TL;DR guide: questions are bolded, specifics are linked

I'm looking to buy some parts for re-building a pre-designed circuit, but I need some help figuring a few specifics out so I don't buy the wrong part (and perhaps learn more about how the parts work in the process). Any help is greatly appreciated

BitFury just released some new Bitcoin Mining hardware. Some friends and I decided to invest in it but there's a bit of a catch- Buying their M-board (master board) that connects their H-Boards (hashing boards) to a raspberry Pi costs over $700 (the hashing boards themselves only cost $500). I thought it would be a fun challenge to bypass the M board, or build my own in breadboard form, so that I can hook up a few H boards to an rPi. I contacted the distributor asking about this, and they were kind enough to send me schematics!

I've figured out a few parts of it- there's a 4-Bit Bi-directional V-Level Translator, which I totally get- it converts a digital signal between 3v3 and 5v.

Then there's the DC/DC Switching Converters 4.5-18Vin,Dual 4A/2A Out,Sync SD Cnvrtr. I understand the purpose of this, from reading Wikipedia, but I don't know how each of the attached components affects the operation. In the schematic, there are a few resistors without listed values, and I'd like to figure out what kinds of resistors to use here (see R1F through R4F in schematic). I can tell what type of capacitors are used, and what their capacitance needs to be, but what about their voltage? Lastly, there are two L_SPM6530 inductors, but their inductance is labeled x.yU, rather than an actual value.

There's one more question I have, and that's about the H-Board connectors: The schematic calls for some CON_CARD_EDGE_2x10. I looked up 20 pin card edge connectors on Mouser, and there are hundreds of choices. It's a fairly simple thing, so I'm sure I could pick almost any one and it would fit the card, but I'm looking for whatever would be the easiest for me to wire up to my breadboard.

Thanks for taking the time to read through my questions!

 

People are still trying to make a profit mining Bitcoins?

 

Now more than ever! It's only gotten more popular, and many people are more interested in investing long term than before. Personally I don't plan on selling many for USD after recovering cost of hardware.

 

My guess is by the time you get it designed, programmed and running it'll be way to slow to mine practically as mining gets harder by the minute. Plus the electricity requires isn't trivial.

Have you seen the sort of hardware they use for bitcoin mining, you've got to have some serious skills even to attempt it. You're also going to have to write the software, not a trivial task.

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Avalon

 

blueroom, I appreciate the warnings, but your cynical exaggeration seemed a bit unnecessary. Like I said before, I'm not trying to get rich quick- I'm investing and having fun with electronics. Also The software I'll need to use has already been developed by BitFury.

My goal here is to interface a pre-build ASIC board to a Raspberry Pi. The schematics I was given (screencaps attached to first post) seem fairly simple and straightforward- they entail a voltage translator, a power supply, and a board connector, so my primary obstacles in completing this project are really pretty general- not bitcoin specific at all.

 

Hi
I also have an interest in building an interface interface card, would you please email me the schematics diagrams and I will look into the design.

Thanks
Randy

 

I would love to help, this is exactly what I am wanting to do. Currently using 12 Asicminer blades, want to use these h-boards now. Please send me what you have and I will start working on this asap.
Thanks again,
Rob