Running a node and mining in a campervan.

[Bitcoin Smith]

That's one hell of a experience to enjoy the life like you do. I do wonder how am I gonna spend my life and definitely I have exploring new places on the list. Now talking about sharing about experience sure let us know if you hit the jackpot. There's 291 solo miner blocks up until now (correct me if I am wrong), so you may have the odds which is even lower than hitting the lottery when we do the math. Anyway let's enjoy the life in the way you want to meanwhile contributing to the Bitcoin network in anyway possible.

How about going only paying via Bitcoin for every expense, possible?

[dificanovi]

I am interested to hear about running a node that you said, if you can do it, it will bring in a huge income. At this time if you are good at running a cryptocurrency node then we will be paid, in my opinion running a node is almost the same as mining Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. We will live happily if we are good at running a node because we only monitor the node that we run via a computer or via a cellphone while enjoying entertainment abroad.

[tabas]

Yup, Jet! I'm interested in your post and updates about that experience of yours. It seems that the van life is growing vastly globally and this trend is what it's like to be living freely and while going on with the adventures. I think you're all prepared for that and the power source going out with a solar panel board at the top of your van will help you a lot. I've watched van life videos and not all of them have it and that will help you go on with a power source for running a node and mining. Just don't forget to do what makes you happy and what you think will be worth it as you go on with your van life.

[Jet Cash]

Sorry to be late in updating this thread, but I've got quite a lot to sort out, and I don't really have any Bitcoin news.
I put a rip saw blade on my angle grinder ( basttery powered), and it makes a brilliant chop saw. I need to be careful, as it quite a lethal device.
The node in my laptop is running well after I installed a 2Tb  SSD. It's brand new, so the wallet is empty. I've got some coins on the drive in an old laptop that has died, so I need to extract the hard drive, and add those coins into the new wallet. I have tried this, so I need to do a bit of research. Maybe that is worth a new thread.

I agree that I need some solar panels. The Maxus I bought was previously owned by a canoeist, so the roof bars are at the extremities of the roof. I'll probably need to add a third bar in the middle. I bought to van for about £2,000 less than the market price, as it has a bunch of minor problems. The central locking doesn't work, and the driver's window doesn't open for example.

I'm running the node intermittently by using supermarket cafe WiFi. That seems to be really effective, but I'll need to change things if I start spending Bitcoin. I'm using Bodhi Linux, and that seems to be secure and trouble free.

The mining project is probably a good few months into the future. I'm not sure where I would create a comms centre. At the moment I've got a large spare wheel mounted inside the van, and I need to find a carrier to mount it under the van. I don't understand why this wasn't a standard fitment, but the Maxus was created to be a reliable but cheap working van.

I suspect that the only way to make money from a small mining rig is to post YouTube videos about it.

[fikrett]

Sorry to be late in updating this thread, but I've got quite a lot to sort out, and I don't really have any Bitcoin news.
I put a rip saw blade on my angle grinder ( basttery powered), and it makes a brilliant chop saw. I need to be careful, as it quite a lethal device.
The node in my laptop is running well after I installed a 2Tb  SSD. It's brand new, so the wallet is empty. I've got some coins on the drive in an old laptop that has died, so I need to extract the hard drive, and add those coins into the new wallet. I have tried this, so I need to do a bit of research. Maybe that is worth a new thread.

I agree that I need some solar panels. The Maxus I bought was previously owned by a canoeist, so the roof bars are at the extremities of the roof. I'll probably need to add a third bar in the middle. I bought to van for about £2,000 less than the market price, as it has a bunch of minor problems. The central locking doesn't work, and the driver's window doesn't open for example.

I'm running the node intermittently by using supermarket cafe WiFi. That seems to be really effective, but I'll need to change things if I start spending Bitcoin. I'm using Bodhi Linux, and that seems to be secure and trouble free.

The mining project is probably a good few months into the future. I'm not sure where I would create a comms centre. At the moment I've got a large spare wheel mounted inside the van, and I need to find a carrier to mount it under the van. I don't understand why this wasn't a standard fitment, but the Maxus was created to be a reliable but cheap working van.

I suspect that the only way to make money from a small mining rig is to post YouTube videos about it.

You seem to have lots of work to do left, but I salute your efforts and what you already achieved, both BTC-mining related and overall.
Do you think it's viable to get the rig popularized on Youtube? I would watch a series about your venture and updates about it on Youtube of course, but, it would need a refined marketing to get the users rolling to it to be profitable.

[Jet Cash]

Today's update ( Saturday ).
I'm in the Sainsbury's cafe this morning. I arrived at opening time ( 8am ) to ensure that I got one of the optimum tables. I love these as there are 4 of them, and they are like mini-cubicles with two bench seats and two 13 amp mains sockets, and two USB sockets. There is room on the table for both computers and breakfast.

I started my node, which was 3 days behind, and it is sync'ing at 4k/bps on the notebook. The notebook is fairly low spec by modern standards. It is a Huawei Matebook with a Core 15 processor, and limited memory. I upgraded the hard drive to a 2Tb ssd, and this made quite a difference to sync'ing speed. Another useful feature is that the power source is via an USB-C connection, and this means I can recharge it in the van through the "cigar lighter" socket whilst I am driving.

I'm a bit miffed at the moment, as there is a guy on one of the premium tables that has been here for a couple of hours, and he hasn't bought anything. I always buy a coffee at least to pay the "rent". £2.30 for an Americano ( if you bring your own mug ) is pretty cheap. Especially as I am re-charging two computers, my'phone, headphones, and the battery for my angle grinder. The staff and some of the customers are quite friendly, so I get some good social interaction. I also get some interest in Bitcoin if I leave the network traffic screen in core running.

[Jet Cash]

Here is an update on leaving the network traffic screen running in a supermarket cafe. A couple of days ago I was in the Sainsbury's cafe, and I left the screen running on the Notebook while I did some stuff on the Netbook. I ignored it for over an hour, and when I looked at it, I noticed that there had been no traffic for about 20 minutes, so it looks as if O2 ( their WiFi  supplier) monitors activity, and block what it considers toi be excessive use. I really don't like O2, as they block some of my domains. Kat1.com for example. Now, you tell me why that page could be considered not to be family friendly. The stupid part is that I can tether my 'phone, and display the page for all to see if I want to. Gambling sites like my Free Bitcoin Bets are not restricted, and I would have thought it better to stop kids looking at gambling sites.

Yesterday I decided to replace Bodhi on the Netbook as I was having problems with the Bluetooth. It's an old HP netbook with limited resources, so I need a light version of Linux. I installed a few flavours of Linux, and they all had problems, so I decided to revert to Bodhi. I'd overwritten the iso files, so I tried to re-download the latest version. O2 kept killing the download, so I wasted a lot of time as I thought it was a source forge problem. Last night I did a bit of dog sitting for a friend while he went toi a rehearsal for his rock band. Bodhi installed without any problems over his WiFi, and I managed to tune up the installation. The only difficulty was his dog, as he wanted to sit on my lap whilst I was working. He is a rottweiler/staffie cross, so he is a bit big for a lap dog.

I guess the message here is that, if you are a vanlifer, you need to think about ways to manage intensive Internet activity. 10 minutes or so of node synchronisation seems to be OK, but good luck if you want to download the whole blockchain. Next time I want to experiment with OS installs, I'll probably go to a public library.

[DaveF]

Once again, I'm US based so I don't know what you have there but just about every restaurant be it a grab & go or fast food or a decent sit down place has free and usually decent Wi-Fi so long as you are not there during the Breakfast - Lunch - Dinner rush.

I see this a lot when I am out and about. Go to a Panera Bread around dinner time and use the Wi-Fi it feels like you are on dial up. Go there at 2:30 in the afternoon and you are getting decent (for free) speeds.



Also for miner power, how is the EV charging situation where you are?

I know you don't have the J1772 standard there IIRC it's the 62196-2 on your side of the Atlantic but here in the US you can convert an EV charging cord to a 220V socket using something like this:

https://evseadapters.com/products/j1772-ev-adapter-for-ebike/

Don't know what would work for you or if there is anything that might work.

-Dave