Well, not to get rich. Considering the average cost of electricity in the U.S., you can probably just about break even at today’s bitcoin prices. Where I live I’m probably operating at a loss. So why am I doing this?

After a spur of the moment decision to buy this miner, I waited almost a month for it to be delivered. Usually my wife and daughter are the ones watching the front door for UPS deliveries. I rarely buy stuff, so they got a kick out of me constantly checking the front steps for a package.

When it finally arrived, I forced myself to resist jumping right in to set it up. I always screw this type of stuff up by rushing, so I watched a few youtube how-to videos and read a few articles about the machine first.

As usual, I ran into issues right away. As it turned out, the problem wasn’t with the machine, but with the really old android tablet I had chosen to run the Avalon family app. That was resolved by switching to a newer android device. Based on my limited prior experience with bitaxe, and the youtube videos I had watched which were focused on the Avalon 3, I assumed I needed to use a 2.5GHz network connection. The signal was weak in the basement, where family negotiations had concluded (my wife said) that all bitcoin mining must occur. I eventually discovered that the 3S can use a 5GHz network. This solved all my problems, since I had good mesh coverage with the 5GHz.

From there, it was an easy process for the app to discover the miner (through bluetooth), and then set up wifi. For those who choose not to use the app, you can run the miner through LAN with a browser using the miner’s IP address.

Once you download the app, you will be prompted to create an account. For this they collect an e-mail address. This is not mandatory. You can skip the screen. The only drawback is that you cannot access support without registering.

The next screen will prompt you to add a device:

You need bluetooth on and location enabled for this part. Once the device is paired, you can add your network SSID and password.

The app lets you control many aspects of your miner:

One thing I was curious about was the power settings. I have read about issues with the Nano 3 sometimes not being able to achieve full power. I have been running my 3S on full power since I set it up. Right now I’m getting 6.37TH/s.

If you’re interested in stats about the 3S, I found this web site:

My initial setbacks allowed me to make some discoveries. The Avalon 3s uses an invisible button, which is pressed with a small metal device. It is the small hole to the right of the usb port which holds the wifi receiver.

The tool:

If you lose the tool, a paper clip can probably be substituted. Click once, and you can reset the wifi network. Hold it down for 5 seconds for a factory reset. It works like a charm. I had to do both a few times.

Now I was in the home stretch. I had to choose a mining pool. I decided I was not going to swing for the fences by solo mining. I looked into Braains and Ocean. I eventually chose Ocean, because I didn’t need to make an account and the setup looked easier. I narrowed it down to those two because I like the idea of lightning payouts, but I didn’t go that route.

For Ocean, you just give them a bitcoin address and that becomes your account name. I also like their dashboard, although it was a little depressing. They figure that if I don’t add any more workers (miners), I will probably get a payout in 8 years. The good news? It’s been less than 24 hours, and I’m already obsessed. I’m hunting around for more workers.

Ocean figures that I can expect to earn 334 sats per day (.00000344btc). Their on chain payout threshold is .0104 btc.

I am very happy. The Avalon 3S miner is a solid, beautiful little machine. I won’t get rich, but I do get to fight the man.