Raspberry Pi 3 mining questions

Hello all, I’m new here, and I have a couple of queries, which I have been reading through posts but I can’t seem to find anything really answering what I have in mind…

I have a Raspberry Pi 3, just sitting there with nothing to do, as well as a small 15" LCD monitor. I was thinking about setting it up to begin with as a litecoin miner, as I have read that it can be done. From my understanding, it’s not much in the way of power to get much in the way of results, but here is where I would begin to expand on questions.

I am very limited on resources, but if I could get hold of a USB antminer, those ones I’ve seen advertised with 330MH/s, and then maybe add more as I can get hold of them, can they be easily added to the setup as they arrive? Is it really worth it? I’m not just seeing it as a “make money” thing, but also to learn things, as I’m still quite new also to RPi itself and still learning things about them (the stagnant RPi isn’t the only one I have here to play with). One advantage I do have is my electricity is included in the price of my rent, so I don’t have to pay extra for having something set up 24/7.

What kind of actual hash figures can someone expect from a setup like this? I mean, people say what you see advertised and what you actually get are 2 very different things.

Anyway, hope someone finds this lost noob worthy of some time to answer those or some of those questions hehehe

Then mining isn’t for you, neither is investing in a risky asset class like crypto IMO.

That’s the rate for SHA-256 which is the algorithm for mining BTC. Probably not going to find any USB-stick LTC miner with a hash rate like that.

To answer the “is it worth it question?” No, it’s not, Raspberry Pi with USB miners isn’t really going to work out well if you ask me. The physics of it won’t work, the power used by USB stick miners relative to the hash rate doesn’t scale.

The tube design (e.g. L3+, A4+) is more effective, getting close to 1W/MHs. Most of the USB miners I see are sub 1 MHs and draw 2.5-5W.

I started the same way, started mining as a learning thing so I think you’re on the right track, you’re not going to make any money with garbage gear but you can certainly learn a lot. If you have the pi and want to drop some $$ on mining gear, might as well pick up a Gridseed, that was my first setup, I’d sell you my two Gridseeds for 1 LTC + shipping. You won’t make any real LTC but you also won’t have to put out more 4-figures to get earn your first XP.

You could go for an A4 Dominator if you want to learn something an potentially make some LTC you could take to the wallet. I’d recommend this one on eBay, probably the best deal you’ll find right now: A4 Dominator with Power Supply and Controller. I just upgraded and I’m selling that rig, it’s a good starter. Anything selling for less probably won’t ever see a return, you need > 200MHs at this point IMO.

Thank you for responding so quickly.

I’m still trying to get around the “jargen” of this particular field of the computer world, so I freely admit there are a couple of things I am going “what’s he talking about?” at and turning to Google for insight… there’s just so much when you branch into something new.

When you say about W, I assume you are talking about actual wattage of power consumption. I don’t really have a problem with that, as my original studies background is in the field of electricity, with a strong interest in electronics, not to mention radio control, so power consumption, power transformation and supplying is something I’me rather used to, especilly when it comes to overcoming difficulties. On a 5V setup I don’t have a problem as I can always make my own 5V PSU to the amperage specifications I need, without being limited to the typical microUSB power supplies most people use, and I have plenty of experience with soldering so that’s not an issue either. Also, as I said, the paying for power isn’t an issue either, because, I have my electrical consumption included in my rent, and seeing as I generally live in the dark (I have ocular photophobia) I generally don’t consume much on a daily basis anyway, so it would get me probably up to normal cost of living standards hehehehe.

I was thinking about starting with just the Pi, to see how it works and what it does, and then maybe see what it does from there. Would one of those typical 330MH/s on a Pi be much of a difference from a stand alone Pi if I made a custom PSU to power all the amps it would want on the 5V rail? Also, when they say “330MH/s”, is that real, or is it more like when a chinese company says “2200mAh” on a battery and really you’re lucky to get 400 out of it?

And, one advantage I do have, seeing as I am limited on funds (and living in a terrible economy as far as countries go), I enjoy homebrewing and making things myself, I find soldering and planning out my drone builds for example to be just as enjoyable as flying them, and another hobby I enjoy is console modding because I just find it a way for me to be creative.

I’m certainly not expecting to make a living out of it at all, but a little bit out, even if it just covers the actual material used at the end of some time would be nice, but it is, after all, a hobby, and thus, supposed to cause a flow of red numbers in one’s bank account hehehehehe