UPDATE 9/4/17Pre-order is now over...please use the below linked pre-order thread for all discussion on order related topics
UPDATE 9/1/17Official Pre-order has started and links are here:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2141261.msg21415891#msg21415891==============================
Well this one has been a long time coming, but after many months of negotiations, design, and testing I finally have a new USB Stick miner to announce based on a latest gen scrypt chip, that makes this stick one of the most powerful, profitable, and efficient USB Stick miners ever released (even beats bitmain in efficiency with about 1.3 w/mh)!
Like with the original Moonlander project, my goals are the same for this stick and what it means for the crypto community. Build a low cost and easy to use scrypt USB miner that will put mining and Litecoin use into thousands of hands that would have never had the means or experience to do mining before! Except I can hopefully realize this goal this time around, since the original Moonlander project was based on a obsolete chip I happened to get the last remaining stock in, this chip is in full production, and have access to the first batches of chips from the foundry!
So without further ado here is the
FutureBit Moonlander 2! (this is currently my testing prototype PCB...ill update pics with the near final design next week!...the PCB will actually be slightly smaller than the original)
Specs: (these are prototype specs and can change in production version)
- 3mh to 5mh scrypt performance per miner
- uses about 1.5w/mh for most of that range
- core clock from 500mhz to nearly 1GHz!
- fully customizable core voltage range from .6 - 1v
- Fully redesigned 5v->core voltage stage with about 95% efficiency
- Heavy duty/over speced parts were used to ensure wide range of operation (stick can be pushed to nearly 6mh if you can cool it)
- status LEDs for power, TX and RX transmission
- uses latest bfgminer 5.4 for control
- Will work with all Mac OS, Linux, and Windows based PCs, as well as RPi's etc (and I will be offering easy to use pre-compiled binaries)
The Moonlander 2 is over 4x the speed, over 5x the efficiency, and nearly 5x the profitability (if you guys remember when the original moonlander came out, it was doing about $2 a month, this stick is doing almost $10 per month at current price/difficulty). This beats out any other stick miner whether scrypt or any other algo!
Best part is that this stick is consuming under 5 watts at its peak efficiency range (~ 4MH), so unlike the original Moonlander which was nearly impossible to operate without a hub and fan, this stick can easily run on USB 2 power with no fan in the 3-4MH range.
Production:I am finalizing the PCB/thermal design in the next few weeks, and my chip purchase is scheduled for delivery mid October. Everything should be in order to do a full batch run as soon as I get the chips in October, so shipments will be ready to start probably at the end of October/Early November. I will probably have near final design/prototype units to send out by end of next week.
Pre-Order/Cost:Just like the original Moonlander I'm more interested in getting mining and crypto out to as many hands as possible than pure profits (so I need you guys to push these out to all your friends for stocking stuffers and introduction crypto/mining!). While id love to keep the price at around $30 like the original, it will unfortunately not be possible this time around since I got the original ASIC for practically free, this time its a brand new ASIC so I'm paying around $15 just for the ASIC alone. Pricing will most likely be in the 50-60 USD range. (Considering my original is still selling for over $50, and this one is way more efficient and profitable I hope you guys still consider this a steal).
Ordering will also be done a little differently this time, since Im a one guy shop, I was pretty overwhelmed in shipping out hundreds of sticks in time for everyone to get them ASAP, and this time the number of sticks will be way more so I have enlisted a few distributors around the world to handle pre-orders and distribution. Most of these guys you already know and trust so hope that wont be an issue. If you are planning on ordering more than 50 sticks, you can still contact me for direct ordering.
USA/Canada/NA will be handled by Scott at HolyBitcoin, and ASICPuppy
Europe and surrounding areas will be handled by Bitshopper.de
As soon as details and price are finalized, I will put up separate thread for ordering and each of these guys will have links up and your will be able to pre-order directly through them (most likely within the next two weeks).
If there is enough interest in additional areas (probably Asia/Australia regions) please contact me if you wish to distribute in those regions.
Keep in mind I will work with the distributors to keep fair launch pricing on the initial batch, but this will be only for the initial pre-order batch, and wont be able to control pricing past this. The initial batch is for about 1-2k units, so if you want to pick one up at the initial pricing I would pre-order.
BIG THANKS to all the original buyers of my Moonlander stick...you guys made #2 possible, and hopefully with the success of Moonlander 2 ill be able to launch even some more interesting projects I'm working on!
Keep hashing and spread the word!
Oh and some screenshots of the device actually hashing
Normal operation at my scypt pool...driver is not complete yet so its not reporting hardware hashrate...pool hashrate is displayed (756 MHz clock @ 6 watts... ~ 1.4 w/mh!)
Stress test...nearly 6MH!
Power draw..5w @ 648 MHz (~3.8 MH/s) = ~1.3w/MH...the most efficient operational ASIC miner in the world!
