5PH.

Why you may ask?  My answer is simple... Because I had to take the Apollo II where it had never gone before!  

https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/20240415_120701.jpg

What kinda odds does the Apollo II predict??
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/20240415_122050.jpg

What's the true load on the unit after 4 days online and tinkering?
https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/20240415_122030.jpg

And how have I done so far?? NOT ENOUGH BUT DAMN!!!!

https://www.solopool.com/images/Apollo2/20240415_122129.jpg
 

I standby my earlier opinion that this may be a great turnkey solution for a small farm if they want to take a shot at the big prize.

The Apollo II can take it!

That's really awesome! Mine is about two days away according to FedEx, can't wait to play!

Landed today! Already set up and hashing... node synching away!

Excellent machine and don't regret the purchase one bit!

https://i.ibb.co/6HSyKm8/1.jpg (https://ibb.co/6HSyKm8) https://i.ibb.co/4JLLC4y/2.jpg (https://ibb.co/4JLLC4y) https://i.ibb.co/8Pxw1HV/3.jpg (https://ibb.co/8Pxw1HV) https://i.ibb.co/1nsm3C2/4.jpg (https://ibb.co/1nsm3C2)

Excellent!!!

To be honest I must say that I am truly impressed!

The pool / miner hasn't had any issues when sending a good share of hashrate to it.

@heslo Make sure you do your update!

To check all you need to do is click the power button on the top left (seen in yellow on your screen) and then click on the software version to check for new updates!!

Update already done! Just wanted to get it all up and running (I'm impatient) then ran the update. Was gonna flash the SD card but tried the OTA update and that worked flawlessly too. Very impressive so far!

nice choice of power setup. a hefty switch and nice 3 pin connection.

seems to be just about 38 watts a th maybe 36 watts.

the 350 watts is a good energy point.

Great thread Sledge0001. What's been your best 24 hour SATS so far?

Is anyone out there leveraging the node piece of this device to drive traffic, running lightning node, etc? Cheers.

I've just solo mined since I got it but will definitely be pointing it to another pool to see how many sats I get per 24hrs. Have yet to run a LN node on it yet (waiting for someone else to do it so I can follow their guide haha) I wonder if FutureBit still has plans to integrate Lightning into the UI software?

Glad you enjoyed the write up.

This really is a great piece of hardware for the home miner or small farm.

I am only solomining directly to the Apollo II so I can't really give you a number of how many sats per day.

Based on the calculator here: https://miningpoolstats.stream/bitcoin (https://miningpoolstats.stream/bitcoin)   (You'll have to look for it on the page)

9 TH/s
Daily est. coins
0.0000064 BTC
Daily est. earnings
0.41 USD

However, I see no place to calculate power consumption so this may not be accurate.

I just got my Apollo II home miner and have a question. I know it can solo mine, but is it possible to have it be part of a pool mine instead?  If so, I haven't found any articles or information in how to set that up. If anyone has any insight or any pooled mining recommendations, please share.

Yes you absolutely can mine to a pool if you prefer and not take advantage of the built in solomining function.

Once logged in click on settings on the lower left side. The first page that pops up there is Pools which allows you to select from a pre-populated pool or choose a custom one so that you can enter in the pool info and mine to whatever pool you choose.

Thanks so much sledge. I've got everything hooked up and seems to be running...just need to wait and see if it syncs with Ocean.xyz (the one I chose).

hi, I got my Apollo II but when I go to pools section in settings and select Setup custom pool I can not edit the URL or username or anything, its greyed out.

is this normal or do I need to do anything else? (note - my node is still synchronising but that shouldnt affect me being able to setup a custom pool right?)

You will need to have the node fully sync before the solo mining option becomes available.

Additionally, when using a custom pool you need to select one of the existing pool options first then you can select custom and make your desired entry.

thanks, I figured it out now and setup custom pool.

I am going to open up the case and see if there is any chance to figure out how to water cool these using a computer 360 AIO.

the device is fantastic BUT ... even in ECO mode and fan at 2200rpm its LOUD to sit on your desk in office or bedroom. on Balanced mode and fan at 3300rpm its VERY loud and unless you you have a house and can keep it in garage away from you, its just not practical to have in an apartment. The Turbo mode is ridiculously loud, like a jet taking off.

frankly even in Balanced mode, I dont see the longevity of the fan spinning at such high RPMs for months and years and the amount of dust it will collect with so much air being sucked in will require regular maintenance / cleaning as it will otherwise overheat.

its a great device but the cooling just doesnt work above ECO mode and needs watercooling solution.

the device cost me $2000 Australian dollars after shipping and taxes. A 360 AIO costs $100 so Im surprised they have not offered it as an option with an external box attached to the Apollo II with the fan and radiator. I would be very happy with that as who cares about aesthetics.

I'd be curious to see how you make out with this and how much it really helps with the cooling! They do run hot but no hotter than a S19 would.  :)

Balanced is where I am running mine currently and using the solo mining pool aspect heavily with just over 9PH pointed to it.

I love to tinker so will have to take it apart and go from there.

I can see there are copper blocks I can get off aliexpress with various dimensions / sizes, I imagine a 10x10cm would suffice plus a decent 420 radiator + pump with res should be more than efficient to extract heat from water. I have dabbled in watercooling in computers for last 20 years and water is ALWAYS much more efficient to cool vs traditional aircoolers.

taking the Apollo II apart is first step to see the required surface area that needs to be cooled (eg how many chips there are etc).

I just want max performance but no way I can stand the noise with current cooling! :)

Please share pics of the teardown too!

We already have a custom water block and radiator solution, I didn't like how loud the device was as well in balance/turbo but 90% of customer feedback from the Apollo BTC was maximum utilization of the ASICs which meant higher noise levels in balance/turbo.

Was worth it for us since almost everyone runs the devices in eco so noise levels were comparable there, and the 10% that want max performance run them in garages etc where slightly higher noise does not matter.

Waterblock we have is crazy overkill, we are talking about 500+ watts at under 2k RPM speeds. Cost alone of the water block/radiator is over 200 so adding that much more to the cost was not worth it.

Next gen asics might get interesting since those can burn up to 20 watts each which requires either crazy high fan speeds or some kind of water/immersion solution. If we can 2-3x hashrate again and keep prices close to where they are water block might make sense.

@jstefanop the people are looking for something like this!

I would love to see a "do it yourself" upgrade or option from the factory that would leverage this type of cooling!

Personally I have 3 Apollo II units. I would buy a multi-unit cooler unit with a larger radiator / fan combo. That would be bad ass! :)