Thank you so much for this detailed response! I’m leaning toward pool mining. I don’t plan on making a profit, just more for a hobby, knowing full well I’ll have to pay a bit more for the kyc free sats. Do you like one miner over the other? Does the S9 have any software options that make it easy to underclock/run at full power like the Avalon miner does? I think it’s just braains os, but am unsure.
Discussion
I flashed Braiins OS onto it. Depending where you get it from, someone else might have already done that. Very easy to underclock with that UI.
Bitaxe has its own firmware and dashboard UI, but is also very easy to manage.
If pool-mining with either a S9 or Bitaxe, you'll want to go with a pool that has lightningpayouts. If you are just doing it as a hobby and you also run your own Bitcoin node,I can't speak highly enough of using nostr:nprofile1qqsq9k04vahllseell55m74n3047y88pzlr0z5yany32st29fapqmgsppemhxue69uhkummn9ekx7mp0qy2hwumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnyv9kh2uewd9hj7qgawaehxw309ahx7um5wghxy6t5vdhkjmn9wgh8xmmrd9skctc87ckyu pool for lightning payouts with DATUM on your node so you are making your own block templates.