Who likes pod miners?

[spazzdla]

A terminal block.. LOL! (But really..)

[btckess]

A terminal block.. LOL! (But really..)

you laugh but that's exactly what i plan on doing lol
https://www.adafruit.com/product/368

*edit*
also using this https://www.adafruit.com/product/2897

[philipma1957]

Okay, show of hands. What would people rather see - a 6-pin jack for power (in addition to 2.5mm barrel), or a USB-B for signal (in addition to USB mini)?

Recall the max power on this guy is about 75 watts.

6-pin for power  as I have  idle platinum  and titanium psu's




this is a usb mini?  just don't want the shitty micro

it should be good enough

[sidehack]

I would much rather go with "sturdy" than "fancy" which is why I tend to like USB B. I've never liked Micro, that won't even be an option.

Anyone saying toss the barrel jack, y'all aren't thinking clearly. This is an entry-level device designed to be quiet and entertaining. The guy who wants one sitting on a shelf somewhere lottery-ticketing away isn't gonna want to strap an old ATX to it to get 50 watts of 12V when a cheap and silent brick will do.

I'm not building this for the pros. It's for the n00bs. I like that there's a learning curve for operating it, because I really like when people actually learn things. Folks these days really seem to hate thinking, and I despise that attitude. But I'm not interested in forcing newbies to deal with something ugly, jankety or loud just because people who can already hack it like it that way.

In any case, thanks for the input. USB-B is out, 6-pin is in.

I wanted input on this decision because the Terminus isn't planned to be a one-off product. I want to build a Bitfury in the same formfactor, so I'd like to keep things physically compatible wherever possible.

[spazzdla]

I would much rather go with "sturdy" than "fancy" which is why I tend to like USB B. I've never liked Micro, that won't even be an option.

Anyone saying toss the barrel jack, y'all aren't thinking clearly. This is an entry-level device designed to be quiet and entertaining. The guy who wants one sitting on a shelf somewhere lottery-ticketing away isn't gonna want to strap an old ATX to it to get 50 watts of 12V when a cheap and silent brick will do.

I'm not building this for the pros. It's for the n00bs. I like that there's a learning curve for operating it, because I really like when people actually learn things. Folks these days really seem to hate thinking, and I despise that attitude. But I'm not interested in forcing newbies to deal with something ugly, jankety or loud just because people who can already hack it like it that way.

In any case, thanks for the input. USB-B is out, 6-pin is in.

I wanted input on this decision because the Terminus isn't planned to be a one-off product. I want to build a Bitfury in the same formfactor, so I'd like to keep things physically compatible wherever possible.

Build a Bitfury??  Like with their chips kind of thing?

Thanks for keeping the home mining alive!

[sidehack]

Um, yeah. That's been the plan the whole time. The 2Pac and everything were just to build resources for that project. I've had Bitfury 16nm samples since last year.

[ab1jx]

What size barrel jack?  That's the only problem I have with those, there are at least half a dozen different sizes.  But yeah, my Gridseed has USB minis and barrels.  My MP3 players have all had minis.  Phones, Kindles, Raspberry Pis all micro, very problematic.

USB B is fine, whatever it has it's going to need some cable.  USB A/B cables come with lots of stuff, they reach almost throwaway proportions.  Every printer and flatbed scanner I've got came with one.  And then there were ones we were throwing away at work so I brought those home.  I wouldn't mind screw terminals.

[hurricandave]

The U3 was originally announced as having both 6pin PCIE and X-Box barrel jack. They left the 6-pin unpopulated and went with the barrel jack only. Those 12v/7a bricks were HOT to the touch. I don't mind if both options are there. Would be nice(convenient ) to have the 6-pin in place.
Now as far as the COMs go, USB B is my preference. Much sturdier connection. I had a USB Mini pull off a Rockminer R-Box board when I was trying to pull the cable off to clean the fans. As much as that may have been my fault, the Mini is weak and difficult to repair if your like me and hadn't soldered anything smaller than 10gauge wire in years.

[sidehack]

Yeah, 6-pin will definitely be useful. That was a must-have feature on the larger pod idea, but since that project got scrapped this one will have to do its best to fill the gap. That's why right now I'm working on a few added features to spiff it up a bit. Probably over the weekend I'll punch out the new board design.

I'm hoping to take some time and work up an improved Bitfury test also, since the whole signals side of things has changed a lot from the original idea and the old test board doesn't work right, possibly because of how a bunch of new stuff is scabbed into it.

[in2tactics]

Anyone saying toss the barrel jack, y'all aren't thinking clearly. This is an entry-level device designed to be quiet and entertaining. The guy who wants one sitting on a shelf somewhere lottery-ticketing away isn't gonna want to strap an old ATX to it to get 50 watts of 12V when a cheap and silent brick will do.

I'm not building this for the pros. It's for the n00bs. I like that there's a learning curve for operating it, because I really like when people actually learn things. Folks these days really seem to hate thinking, and I despise that attitude. But I'm not interested in forcing newbies to deal with something ugly, jankety or loud just because people who can already hack it like it that way.

Point taken. I will say that I am reasonably sure the non-n00bs appreciate your decision to include the 6-pin PCIE. I think my wife has finally gotten over the fact that I randomly leave power supplies with stuff plugged into them in her living area. Okay, I do not leave them around randomly or haphazardly, but certainly they are left unwantedly.

[philipma1957]

Anyone saying toss the barrel jack, y'all aren't thinking clearly. This is an entry-level device designed to be quiet and entertaining. The guy who wants one sitting on a shelf somewhere lottery-ticketing away isn't gonna want to strap an old ATX to it to get 50 watts of 12V when a cheap and silent brick will do.

I'm not building this for the pros. It's for the n00bs. I like that there's a learning curve for operating it, because I really like when people actually learn things. Folks these days really seem to hate thinking, and I despise that attitude. But I'm not interested in forcing newbies to deal with something ugly, jankety or loud just because people who can already hack it like it that way.

Point taken. I will say that I am reasonably sure the non-n00bs appreciate your decision to include the 6-pin PCIE. I think my wife has finally gotten over the fact that I randomly leave power supplies with stuff plugged into them in her living area. Okay, I do not leave them around randomly or haphazardly, but certainly they are left unwantedly.

and there are small atx quiet and good quality.


http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/Power_Supply/Toughpower_Series_/Toughpower_SFX_/C_00002909/Toughpower_SFX_450W_Gold/design.htm

very small will do 2 easy  with the supplied pcies and  3 with a sata  to 6 pin adapter 
 
it would be safe since the 6 pin won't do much power in this case.

[Morguk]

The cost for a decent PSU is outputting when I can just use a mains plug with barrel jack.

Edit: Lol meant to say off-putting.

[sidehack]

I have exactly zero idea what that statement means.

[leowonderful]

The cost for a decent PSU is outputting when I can just use a mains plug with barrel jack.

I'm going to assume you said the cost of a barrel jack supply is cheaper than a decent PSU, but really you can use molex or sata to pci connectors and they won't melt the cables as the miner doesn't use a whole lot of energy. Hell you can go buy a 400w PSU and some of those connectors for less than 30 bucks and it won't take a lot out of your wallet.

[hurricandave]

You can get NEW 350w-450w PSU's for $15 at this power level they will be silent. A brick is smaller and a little more durable if you have pet's or rotten children

[thehypnominer]

I like the idea of the 6-pin PCIE. That way I can just run a couple of the extra PCIE power cables from my tower PSU out the back and not have to buy a new power supply. My PSU has power to spare.

[QuintLeo]

this is a usb mini? 

 Yes, that is a USB mini - same connector the Gridseeds used for the 80 blades (and I believe the ORBs as well, dunno about the GBlack as I don't think that one was USB at all?)

[in2tactics]

I have exactly zero idea what that statement means.

This made me chuckle, but I think leowonderful may have demystified the unknown.

[leowonderful]

this is a usb mini?  

 Yes, that is a USB mini - same connector the Gridseeds used for the 80 blades (and I believe the ORBs as well, dunno about the GBlack as I don't think that one was USB at all?)

And also the Rockminer 32GH RBOX and the BFL Jalapeno, to name a few. Very common back in the old days of mining, but they've disappeared along with those podlike miners. But no more

[Morguk]

Lol I meant to say PSU cost is off-putting (not outputting) compared to a normal plug.

Sure you can get cheap PSU's, but I always hear nightmare stories.