I'm also in the Northwest (Seattle-Tacoma area) and would like to support your effort.  There is a PCB manufacturer in Vancouver, WA that you more than likely already know of, but I believe you can rent out their space to do this very thing. 

If you haven't yet reached out to the Dorkbot folks in Portland they could probably point you towards the most cost effective direction.  I'm sure they know of more local old school 'make and bake' places that might not even have a web presence.   

I'm about 2.5 hours away from PDX, so just like the other locals count me in for the assist as well. 

 - Thanks for the response Bagpipe!

I think the majority of people cannot afford $780,000+ for chips. The way Avalon is selling these chips is brilliant, in my opinion. If they sold chips individually, how many people would even know what to do with them? Buy selling them in batches of 10,000, they are indirectly creating alliances among bitcoin miners, who will in turn, create new ASIC products. This goes in line with their philosophy of decentralization.
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Agreed, it is genius and will do wonders in leveling the playing field and fostering innovation.  Although this will still make it cost prohibitive for some, and will definitely detract the risk averse, the few that get in at the ground floor will do well. 

I have to admit that I find it very interesting and somewhat sinister tbh, that BFL is just now shipping their products on the heels of these DIY'ers creating their own asic hardware.  (not cool BFL  )

I would much rather support the DIY community personally.  And hey, if that means that I have to step out of my comfort zone and participate in a group buy then so be it.  Anytime you invest their will always be some level of risk involved.  Never spend what you can't afford to lose . . .

Awwwh this is too cute.  You wouldn't happen to be from the Northwest would you?
You were that guy at Bumbershoot last year walking around with the sign that said free hugs weren't you?


I'll take a hug OP. 

Yes, very interested.  Looking to get into 64 chips based on the Klondike build.  Looks promising but the group buy is a very odd process to me.  I've never seen anything like it online.  You just blindly trust someone will take your coin and mail you chips?  It kinda feels like lemmings to the sea . . .

But what other way is there to purchase Avalon chips you know? I personally can not afford 10k worth alone?

Just out of curiosity is anyone running a flavor of linux (Ubuntu, Mint, Redhat) from a pendrive for the very purpose of maintaining their wallets? 

Would that be considered secure?

Looking into purchasing two 7970's for a LTC mining rig myself.  Any suggestions on brands?  Are you guys running them "underwater" or simply keeping them air cooled?  If so, does it help with the hash rate?  Is it worth the additional expense for the blocks? Does this help with energy efficiency?

+1 - That's how I got hooked onto this site.  As I could never purchase the chips solo.  Group buys appear to be the way forward.

Agreed, although I hear that Linux has come a long way from their earlier days and from what I read seems to be the go to for mining alt coins.
I too am curious to know if use of an encrypted thumb drive to store a 'savings' wallet is considered to be an acceptable alternative.

-bump-

Someone is trying 5 posts around here.
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Indeed but it doesn't make it any less true!

Okay now that was quite funny!  +1

New here as well.  Wish I would have known about BTC two years ago.