The combined sidehack-novak usb stick review thread. AKA GekkoScience BM1384

[notlist3d]

Box is a cheap PP box, small foam inlay currently only cut out for the heat sink - might flip that around yet.  The box is intended for playing cards, so I ran with that for a small insert's design.  Needs a few small tweaks.

Those types of boxes are very common in the rock & mineral community for displaying rock slices and such.  They can be found in large quantity at wholesale prices around the web, but here's an ebay link for an example.

Bravo! I like that look a lot, I want one even more now for keep sake.

I really like it aswell nicely done.  Maybe on back put history and a little about the miner on the white spot.   

But very well done.   I like it shows the color of the heat sink off.

[aarons6]

i cant wait to get a couple of these.. as well as a whole handful of the typezero boards to replace my s3s. (which will stop making money for me around 65 billion difficulty)

[sidehack]

So it looks like we've gotten some sort of approval from four of the eight testers. Still waiting to hear anything from MrTeal, CanaryInTheMine, vs3 and ManeBjorn. I'd like to have approval from at least two of them before opening a sales queue. I've gotten word from vs3 and ManeBjorn that sticks have been received, so hopefully something pops up in the next few days. I'm tentatively looking to open sales next Wednesday with at least 600 sticks (more if I hear back from Bitmain about a potential second chip buy). As I've done before on limited-batch opening sales, I'll announce several days beforehand the time (and time zone) and orders will be queued on a first-come first-serve basis.

I'll be focusing on North America, I reckon. I'm supposed to send European customers to the German guy, who has received manufacturing data and tells me he'll be running out a tiny batch to test before doing a full run. Anyone in Europe specifically wanting a GekkoScience-made stick for posterity (like, you know, TheRealSteve) I can probably send a couple, but so's I don't cut in on his turf I'd just as soon stick to the Western Hemisphere.

[wlefever]

I'll be watching like a hawk to get a few in the first come first serve basis!

[Mikestang]

Fun times, will there be a max. order quantity?

"I'll take 600, please..." 

[sidehack]

I'll probably put up some simple flat shipping rates and make you pay at the time the order is placed. So if you paid for 600 and were the first money in, I guess technically you'd get 'em all. But know there is no bulk discount so you'd be looking at about 56BTC forked over.

[philipma1957]

Fun times, will there be a max. order quantity?

"I'll take 600, please..." 

I am going for 20 or so.  I will play with them for quite the while.  Since .31 watts is nice.

most likely run them at freq 200 or 225.  I want the amps under .9 ..

 freq  250 does  need 1.07 to 1.13 amps

my hubs will do .9 amps with no issues.  So freq 200 or 225 is the more practical limit.

[Mikestang]

Heh, what a dick move that would be to buy all of them.  There's a lot of people that want to play with these!

Mine will go here, and these 4 will go play somewhere else.

[alh]

While it's obviously your business to do with as you see fit, it would seem that perhaps for the first two weeks after you open your order queue, you put a limit on of say 50 sticks. I expect that are many dozens of folks, myself included that will want to purchase a couple. At some level it would make more sense for you to sell out as a dozen large orders, it would be kinda unfortunate.

Another option would be kinda the opposite of a bulk discount, a bulk premium price. The 1st 20 are at whatever X prices is. The next 20 are at 1.5X, and the next 50 are at 1.75X (or something).

Just some thoughts from a really small time miner that would like not to miss out on a couple.

[notlist3d]

While it's obviously your business to do with as you see fit, it would seem that perhaps for the first two weeks after you open your order queue, you put a limit on of say 50 sticks. I expect that are many dozens of folks, myself included that will want to purchase a couple. At some level it would make more sense for you to sell out as a dozen large orders, it would be kinda unfortunate.

Another option would be kinda the opposite of a bulk discount, a bulk premium price. The 1st 20 are at whatever X prices is. The next 20 are at 1.5X, and the next 50 are at 1.75X (or something).

Just some thoughts from a really small time miner that would like not to miss out on a couple.

I like his flat rate pricing.  If someone buy's one it is one price, makes it very easy.  

If he does discounts then people will buy to get the good price point.  And then sell excess miners.  They might sell here or ebay who knows.  But in a way he would be selling against those who bought at a discount, if they try to sell their extras soon after receiving them.  

[tricass]

So it looks like we've gotten some sort of approval from four of the eight testers. Still waiting to hear anything from MrTeal, CanaryInTheMine, vs3 and ManeBjorn. I'd like to have approval from at least two of them before opening a sales queue. I've gotten word from vs3 and ManeBjorn that sticks have been received, so hopefully something pops up in the next few days. I'm tentatively looking to open sales next Wednesday with at least 600 sticks (more if I hear back from Bitmain about a potential second chip buy). As I've done before on limited-batch opening sales, I'll announce several days beforehand the time (and time zone) and orders will be queued on a first-come first-serve basis.

I'll be focusing on North America, I reckon. I'm supposed to send European customers to the German guy, who has received manufacturing data and tells me he'll be running out a tiny batch to test before doing a full run. Anyone in Europe specifically wanting a GekkoScience-made stick for posterity (like, you know, TheRealSteve) I can probably send a couple, but so's I don't cut in on his turf I'd just as soon stick to the Western Hemisphere.

what about australian based users? we're kinda of helf way between europe and the states.

[TheRealSteve]

Those types of boxes are very common in the rock & mineral community for displaying rock slices and such.  They can be found in large quantity at wholesale prices around the web

There's a few problems with most of those boxes, unfortunately.
1. They tend to be the wrong size; see my earlier post for dimensions.  These (EU, I should note - different card size) playing card boxes are just about the right size for presentation, inclusion of a bit of documentation, and optional SD card with all that's needed to be up and running quickly.
2. They tend to be hard plastics, which tends to crack.  PP is a much more forgiving material.  Ideally I would have gone for the Antminer U1/U2 / Mycelium Entropy type box, but it won't fit in those - and an AX seller with the same style, but larger, boxes (where it would fit) has not yet responded

Similar styles that are longer and less wide are typically advertised as being for pens and watches, so that can also be a good place to start if anybody wanted to box their bunch.

Bravo! I like that look a lot, I want one even more now for keep sake.

I really like it aswell nicely done.  Maybe on back put history and a little about the miner on the white spot.    But very well done.   I like it shows the color of the heat sink off.

Thanks, both   Once finished (things need to be changed for the production version, there isn't any actual information at gekkoscience.com as of yet, etc.), I'd be happy to share the files (Inkscape SVG).

I'm supposed to send European customers to the German guy, who has received manufacturing data and tells me he'll be running out a tiny batch to test before doing a full run. Anyone in Europe specifically wanting a GekkoScience-made stick for posterity (like, you know, TheRealSteve) I can probably send a couple, but so's I don't cut in on his turf I'd just as soon stick to the Western Hemisphere.

Yep, I would humbly request (that is to say, get in queue) for at most two.  I know the German guy can deliver and am happy to send patronage his way

what about australian based users? we're kinda of helf way between europe and the states.

If only we knew what happened to Barntech    Though any assembler in AU would still need chips as well anyway.  For finished product, maybe you get your pick between US and Germany?

[sidehack]

I had a contact in AU reselling PSU hardware for a while, but he got burned pretty badly on a big Garden purchase or something and kinda dropped out of the game. I'l get ahold of him and see if he wants to do something for his continent. Otherwise, per-unit shipping would suck from either US or EU but I got no problem with someone buying from either. I don't care who buys from German Guy, but my limitation is I told him I'd forward EU customers to him (for the most part, it's for their own good) so that's what I'll do. The customer doesn't have to buy from him, but I'll recommend it.

TheRealSteve, that box was pretty sexy.

[TheRealSteve]

Running my stock 4.9.0 at 250MHz I'm seeing 13.7GH; running your custom build at 250MHz I got up to 11.5GH with a lot of resets. The power draw was what I expected for 250MHz but the hashrate and WU came in low. Not sure what's up.

Slight update on this bit - looks like it may have been due to an issue with pthreads.  Replaced the pthreadGC2.dll with an older version, and getting much better behavior now.  For reference, see the cgminer cross-compile build notes.

TheRealSteve, that box was pretty sexy.

Thanks!

[Mikestang]

Those types of boxes are very common in the rock & mineral community for displaying rock slices and such.  They can be found in large quantity at wholesale prices around the web

There's a few problems with most of those boxes, unfortunately.
1. They tend to be the wrong size; see my earlier post for dimensions.  These (EU, I should note - different card size) playing card boxes are just about the right size for presentation, inclusion of a bit of documentation, and optional SD card with all that's needed to be up and running quickly.
2. They tend to be hard plastics, which tends to crack.  PP is a much more forgiving material.  Ideally I would have gone for the Antminer U1/U2 / Mycelium Entropy type box, but it won't fit in those - and an AX seller with the same style, but larger, boxes (where it would fit) has not yet responded

Similar styles that are longer and less wide are typically advertised as being for pens and watches, so that can also be a good place to start if anybody wanted to box their bunch.

A playing card is ~ 89x60mm, the case I linked is 85x60mm.  Since they are meant for mineral samples they tend to be very resilient.  I have many many and never had one crack.

[TheRealSteve]

A playing card is ~ 89x60mm, the case I linked is 85x60mm.

Thus my mention of EU card size differences; 89mm is not long enough to house the Compac, let alone 85, unless you'd put it in diagonal (certainly an option).

Since they are meant for mineral samples they tend to be very resilient.  I have many many and never had one crack.

I've had a different experience, but that probably comes down to the exact material.

Ultimately though, both are available for pretty cheap. Maybe if somebody wanted to make a large run the exact numbers begin to matter

[MrTeal]

I've been off the forum for a couple weeks, but just wanted to pop in and say I've received my stick miner as of yesterday and I'll try to catch up on the posts here and give it some testing this weekend.

[philipma1957]

I've been off the forum for a couple weeks, but just wanted to pop in and say I've received my stick miner as of yesterday and I'll try to catch up on the posts here and give it some testing this weekend.

I missed your posting.  I look forward to your thoughts on it.

[sidehack]

Hopefully MrTeal and at least one other can post some news of the sticks. Last I heard from vs3, he was having software trouble I think and hadn't gotten any sticks to light up yet. Once we have at least six favorable reviews, if no serious issues have been found that need to be addressed with a redesign and retest, I'll give a three-day warning on opening sales.

I think what I'll do is limit to 10 sticks per person, except for people who have already gotten ahold of me about bulk purchases. If you haven't done so by the time sales open, you missed your shot because I posted last week that folks wanting more than a few needed to get ahold of me directly.

[cavaliersrus]

hack are you going to post in here when you open up sales queue and link over to it ?