Black Arrow 28nm 100Ghash Bitcoin ASIC from $0.49/GH/s

[merv77]

first batch was 300 units, wasn't it?

[minternj]

Finally a real answer to where they really are with orders. Although, it would be great if they could say that in their thread, although i'm sure bob has more contact with them than us.

These asic companies are super responsive when the product is launching, but once they have a few million dollars in the bank they really forget quickly how to log into this forum and post. Not just BA but all companies. Sad that we havent yet seen one that runs a business the right way. KNC came close but still lacking.

[bobsag3]

Finally a real answer to where they really are with orders. Although, it would be great if they could say that in their thread, although i'm sure bob has more contact with them than us.

These asic companies are super responsive when the product is launching, but once they have a few million dollars in the bank they really forget quickly how to log into this forum and post. Not just BA but all companies. Sad that we havent yet seen one that runs a business the right way. KNC came close but still lacking.

That is why they brought me on board, and a few more CS people. They don't really have the time to post on the forums, and I can usually get pretty quick answers out of them, given my official capacity.

[Stedsm]

Glad to see that you are officially part of the BA customer service Bobsag3! This is a cut/paste from my post on the BA forum that is yet to be answered,maybe you can.
 David is someone from BA that tries answer question from time to time.

 "I thank you David for taking time to answer questions but I think there are a number of things that could be done to help people understand what is going on. You said elsewhere that the project is a ahead of schedule,that's great but it would be nice to know what the schedule is? it's has been suggested that if tape out is not done within the next two weeks it would be nearly impossible to meet the Feb/24 launch? Someone in BA must know when the Minion MUST be taped out to meet the Feb/24 launch?  What elements of this project have been finalized? it seems strange to me this late in the game and we don't even know what these things will look like. I thought BA would have  one or two housing/casing/shells what ever you call them to build a mock-up even with a dummy board to make sure everything fits,a picture of this would speak a 1000 words and SHOW progress. I have seen the photos of the heat sinks,the fpga board supposedly running a simulation of the Minion but how is that progressing,how long should that take? i have looked at the datasheet pdf for the minion but for most people and I who no nothing of writing software or electronics its just a pdf file.It doesn't tell me where the Minion is in its development 50% 80% 100% done Is the Minion at a state that it could be taped out when simulations are done? "

[filharvey]

So with april now as the delivery date, are prices going to come down?

[FlappySocks]

The HTTPS thing is not much of an issue.  Your using Android right?  I had the same issue setting up a web site once.  Works fine on a PC, but not Android.  The SSL cert needs a complete chain.  Easy to fix.

[Puppet]

Production capacity =/ how many miners they are making. Theres no such thing as unlimited wafers.

No, but of all things, wafer production capacity is the least likely bottleneck.   TSMC does 100s of 1000s of 28nm wafer starts per month and it is running below 70% utilization. Each wafer has potential for on the order of 25-50TH worth of asics. Timing and planning may be an issues, capacity is not. Just one day worth of (currently idle) TSMC production would result in over 500PH worth of asics.

[nexus99]

The date is pushed to April?

[Stedsm]

Bobsag3 has answered that question above,the Apr date is for batch2. unfortunately BA nor minersource have used the terms Feb batch sold out! Per order now for Apr. or something similar and to add to the confusion BA has not changed the dates at all. please go top of page and read his reply

[BBasicminer51]

Glad I got my bitcoins to them as I have three prospero x-1 to be delivered Feb 24-ish 2014, can't wait as now I am lymping with 51 asics @ total 20Ghz

From Black Arrow 11/26/13: Dear customer,

Your order status has been changed to Processed. There is nothing you have to do now. We will contact you as soon as your order will be ready to ship.

Meanwhile please come back on our website as we will regularly post updates on our products and services. If you will have further questions or inquiries please feel free to contact us.

Regards,
Black Arrow Team

[cdog]

Glad to hear batch one sold out as that means tapeout and production should be fully underway, Im pretty stoked

[Waramp22]

So with april now as the delivery date, are prices going to come down?

I am waiting to see as well. Black Arrows site is still showing the 15% off the X-1 and X-3. It will be interesting to see what the pricing and discount will be once they update the site with the batch 2 info.  Id be choked if i ordered one today at these prices and then realized it was going to be 2 months late.

[Stedsm]

I would NOT think tape out is underway yet with all the heat they have been taking on the BA forums and complete lack of info I'm sure they would make big deal about tape out
when?if it happens

[BlackArrow Matt]

Hey guys,

I've finally caught up with the past 10 pages of posts. I had to take a day to do other things and haven't been able to catch up here since.

First off, I want to apologize on behalf of Black Arrow Software and the customer support team. Saying 'we're swamped' doesn't make you, our customers, feel any better about the delays in responses. That's the root of the problem though.

I saw a question about why not hiring more people. That's a great question. We don't want to hire more people for now because the work they'd do is temporary. We don't want to hire someone for a few months worth of work. We're looking for people who we can keep for a long period of time.

We're working on putting in an automated BTC payment system but that's progressing slowly. It will improve over time.

We're working on getting resellers established. That involves a detailed background check, forms, etc to try to ensure security of our customers. That is also progressing slowly and will improve customer support over time. If you're interested in becoming a reseller, PM me.

It's frustrating for us to be so far behind. One thing that adds to frustration is receiving the same questions over and over again. The paypal/credit card question, how do they work, requirements, etc. These questions are available in our knowledge base and other areas. We've answered everything  many times and it adds to response time.

I'll try my best to keep up and keep everyone informed.

[Stedsm]

Glad your on line Matt I think the single most important question for most people is "tape out" When must that occur to meet the Feb 24 launch date? Are we close to having a tape out.

and he logs off as soon as i asked that and that statement above looks like a cut/paste from a few days ago,said the same thing,told us nothing

[nexus99]

Bobsag3 has answered that question above,the Apr date is for batch2. unfortunately BA nor minersource have used the terms Feb batch sold out! Per order now for Apr. or something similar and to add to the confusion BA has not changed the dates at all. please go top of page and read his reply

Well, that is unfortunate. If I had known this was coming I would have ordered last night. KNC is now looking much more attractive.

[Stedsm]

if I had it to do over again I won't order from BA at all,i get the gut feeling my $6500 is just gone with the wind,should have gone with bitmine.ch

[erk]

Bobsag3 has answered that question above,the Apr date is for batch2. unfortunately BA nor minersource have used the terms Feb batch sold out! Per order now for Apr. or something similar and to add to the confusion BA has not changed the dates at all. please go top of page and read his reply

Well, that is unfortunate. If I had known this was coming I would have ordered last night. KNC is now looking much more attractive.

It's strange how these ASIC manufactures can't maintain steady production, they have to leave large gaps and work in batches.

[nexus99]

Bobsag3 has answered that question above,the Apr date is for batch2. unfortunately BA nor minersource have used the terms Feb batch sold out! Per order now for Apr. or something similar and to add to the confusion BA has not changed the dates at all. please go top of page and read his reply

Well, that is unfortunate. If I had known this was coming I would have ordered last night. KNC is now looking much more attractive.

It's strange how these ASIC manufactures can't maintain steady production, they have to leave large gaps and work in batches.

+1

[klondike_bar]

Bobsag3 has answered that question above,the Apr date is for batch2. unfortunately BA nor minersource have used the terms Feb batch sold out! Per order now for Apr. or something similar and to add to the confusion BA has not changed the dates at all. please go top of page and read his reply

Well, that is unfortunate. If I had known this was coming I would have ordered last night. KNC is now looking much more attractive.

It's strange how these ASIC manufactures can't maintain steady production, they have to leave large gaps and work in batches.

ordering 1000 chips for a small version1 batch is expensive, espescially when problems or room for improvement appear, and takes a lot of capital risk. Its easier to scale production then it is to run headlong into it with your entire budget