Spotswood has the design files and is working on a case. Thanks Spotswood. Excited to see what you come up with.

Ah yes, i'll get onto that too. Will be cheaper. 

Hey guys.

Yeah sorry, the shipping table is a work in progress. I got half way through and then had to run off and do other stuff. I'll get that finished asap. Also, i'll get the order queue up too. I've got it, just need to write it out for you guys. Give me a day or too on both these fronts and i'll have it all sorted. Sorry, things are pretty hectic these days.

Barntech

Hey davmp.

Not making you pay BTC for shipping, just saying it would be much better for us if you could. Paypal is still totally fine for all batch one stuff. Basically i'm just trying to encourage as many people as possible to pay with BTC if they can, but if you can't or its too difficult or expensive to, paypal is fine, no problem. For those of you who can pay in BTC for shipping please feel free to begin sending through payments (some of you already have. thanks) All those who want paypal, i'll get something sorted for paypal shipping payments soon.

Barntech

Will be needing delivery payments pretty soon. Want to make sure that we are all ready to go once the units are ready.

Hey Vulgar.

Haven't got a shipping via paypal option through the Miner Source site just yet. Will have a look at getting that happening. Generally trying to keep batch one and batch two separate though. At this stage our preferred payment method for batch one postage is BTC, but if you are only able to pay via paypal, that can be arranged. We are still able to accept paypal payments directly but would very much rather not.

PAYPAL is now open for Batch 2. You can find it here:

http://www.minersource.net/bitfury-drillbit-system/4579443198

Bobsag and metal_jacke1 will be handling the paypal orders. The way it works is you will be paying them via paypal and they will be sending me the BTC and filling in a form on our orders page (http://drillbitsystem.com/order.html) with your details in it. The order will only count as being placed once i receive the BTC and the completed form.

Please be aware that you are paying to a third party and trusting them to handle your order. You can however trust them. I do. Bobsag is John K. verfied. They are both running professional operations and will not scam you. In the event of a payment issue, please contact both myself, bobsag and metal_jacke1 and we will sort it out. If you do desire a refund for whatever reason, please contact us rather than paypal.

While i'm here, i'd also like to mention that is you are interested in hosting for your miners, bobsag is offering an excellent deal for hosting in his facility. You can find details here:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=288012

Regarding Batch 2, if you are considering buying into it and holding back until it gets closer to completion, i urge you to place your order. If everyone holds back, the order will not be completed. Lets get this thing moving.

Barntech

Hey guys.

Thanks everyone for putting in your two since regarding BTCguides statements. Some pretty spot on points have been made. Firstly, we're not out to fight or compete with Burnin. If you weigh up all the facts and decide to go with his stuff, that's fine. I'm just happy to see people supporting DIY developers over the big guys.

In terms of comparing the two, i think the appropriate comparison is price per chip, the rest is basically conjecture at this point. We are offering a cheaper price per chip. They are the same chips. In terms of delivery date, we are bound by when we receive the chips, which is unfortunately still not entirely clear, but the official line from Dave is early October. If Burnin has access to earlier delivery chips that is certainly a bonus and the extra few weeks hashing will make a difference for sure. Unfortunately there's nothing i can really do to get the chips any sooner. It does seem like a strectch for Burnin to be promising early October delivery as there doesn't even seem to be a prototype yet.

In terms of the hashing rates, it is well documented that the sweet spot for power efficiency is around 2Ghs on the Bitfury chips. As you push them higher, you will be drawing more power and thus the extras gains in hashing power will be offset or completely cancelled out by the extra power draw. You will also be looking at serious heat and potential short running life for your equipment hammering it that hard. The 4Ghs per second that Burnin has reported is not a regular, reliable, stable rate, it is a one off fluke (please prove me wrong here if am), so it seems to me that guaranteeing 64Ghs for 16 chips (ie 4Ghs each running constantly and stably) is a bit of a stretch. 80Ghs is is 5GHs per chip. No one anywhere has achieved this. 40Ghs is 2.5Ghs per chip. More reasonable but still on the higher end of things. If he has indeed found a way to run these chips hard without getting to crazy power and heat, i'll be very impressed and excited to see it. I hope that is the case, but i doubt it. As for our stuff, we will push them and prod them and tell you what we think is best we can get out of them in terms of GHs and efficiency.

Did anyone else notice that the photos on the Bitburner Fury sales page are actually of 20 chip Avalon boards? There is nothing there visually that has anything to do with Bitfury. That seems pretty odd to me.

Anyway, no intended diss on Burnin. Lets keep the DIY love!

Barntech

Hey IAS,

Yes this is possible with an external clock controller chip. We actually have one of those on the thumb but not on the boards. We will play around with it and see what we can get, but to be honest, when you're running the chip that hard, you'll be looking at serious power draw and serious heat. the sweet spot for efficiency is around the 2 mark. If you have great cooling and free power then cranking it will be possible. I can't tell you at this point how high we will be able to get ours, but i'll publish that info as soon as we know.

Barntech

Hey Zeek.

Updates are that we're still working on the firmware. Taking some time, but coming along. I'm also moving to get all the logistics in place so that we're ready to roll when the chips land. Making sure everything is ready to go. I'm hoping that i'll have a more solid update for you later in the week. On other news, i'm gonna be needing shipping payments from everyone soon. I'll be putting up a table with shipping costs and a form for payment. Will have that sorted soon. Also i'll be needing assembly payments from those who have currently only paid for chips. I have contacted many of you already and will be in touch with the rest across the next week. If you know this is you, please feel free to pay through the assembly fees now. BTC is preferred but i can make you a paypal invoice if you can't pay in BTC.

Barntech

Hmmm maybe. Happy to do it if people would rather keep them separate. I kind of like having it all in one place though. I'm also hoping that Batch 2 sells out quick enough that it all becomes one batch.

Barntech

Got it. Thanks man. 

Hey unacceptable.

Fair enough on wanting the security of paypal in case things go wrong, but just wanted to say that we will always honor a refund request (except after the units are shipped of course), so if anyone if concerned on that front, don't be. I know that my word is perhaps not as reassuring as the weight of a giant multinational corporation, but i assure you it is solid and trustworthy. We're not going to stuff you around! ... That said, the third party Paypal setup will be up and running shortly. 

Barntech

Yes, the boards run standalone, nothing else required. The Miniplane is a neat way to stack your boards and minimize data and power connections, but it is not required.

Correct. We also have the Drillbit Hub which will host 2 miniplanes. Pricing TBA. Let me know if you are interested.

Hey Nexus.

Yeah sure, i'll update it now. Standalone chips are $37 each.

Hello.

So it seems that the BTC transfer fees are a bit of an issue. Kind of ironic that one of the best things about BTC is that it is virtually fee free, yet the stumbling block here is fees. The problem is that we all have our money in Fiat. Perhaps we should all ask our bosses to pay half BTC half Fiat, wouldn't that be nice. I am also a bit spoilt having a pretty great service here in Australia for converting currency that has pretty low fees. Check out http://www.coinjar.io/ ... 2% for buying BTC with AUD. Not bad.

For those of you who really can't get the BTC together, Bobsag and his team are going to be offering a third party paypal service in which you will pay them via paypal and they will forward us the BTC. There will be a comission fee for this service and paypal fees on top of that, so it will end up costing about 7-8% on top of the main cost. If that is more appealing to you than getting some BTC, it will be there as an option. More details on this soon.

Cheers.

Barntech

Batch 2 is now officially open. Check out the OP.

The new pricing is this:

Drillbit 8 Board - $425
Drillbit Thumb - $130
Drillbit Miniplane - $40

Let's fill this one quickly and get those chips.

Hey guys.

Ok. Looking like we are going to do a second batch. Pretty exciting. The new prices, while being an annoying jump up, seem to be within the viable range to still make it worthwhile, and i feel confident we can fill out a second reel pretty quickly. I'll be opening up the second batch soon.

Just to clarify a few things that have been discussed here. At this point i am not sure if our first reel will be bumped up for early shipping, or if that only applies to new reels. I have written to Dave asking about this and haven't yet heard back. I am trying to arrange things so that both reels can be delivered together, but not of course if they are far enough apart in the queue such that one will be coming substantially earlier. If that is the case, then we'll accept them as two separate shipments. I'll let you know details on that as soon a i know them.

It's also important to note that we are not in a position to jump straight into production next week anyway. Our timeline has always been based on receiving the chips in early October. We still have work to do to get everything in place so basically if we got the chips tomorrow it wouldn't necessarily mean we will be able to get finished miners out to you any sooner. That said, we will be doing all that we can to get everything done as quick as possible. If we do get an earlier chip delivery, we'll do our best to turn them around as quickly as we can.

As for order priority and position in the queue, I've noticed a bit of discussion about what is the appropriate and fair way to deal with it and i must admit, its not clear cut and easy, especially since people will be paying different prices for the same stuff. Hopefully the two reels arrive at the same time and everything is done as one manufacture run and its not even an issue, but in the case that these do become two separate batches, here is how am approaching it. I have always said that the order priority is first come first served, and so that it how it will be. If one reel arrives earlier, then it will go to batch one. I want to respect the people who jumped in early and maintain their position in the queue. Putting out higher priced chips that may arrive earlier than older orders is a rogue move (note, we aren't actually sure that that's what they're doing). Bitfury should be respecting their order queue, and perhaps they are, but regardless, we will respect ours. I know this might seem unfair to new people jumping in and paying more money than others and being behind them in the queue, but that's just how it goes for not jumping in early. The old prices were there and available for a long time and everyone had their chance. So Batch 2 orders are batch 2, regardless.

I'll be posting order details soon. This time there will be a few changes. We will only be accepting BTC payments for Batch 2. There will probably be paypal and credit card options through a third party, but basically we are trying to steer people away from paypal. After all, BTC is why we're all here so i really wanting to encourage people to use it. If you don't have any BTC, there are lots of ways to get it, and if you've never done so, now is the time to learn how to do it.

Also, miniplanes won't be free this time. We copped a bit of a hit offering those for free on the last batch (all previous orders will still be honored of course).

Hopefully we can get this one filled nice and quick. I'll put up the new details and payment instructions in the next day or so.

Exciting times.

Barntech

Our order went in on AUG 18th. I honestly have no idea where we sit in the queue. I have asked about this but not got anything back. I'm hoping that we do count as one of the earlier orders, but i can't be sure. I'll keep chasing it up and of course let you guys know as soon as i do regarding more solid details on shipping time.