Avalon Nano 3 [unofficial thread]

[n0nce]

Since I couldn't find any thread with the keyword 'Avalon Nano 3' here, I decided to create one from scratch.

There is this post in the Marketplace section by the user Canaan Online Shop: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5480362.0

Official product page: https://shop.canaan.io/products/avalon-nano-3
Hashrate: 4TH/s
Efficiency: 29J/TH
Price: ~100$ USD
Power consumption: max. 140W

This brings it on par in terms of efficiency with devices like the Avalon A1346 (see reference table below) and has a really decent hashrate (enough to get paid out from a pool in a reasonable timeframe), while just costing you about $100 USD (plus PSU).

Here's a non-exhaustive overview ^{[lower is better]} of some popular industrial miners' efficiency over the years / generations. It's important to take into account that it is an extremely difficult process to get your hands on bare ASIC chips in the first place and reverse-engineer them in order to get them running in your own product. Home miners have always been 'lagging behind' in this regard, since none of the companies building them, develop or manufacture their own chips.

• ~100W/TH Bitmain S9
• ~80W/TH Futurebit Apollo BTC
  
• ~50W/TH Bitmain S17
• ~50W/TH Termius R909
  
• ~35W/TH Bitmain S19 / Whatsminer M30S+
• ~30W/TH: Canaan Avalon A1346 / Whatsminer M50 / M53 / M56
• ~25W/TH: Canaan Avalon A1366 / A1446 / Bitmain S19k Pro
• ~20W/TH: Canaan Avalon A1466 / Bitmain S19XP / Whatsminer M60 / M63 / M66 / Bitmain T21
• <20W/TH: WhatsMiner M60S / M63S / M66S / Bitmain S21

It looks like the chassis is designed to be used as a space heater replacement, which I think is a brilliant idea. Reusing heat from home mining has always been something people do to fight the lower efficiency found in these micro-miners, compared to buying the latest and greatest industrial ASIC. However, this is the first time I see something that ticks all of the following boxes.

• Created by a 'big ASIC maker', i.e. access to more recent ASIC chips with higher efficiency
• Designed to be used for heating out-of-the-box (no modifications needed)
• Extremely affordable
• Decent hashrate

To put things into context: a couple years ago, $250 got you a USB stick miner, and now we're getting a whole 'finished product' kind of device for half the price. I think it's clear that I'm really excited to get this one into my hands.
What are your guys' thoughts on this?

Downsides I see right now:

• Apparently fixed to Braiins pool
• Remote control over the device = privacy nightmare?
• Closed source / limited control over the machine compared to something that runs off cgminer

[BitcoinSoloMiner]

checked this out, if it wasn't fixed to brains it would be good for solo ckpool mining

wonder what the custom firmware is possible on this

wish bitmain would jump on this boat and use some proper efficient 16W/T s21 chips

[philipma1957]

I am trying to get two of them I will post if I do.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

checked this out, if it wasn't fixed to brains it would be good for solo ckpool mining
wonder what the custom firmware is possible on this
wish bitmain would jump on this boat and use some proper efficient 16W/T s21 chips

My 1st guess is that the FW is Canaan's FMS which is what they've used from the A10xx on up.
So far I've not seen anything in the specs stating it uses the Braiins pool. Where is that said?

edit: Found it, it is on the indiegogo site

Each Avalon Nano 3 comes with a QR Code for registration of an account with the Braiins Pool. The stratum URL of the Braiins pool, including the username, has been configured and will match your account automatically.

That blows.
 A. I hate the idea of using QR codes as it largely requires using a 'smartphone'.
 B. there damn well better be a way to access the miner gui via a browser vs a smartphone.

[DaveF]

The old antrouter and the heatbits were locked to certain pools. But hacking around that is (was) somewhat trivial.
It depends how much time & effort they put into locking it down and how much of a controller they have onboard.
If they took the cheapest - slowest - most basic SBC they could find to run it, then a fixed firmware setup that does not even have a GUI might be what you get.
OTOH, if they are using something that runs the full setup that they have on their regular miners then it's a different story.

Will have to wait and see.

-Dave

[Shir0kuma]

It seems that, even if it was not initially considered, it will be possible to solo mine and change the pool. the software update should take several months to be released, according to the idiegogo discussion and the canaan shop telegram. 

[n0nce]

So far I've not seen anything in the specs stating it uses the Braiins pool. Where is that said?

edit: Found it, it is on the indiegogo site

Each Avalon Nano 3 comes with a QR Code for registration of an account with the Braiins Pool. The stratum URL of the Braiins pool, including the username, has been configured and will match your account automatically.

That blows.
 A. I hate the idea of using QR codes as it largely requires using a 'smartphone'.
 B. there damn well better be a way to access the miner gui via a browser vs a smartphone.

I fully agree. I'm already thinking about ways to change the pool. It really depends on how tightly integrated the controller is. If it runs software that just connects to a pool over Stratum, it should be possible to replace the URL and get it running. We shall see; I got one and will report what I can, as soon as I get it.

It seems that, even if it was not initially considered, it will be possible to solo mine and change the pool. the software update should take several months to be released, according to the idiegogo discussion and the canaan shop telegram. 

Indeed, just saw it:

Dear Christian, you can change the pool if you want in Nano3. We support strutam V1. And a better experience is that you can change the pool via our App. The app will be released soon.

I'd still want it not to be app / smartphone-based or at least have the option to do everything from a web browser. I guess there's an opportunity for some hacking here..

[Shir0kuma]

I got 2, so i will proceed to a teardown in photos and video with one of them as fast as i can.

For the moment, it seems that canaan is listening their customers. we will see in the next weeks if they do what they said, but for the moment, its a good point.

On the telegram, i've learned today that they are also working on a bigger version designed for home miners.

can't wait to see the "technological war" between canaan and the bitaxe hex community.

This is good for us.

[Shir0kuma]

For Bitcoin home miners, imo, there is two schools that can coexist :

• Solo/lottery miners
• and Pool (regular) miners

These 2 types have different needs.
As canaan is working on another model for home mining, and hopefully, maybe other brands will consider working on it, it could be wise to explicit the waited specifications for both types isn't it ?
Even if its smell the wishfulthinking  

So, first, pleb miners doesn't have the industrial price for electricity. For example, in france, the common price is 22.7cts€/kwh (~0.21$us) and very good price is average 13cts€/kwh. And, if it seems high, it is one of the lower price in europe for everyday people.

Solo/lottery miners
In this context, the power consumption have to be kept low. 150W seems the maximum, because it keep the electric bill and heat production low, for 24/7/365 operation.
A special focus on the noise. It have to be extremely low, so you can run it wherever you want, even dormroom.
this kind of tiny miners have to be able to mine through a local node or a stratum. they should connect through wifi and remain cheap, regarding their tiny hashrate.
finaly, the efficiency is important. People are ok to fight, against swords, but not with a foam knife.

concerning the "classic" pool miners
the power should be in a range between 500-1500W.
It is a correct power to remain the noise below 50dB, and be able to heat an appartment in winter, without being a nightmare to cool on summer.
If people want more power, they just buy multiple devices.
In a sens, they should be "rain proof", because, during summer, many people leaves their asic outside (on a balcony for example) and rain can sometime be an issue.

Imo, design is not very revelant for things like that, but the price and efficiency (considering the additional cost to keep the noise low) remain the two major points.

What do you think about that ?
Do i forgot something ?
 

[n0nce]

On the telegram, i've learned today that they are also working on a bigger version designed for home miners.

That's cool, but in my humble opinion, 100W is a really good sweet spot for home mining.

can't wait to see the "technological war" between canaan and the bitaxe hex community.

I personally don't hope there will be a 'war' because these are very different products. Canaan has access to latest-gen ASIC chips and provides a finished, but closed-source, possibly pool-locked product at an incredibly affordable price.

Meanwhile Bitaxe is open-source, which creates open access to information / knowledge of how to make your own miner and as such ensures ASIC miner production will not become fully centralized, so ultimately it ensures people will continue to be able to home mine.
Keep in mind that Canaan building a home miner is a first from a big company like that and while it's nice, we don't want to rely / trust them to continue making these devices in the future.

That's why I'd hate for the Bitaxe project to be out-priced or otherwise harmed by big corporations' alternative products. What you get with Bitaxe is not just an ASIC miner, but the knowledge & ability to make it yourself and therefore somewhat secured access to home mining.

[Redsmall]

On the telegram, i've learned today that they are also working on a bigger version designed for home miners.

That's cool, but in my humble opinion, 100W is a really good sweet spot for home mining.

can't wait to see the "technological war" between canaan and the bitaxe hex community.

I personally don't hope there will be a 'war' because these are very different products. Canaan has access to latest-gen ASIC chips and provides a finished, but closed-source, possibly pool-locked product at an incredibly affordable price.

Meanwhile Bitaxe is open-source, which creates open access to information / knowledge of how to make your own miner and as such ensures ASIC miner production will not become fully centralized, so ultimately it ensures people will continue to be able to home mine.
Keep in mind that Canaan building a home miner is a first from a big company like that and while it's nice, we don't want to rely / trust them to continue making these devices in the future.

That's why I'd hate for the Bitaxe project to be out-priced or otherwise harmed by big corporations' alternative products. What you get with Bitaxe is not just an ASIC miner, but the knowledge & ability to make it yourself and therefore somewhat secured access to home mining.

It's true that being able to mine and understand how it works and get that knowledge is better. But not everyone wants to understand how it works. I think that the current situation is good competition and allows us to maximize decentralization by addressing as many people as possible.

The heating idea is a really great idea.

I understood that this brand was working on a bigger heater. Could someone give me the address of their Telegram or Discord?

[RKG456]

I was interested until I saw it was locked to Braiins.  Then was like nah..

[philipma1957]

On the telegram, i've learned today that they are also working on a bigger version designed for home miners.

That's cool, but in my humble opinion, 100W is a really good sweet spot for home mining.

can't wait to see the "technological war" between canaan and the bitaxe hex community.

I personally don't hope there will be a 'war' because these are very different products. Canaan has access to latest-gen ASIC chips and provides a finished, but closed-source, possibly pool-locked product at an incredibly affordable price.

Meanwhile Bitaxe is open-source, which creates open access to information / knowledge of how to make your own miner and as such ensures ASIC miner production will not become fully centralized, so ultimately it ensures people will continue to be able to home mine.
Keep in mind that Canaan building a home miner is a first from a big company like that and while it's nice, we don't want to rely / trust them to continue making these devices in the future.

That's why I'd hate for the Bitaxe project to be out-priced or otherwise harmed by big corporations' alternative products. What you get with Bitaxe is not just an ASIC miner, but the knowledge & ability to make it yourself and therefore somewhat secured access to home mining.

100 watt is okay
locked to braiins not so good.

I was going to get 4 of them run one to ckpool and 3 to viabtc on some junk sha256 coin xec

I can afford 400 watts a day for the rest of my life

[Shir0kuma]

I understood that this brand was working on a bigger heater. Could someone give me the address of their Telegram or Discord?

https://t.me/canaanofficialshop

[Shir0kuma]

That's cool, but in my humble opinion, 100W is a really good sweet spot for home mining.

I totally agree. Moreover, in some cases, it allow to solo mine without worries

But i also consider that more powerful miners, in the 500-1500W range could be more effective in therms of price per TH/s
I have 2 KD-lite asic, with a 900W "low power" mode and 1300W "hashrate" mode. they are great !
Low power is very quiet.

maybe the loki plebs design are the correct way in this range at the end of the day.

Meanwhile Bitaxe is open-source, which creates open access to information / knowledge of how to make your own miner and as such ensures ASIC miner production will not become fully centralized, so ultimately it ensures people will continue to be able to home mine.

I think both are great because they will allow many creative design for various usage

[n0nce]

It's true that being able to mine and understand how it works and get that knowledge is better. But not everyone wants to understand how it works.

That's not what I was saying; even if you don't want to know how it works for yourself, by supporting a project like Bitaxe, you allow devs and people who are interested in it, to continue working on open-source ASIC miners and expose this knowledge to more and more such people. This will ultimately ensure home miners (like yourself) will be able to purchase reasonably efficient home miners at reasonable prices years down the road.

I was interested until I saw it was locked to Braiins.  Then was like nah..

Apparently they're ditching that and adding regular Stratum v2 configs, but we shall see.

But i also consider that more powerful miners, in the 500-1500W range could be more effective in therms of price per TH/s
I have 2 KD-lite asic, with a 900W "low power" mode and 1300W "hashrate" mode. they are great !
Low power is very quiet.

maybe the loki plebs design are the correct way in this range at the end of the day.

Sure, I showed above that there are sub-20W/TH miners nowadays like the WhatsMiner M60S. But with 1kW you're looking at 10x the power cost and you have to see whether you can really pay that every month.

It's not a design thing, it's an ASIC chip thing. If you have the latest chips on the latest node, you'll have the best efficiency. A Bitmain S17 has the same efficiency as a Terminus R909.

[joker_josue]

I found the proposal very interesting. Although it is not extremely profitable (currently), it can be a minimally simple way to mine BTC.

Has anyone here bought it? What platform did you buy from?

I also found it interesting, although in my country most of the year, I don't need a radiator.
The problem is with my energy cost, which is around €0.17/kWh. Do I think it will be viable?

[Shir0kuma]

Has anyone here bought it? What platform did you buy from?

I bought 2 on indiegogo. But the delivery occur in a month

[Shir0kuma]

I made some calculus. And for me, now, this tiny miner is super exciting

https://i.ibb.co/BLyF380/Capture-d-cran-2024-01-23-090144.png

[n0nce]

The problem is with my energy cost, which is around €0.17/kWh. Do I think it will be viable?

It depends; if you have a shed or a small guest bathroom that is heated with electricity anyway for instance, you don't burn any more money when switching from a resistive to a 'semiconductor-based' electric heater.


I just checked their Indiegogo updates page and there was an update only a few minutes ago. They make the housing in other colors now, which I find unnecessary, but what's more exciting is that they finished making some demo units and started production.