How do I mine SHA-256 altcoins?

[phoenixsilverbird]

Currently I started BTC mining with 3 Antminer U1s at 1.6 GH/s.

I understand that it will be energy inefficient and too costly to run my mining rig mining BTC when the difficulty gets too high.

So, how do I mine alternative SHA-256 coins like freicoin? I know ASICs cannot do scrypt, but what do I have to do to mine these alternative SHA-256 coins. I heard all you had to do was point your mining software at a pool for that specific coin, is this true?

Also, is there anywhere decent where I can trade my alternative SHA-256 coins for BTC that does not require me to send them a load of documents and information about myself, just something simple like localbitcoins where you don't need to spend 2 weeks sending personal documents.

Thanks.

[Chartist]

Well, when you decide which coins you will mine, just download the wallet for each of them and transfer your mined coins from the pool to your wallets. Then when you feel like it, transfer them to an exchange like bter, sell them for BTC, and then transfer the BTC to your BTC wallet. Easy.

I heard all you had to do was point your mining software at a pool for that specific coin, is this true?

As far as I know, yes. I ordered a couple of the antminers off amazon and will be getting them set up as soon as they arrive, so I'll be able to give a definitive answer then. In the meantime, have a look through the documentation. I just downloaded the zip today and am just starting to read through everything so I'll be good and prepared when they arrive in the mail. 

https://github.com/AntMiner/AntGen1

[Starscream]

Currently I started BTC mining with 3 Antminer U1s at 1.6 GH/s.

I understand that it will be energy inefficient and too costly to run my mining rig mining BTC when the difficulty gets too high.

So, how do I mine alternative SHA-256 coins like freicoin? I know ASICs cannot do scrypt, but what do I have to do to mine these alternative SHA-256 coins. I heard all you had to do was point your mining software at a pool for that specific coin, is this true?

Yes, same way you mine BTC right now via a pool, all you need to do is join a pool that mines the specific coin you're interested in mining.

Also, is there anywhere decent where I can trade my alternative SHA-256 coins for BTC that does not require me to send them a load of documents and information about myself, just something simple like localbitcoins where you don't need to spend 2 weeks sending personal documents.

Thanks.

I am using Cryptsy.
One thing to note though is that Cryptsy prohibits you from mining directly to your Cryptsy deposit address, so you'll need a wallet to attach to your mining pool and once you accumulate a good amount of coins, send it to your Cryptsy account address and trade it.

[Wipeout2097]

One thing to note though is that Cryptsy prohibits you from mining directly to your Cryptsy deposit address, so you'll need a wallet to attach to your mining pool and once you accumulate a good amount of coins, send it to your Cryptsy account address and trade it.

Where does it say that?

[Starscream]

One thing to note though is that Cryptsy prohibits you from mining directly to your Cryptsy deposit address, so you'll need a wallet to attach to your mining pool and once you accumulate a good amount of coins, send it to your Cryptsy account address and trade it.

Where does it say that?

When you create an address for a specific coin.  
The exact warning is: "Notice: Do NOT mine directly directly to your Cryptsy deposit address." (Yea, they have a type there)

[Wipeout2097]

One thing to note though is that Cryptsy prohibits you from mining directly to your Cryptsy deposit address, so you'll need a wallet to attach to your mining pool and once you accumulate a good amount of coins, send it to your Cryptsy account address and trade it.

Where does it say that?

When you create an address for a specific coin.  
The exact warning is: "Notice: Do NOT mine directly directly to your Cryptsy deposit address." (Yea, they have a type there)

Yes. That's because they are unable to credit you if you're using p2pool or whatever was the issue. No, you don't need a wallet and you can withdraw directly from the pool to Cryptsy.