FutureBit Apollo BTC - opinions

[Bitfort]

Hi all.

just noticed an email from Futurebit about pre-sale of new BTC miner. I have their LTC miner and I'm satisfied so thinking about this one as well.

Quick sum: It's standalone miner/node and should deliver 2-3.8 TH/s at 125-200 W  for $350 - $600.

To me it looks pretty good for hobbyist home miners. What you think?

more info/source: https://futurebit.io

EDIT:
Official ANN thread here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5314398.0

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[fyoung55]

I think I'm gonna try to grab one.  Might try the raspberry pie set up and see how that goes.  Hopefully there will be a guide for that setup coming.  I have has the ltc apollo forever and love it.  this should be justa as good or better.  The all in one $600 price point is a bit steep for me.

[philipma1957]

At a 300-400 price point it would be a go to solo miner.

My 2 ltc units are mining to this day.

[jstefanop]

I think I'm gonna try to grab one.  Might try the raspberry pie set up and see how that goes.  Hopefully there will be a guide for that setup coming.  I have has the ltc apollo forever and love it.  this should be justa as good or better.  The all in one $600 price point is a bit steep for me.

Yea the full package was not really designed for most enthusiats on here, since almost everyone has a raspberry pi on these forums. We wanted to include a powerful controller that could run almost any Bitcoin App, and have room to grow in the Future for new users. There are some full node hardware makers that sell nodes more expensive than our hold unit, and you essentially get a miner for "free".

[gt_addict]

Is there an option for just the miner/node? i.e. everything except the power supply?

[fyoung55]

nope.  I asked that same question today.  This first run limited release does not include that option.  I have psus laying around so figured that would be the best option for me too.

[in2tactics]

I love the Apollo LTC. I picked up two "Batch 1" units during pre-order. I am planning to do the same with the newly announced BTC pre-order.

Is there an option for just the miner/node? i.e. everything except the power supply?

I used the futurebit.io contact form to propose such an option because I didn't see it on the pre-order page. I didn't even think to come here to suggest it directly to jstefanop. I am glad to see I am not the only one desiring such an option.

[philipma1957]

lots of us have spare psu's.

I have  a bitmain apw5 which is very quiet and efficient. I could use it with this.

[gt_addict]

It does seem a bit silly to offer it with a psu when probably 90% of the community have an excess of PSU’s. Oh well. Its a tad on the pricey side, I may wait until batch 2 seeing as its just to sit on my desk lol.

[fyoung55]

That was exactly my thinking.  I did use the store chat though, didn't speak to him directly.

[jstefanop]

Still taking feedback and seeing what most customers want. Seems like this is a pretty big request, so we might replace the middle option (Standard + PSU) for a Full Package without PSU.

Ill open up a thread soon in the main mining section.

[Bitfort]

Great, my vote for full option without PSU as well. Not a fan of paying extra tax for stuff I don't need.

BTW can't find any mention regarding non-US customers. Could you please confirm available delivery to EU.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Good question. Considering that electronics shipped to the EU must meet specific labeling and material (no lead allowed) requirements I have to assume that like Sidehack did there will be EU-specific variants?

[RdStrcklnd]

I had 3 questions if anyone can help:

1) Does it require a monitor and keyboard to work? I've always just controlled my Pi remotely from my laptop, I don't have either at home.

2) I'm mining with an L3+ undervolted to 660W from a Bitmain APW7 plugged into 110V. There's one pcie connector left over - could I use that to power this in eco mode? (If yes, here's another vote for an option without the PSU)

3) What's the benefit of mining a full node? I've only ever just minined to a pool, I don't really understand that aspect of this.

Thanks everyone

[NotFuzzyWarm]

You do not/should not mine to the node! The node is simply there to support the Bitcoin network by well, having another full node on it for storing/distributing blockchain info. AFAIK the devs removed the solo mining function from Core several years ago.

Be it solo pool or normal pooled, mining requires the pool you are mining at to have the fastest possible connections to the BTC network along with wide distribution of that access to be able to monitor chain activity for block changes and notify the network when you have found a block. That is not an out-of-the-box thing to do.

[RdStrcklnd]

Ok, so it sounds like I'd just be mining as usual and don't really have to worry about the node part of it. Thanks!

[gt_addict]

+1 for the shipping to the EU (well I'm in the UK, so thanks to Brexit all that has changed aswell).

[jstefanop]

I had 3 questions if anyone can help:

1) Does it require a monitor and keyboard to work? I've always just controlled my Pi remotely from my laptop, I don't have either at home.

2) I'm mining with an L3+ undervolted to 660W from a Bitmain APW7 plugged into 110V. There's one pcie connector left over - could I use that to power this in eco mode? (If yes, here's another vote for an option without the PSU)

3) What's the benefit of mining a full node? I've only ever just minined to a pool, I don't really understand that aspect of this.

Thanks everyone

1) It has both an HDMI out, as well as a built in Web UI interface. You can just plug it into your router and configure it via web ui, or plug in a monitor keyboard and mouse and configure it that way as well.

2) ECO draws about 125 watts so you could get away with one connection, but its still not recommended.

3) The node and the node software you run is essential your "vote" in the protocols and code base that runs the decentralized Bitcoin ecosystem. You are also not trusting anyone other than yourself and your node for providing information on you or others transactions. For example you could easily install a block explorer that runs off your local node and use that instead of someone else's online service that *could* easily manipulate the transactions or confirmations it shows.

FYI thread is up here and should move discussion there: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5314398.0.