Pot Farm or Bitcoin Mining?

[kenglish]

Massive bitcoin mine discovered in UK after police raid suspected cannabis farm

Police searched a unit on May 18 on the back of intelligence that led them to believe it was being used as a cannabis farm.

www-cnbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org

Bitcoin ‘mine’ uncovered during industrial unit raid | News | West Midlands Police

We executed a drugs warrant at a Black Country industrial unit – and uncovered a cryptocurrency ‘mine’ that was stealing thousands of pounds worth of electricity from the mains supply. Officers forced entry to the premises in Great Bridge Industrial Estate, Sandwell, on 18 May on the back of...

www.west-midlands.police.uk

They didn't say anything about Radio Interference, but I have to think that DX'ers must have been aware that something was going on. Just looking at the photos, it must have played-hell with reception for miles.
Maybe Ferrite manufacturers should advertise to potential customers in the dope and bitcoin industry?

 

[oldradiotapes]

The guy across the street from me just recently started doing Bitcoin. He has seven custom-built desktops and one server all running 24-and-7 (I've seen his setup). Mediumwave and shortwave are trashed for most of the block, not that there's really anything worth listening to any more, at least not locally. (We actually have MW stations shutting down, so what does that tell you?) I believe he may have a marijuana grow going on somewhere in there as well. He won't dare talk about it but the sickening, acrid stench when you walk in kinda' gives it away .

One has to wonder what his next PUD bill will be. If anything, that'd probably shut him down FAST. Who needs coppers or the F¢¢ when you have a power company going out of control with their rates?

"We may be the only utility in town, but we screw everybody."

 

[oldradiotapes]

Only the really powerful locals (e.g. KEX, KXL, KPAM) punch through the noise. The radio's otherwise deafened.

There's also this kind of faint, scrappy buzzing in the background of MURS audio which wasn't there a couple weeks ago. Having no Church of Hiram adherents in the neighbourhood is, in this case, both a blessing and a curse.

 

[kenglish]

Do you have any neighbors who (used to) listen to the radio? How about hams nearby?

Does this guy just have a bunch of "naked" computers, with all the shields and covers removed? Wonder what his air conditioning bill is?

 

[oldradiotapes]

Do you have any neighbors who (used to) listen to the radio?

There are a couple but I've only heard FM (mostly KYCH or Portland Pangsong 1 f/k/a KOPB). MW's been pretty noisy here for a good 15+ years now because of all the crappy compact fluorescents/LEDs/TRIACs/switching PSUs so in all likelihood, the few that may still actively listen to MW probably don't even notice the increased noise floor enough to care.

How about hams nearby?

I just said there aren't. Reread the last sentence of my second paragraph. There are a couple 95ers with modded HTs (cough cough) or UV5Rs but no big-strapper hamhocks with $10000 base stations and towers and inflated egos and all that crap, bye bye bye.

Does this guy just have a bunch of "naked" computers, with all the shields and covers removed? Wonder what his air conditioning bill is?

The desktops are naked, literally they're just the disembodied motherboards and drives mounted onto sheets of T111 cut to fit into a 19" rack. The "server" (if indeed it could be considered such) is just a regular no-name rack-mounted machine. It actually doesn't do the job of a server but is another machine he had that does the same thing as the desktops. At least that's as best as I understand it; the disgusting stink of the marijuana was making me sick at that point.

Air conditioning is just a Frigidaire wall unit. It replaced an ancient Fedders that had died about a month ago.

As for the power bill, well I guess he'll see in about a month. He says he plans to take the computer room out-of-circuit and run it on a solar panel at some point because of the risk of excessive PUD bills.

 

[kenglish]

Sounds like this guy's house will be easy to locate, when somebody wants to steal his computers and dope.

 

[kenglish]

Had a thought last night....maybe the guy could buy a big, transportable generator and keep it running 24/7 in his driveway.
No sense in only pissing-off radio listeners. Get the rest of the neighbors mad, too.
😉

 

[oldradiotapes]

They both got hauled off in cuffs last night on a domestic assault charge. Apparently he and his live-in female counterpart had been drinking heavily and he flipped out, then she started knocking him over the head with a fry pan. Heard the report from gotta-know-every-move-everybody-on-the-block-makes-neighbour up the road this morning, yet I had a buddy over last night for a grill after work and we had front-row seats in the garage. The action got pretty heavy at a couple points......

Everything still appears to be running but it's only a matter of time before Clark Public Utilities flip the switch.

 

[Mitch Brewer]

Another problem with these bitcoin miners is that the price of computer GPUs has gone up so much that you either can't afford one or can't even find a decent one for sale. Anytime anybody asks me about bitcoin I always respond along the lines of you mean the fake money that the Chinese, drug dealers and hackers use? No thanks. I'll stick to my old Benjamins. Nobody ever hacked my secret green stash.

 

[oldradiotapes]

Well, I'm an hacker (non-derogatory term referring to a certain type of individualist computer scientist -- it should not be used incorrectly to refer to criminal activity) and I don't even use it. For one thing it creates a paper trail when you purchase using it; the same reason why, in my usual healthy sense of paranoia I don't have cheques, debit or credit cards.* Another, it's simply too volatile. It creates a false sense of financial security in the minds of people dumb enough to rely on it. You could be a Bitcoin multi-millionaire one moment then Elon Musk hosts an episode of Saturday Night Live and you're suddenly flat broke the next.

[ * That's actually not entirely accurate. I do have a credit card but it's only there to establish my line of credit, since the American banking industry have essentially seen to it that it's impossible to get by without one. I really don't use it except maybe for dinner out or a load of groceries once every couple months or so, which I pay off right away. ]

No bloody way. I'll stick with proper greenbacks for the forseeable future.

 

[Mitch Brewer]

Oddly enough, I haven't had a credit card in over 10 years. It's getting harder but as long as I have greenies I will use those. As for hacker, no offense meant. I was talking about the ones who use their knowledge to hijack companies into paying them. It's stupid to pay them as you could pay a person to release the hijacked information for a very small fee, if not free. I have never charged to fix a hijacked computer. Paper millionaires would probably pay to release a locked comp but that aint my scene man.

 

[oldradiotapes]

His live-in female counterpart is there right now supervising the 1-800 Junk workers that pulled into the driveway a few minutes ago. Guess she's in possession of the house now that he's in jail and maybe they're clearing out all his crap? Might just head over there and see if I can't snag some computer equipment. Stay tuned.