Best Place to Put Bobcat Miner 300 – Ultimate Guide

This comprehensive manual is intended for new users who are unsure of where to position their Bobcat 300 miner as well as for people who are interested in placing miner equipment as efficiently as possible.

Most people start by focusing on their antenna, which is (almost entirely) the wrong strategy for maximizing profits. The only way you could initially improve things less effectively is if you concentrated on the cables you should purchase.

There are four fundamental aspects of an optimal Bobcat miner 300 placement; antennas and cables are at the bottom of the list for importance.

Before we get there (relax, it’s only a few paragraphs away), let’s get a few important points out of the way:

First, while I think everyone reading this should buy at least one Bobcat miner 300 and place it as optimally as you can, over the long run you’ll earn far more by figuring out a way to actually use the network and not just provide coverage.

Second, if you click on and read through every link in this article, you’ll be well-prepared to choose the ideal location for your Bobcat miner 300. It will take about an hour to process and comprehend everything (Helium, antennas, best hotspot placement).

ASSUMPTIONS

1. You are aware that Helium is a network of hotspots that relay radio signals onto the internet after they have been transmitted and received. Generally speaking, a hotspot earns more HNT the more signals it receives. All transactions are recorded by hotspots on a blockchain, and owners are compensated with the cryptocurrency token HNT for providing coverage.
2. You currently own, have ordered, or are considering ordering a Helium hotspot.
3. You haven’t read every single thread and post on the internet about the best locations for hotspots.

There are only a few things that really matter when it comes to your hotspot placement. Some of them will change over time, some of them are fundamental. All are driven by just one goal over the long term:

The Ways to Earn HNT

On the Helium Network, participants earn HNT by mining and building coverage for The People’s Network using compatible Hotspots.

Hotspot miners earn HNT in two different ways:

• Proof-of-Coverage : Hotspots on the network are randomly and automatically assigned Proof-of-Coverage tests to complete. Tests must be passed and witnesses must receive HNT. On the Helium website, you can read more about PoC’s workings.
• Relay Device Data : By sending data from a device over the network, hotspots are compensated with HNT. A hotspot makes more money by sending more data between devices. The Helium website has additional information.

Earned rewards are directly correlated with hotspot visibility and network participation.

Some external factors include the number of hotspots nearby you, and the hotspot density. These can both affect your rewards.

Best Bobcat Miner 300 Location

Hotspots prefer to be placed in vantage points with a view of large open areas. If your home or apartment complex has multiple floors, aim for the one with the most windows. Ideally, your Hotspot has a clear view of the sky.

Things to consider when placing your Bobcat miner 300:

• Your signal may be reduced or blocked by walls and windows.
• It’s ideal to mount the hotspot high, with a direct line of sight.
• Antenna performance can be significantly impacted by long cable lengths.

Avoid putting the Bobcat miner 300 in locations where signal strength can be heavily degraded; Such locations include, but are not limited too: basements, cabinets, behind TVs, metal screens, or ‘cyberglass’.

Hotspots should not be deployed too close to one another. In general, hotspots should be spaced apart by at least 300 to 500 meters. In general, you find higher densities in urban areas and lower densities in rural areas.

Add Value to the Network

FUNDAMENTALS FOR OPTIMUM PLACEMENT

In order of importance:

• HOTSPOT DENSITY
• ANTENNA “VIEW”
• APPROPRIATE ANTENNA
• MINIMIZED & HIGH QUALITY CONNECTION LENGTH/CABLES

Hotspot Density

Optimum density is determined using Uber’s H3 map. At the low end, Bobcat miner 300 won’t profit from other hotspots that are closer than 300 meters. At the high end, hotspots can “witness” other hotspots 50 km out.

In order to create grids of various sizes, the Uber map primarily makes use of hexagons. Each size is called a “resolution” or “res” for short. Each hex size has an appropriate density for its resolution.

The locations of density and hotspots are shown on this outdated interactive map, which last received updates in the late fall of 2020. It’s color coded and fairly intuitive. Red and green denote excessive and good densities, respectively. Here’s a quick screenshot:

At each “res” there is an optimal number of hotspots per hexagon. This sum is subject to change. It is calculated using the number of hotspots in the surrounding hexes in addition to the base rate of hotspots per hex. Read it a few more times if you want to. The details are in HIP 17, look for “Variables for the proposed chain.”

Yes, it’s a bit complicated. It was made this way in order to programmatically account for density differences between cities, suburbs, and rural areas.

For a different viewpoint, see this screenshot of a map of San Francisco that was taken from the HIP 17 Visualizer.

Keep in mind that the orange and red hotspots are much closer to each other than the green ones are. The worst color is red because the cells are essentially stacked on top of one another, providing duplicate (or triple, or worse) coverage that is useless to the network.

You must research HIP17 if you want to know if your chosen location will be suitable.

If you thoroughly read HIP17, you will join the 1% of Helium Hotspot owners who don’t really have any questions about ideal density.

It looks complicated at first, but it’s actually straightforward. If you’ve ever read Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you’ll be able to relate to the concept of hotspot density: it’s just right—not too dense, not not dense enough.

Use HeliumVision or Hotspotty if you need to see things clearly. Use HeliumVision’s hex overlay options, or just use Hotspotty to zoom in and out on your hotspot. Consider enrolling in my HeliumVision Master Class if you need assistance.

You can hire me and I’ll help you choose the best option for your area and circumstance if you don’t have the time or simply want to skip that step.

BOTTOM LINE: For the best chance of success, you must have the ideal density.

Antenna View

Check to see if your antenna has a view before ordering the newest, hottest antenna (more on that later). A “view” has three important aspects.

• Walls and even windows can block radio waves outside.
• High above other obstacles.
• as much as possible, a clear view.

The view of your antenna is far more important than upgrading your antenna. A higher elevation “stock” antenna (the one that comes with your A low-down super-fancy antenna will ALWAYS perform worse than a Bobcat miner 300. You can see the line of sight of your antenna to specific spots using RF Line of Sight or Helium.Vision.

As high as you can bearably go. How high? From the American Radio Relay League’s document on antenna placement:

“To a distant receiving station, a transmitting antenna at 120 feet will provide the effect of approximately 8 to 10 times more transmitting power than the same antenna at 35 feet.”

You may be thinking, “My antenna will never reach 120′ prime.” That’s OK, do the best you can, but know that until you get it high, you’ll be missing out on earnings.

A good rule of thumb to start approaching 90% of optimum earnings is at least 20′ above your roof and surrounding roofs.

Here’s an example of a good elevation placement:

That antenna is on top of a 23′ pole on top of a 15′ high roof in suburban San Diego.

According to anecdotal evidence, earnings can be significantly impacted by elevation differences of even *1 meter*.

Get as clear a view of as much “civilization” as possible. Keep in mind that the network’s worth is based on the amount of USEFUL ground it can cover. A hotspot on top of a mountain with unobstructed views of nothing but the natural world for 30 miles is not, at least according to the network, covering USEFUL ground.

Much more useful coverage will be provided by a v on a suburban roof surrounded by a few million people and many data opportunities.

For maximum coverage, proper elevation is essential. LoRa is more or less a line-of-sight radio technology. While the radio waves will go through a few things (a wall or two, a window, or a leafy tree), for the most part you want to be able to have a direct line of sight to both your coverage area AND other hotspots.

Appropriate Antenna

The antenna is what most people focus on, thinking that if they just have the “best” antenna they’ll make the most HNT.

The antenna shipped with any purchased Bobcat miner 300 is already pretty good. However, as many Heliites are both tinkerers and driven by earnings, many will “upgrade” their antenna in order to reach more hotspots.

Transmitting (tx) and receiving (rx) are the two functions of antennas. Although most people are concerned with how well an antenna transmits, the value of helium lies in how well an antenna RECEIVES.

Remember, the Helium network offers value by being able to receive transmission FROM sensors TO hotspots, then push that information onto the blockchain via an internet connection.

Although there is and has been a place for having strong communication skills, their value will rapidly decline over the next year.

What the heck is “dBi”? It refers to the focus and shaping of the energy an antenna transmits and receives.

Here’s a quick dbi gain visualizer:

I can hear you now: “What kind of antenna should I buy, though, dude?”

You can read this article on Best Antenna for Bobcat Miner 300

First, and recommended: Don’t buy anything, just use the antenna your hotspot came with. Set up your density and view first.

Second, purchase either in the 3-6 dBi range if your location is excellent and your elevation is correct.

Third, get a higher gain antenna from McGill if you believe you need it and are aware of the trade-offs.

“What about the [insert flashy antenna] I read about in the Discord chat, though? Shouldn’t I purchase the strongest antenna I can find? I want more money!”

No. Re-read the above piece on having a “too powerful” antenna.

On top of a mountain, there is a high-gain sector (directional) antenna like the one shown above. Despite having an enormous “view”, it does worse than many placements that are much closer to other hotspots. No difference in earnings when I switched it out for a 3 dBi omni. Density is more important than antenna.

Even “hot” antennas that are tuned to fit within Helium guidelines (decreased transmit and receive power) won’t radically outperform other antennas.

In the beginning of 2021, one hotspot owner I know ran a Nearson 9 vs. a Rak 8 dBi and recorded earnings for the two. The RAK beat the pants off the Nearson.

Minimized Connections

Now that we’ve reached that point, let’s move on to some less important but still interesting topics. How should your Bobcat Miner 300 be connected to your antenna?

This is RF 101 (Radio Frequency): You want a thick, clean, short cable that connects your hotspot to your antenna, ideally one that is five primes or less. I recommend and use LMR400 from USACoax.

Although each setup is different, if you’re using a cellular backhaul, you can probably get away with using another LMR variant for the cell antennas, but you’ll still want to locate them outside the enclosure.

To keep cable runs to the antenna short, position your Bobcat Miner 300 close to your antenna at a high elevation. Run power and ethernet to the high hotspot, then have a short antenna cable to the antenna. If you want to maximize your earnings, avoid installing your hotspot in your attic and connecting it to your antenna with 20′ of cheap coax cable. More radio power loss than you would like would result from that.

If you MUST have long cable runs, spend the money on good cable. If you do that, you may (but probably won’t) get the same results as Docile Bone Pony, which uses 60′ of LMR 400 and is on top of a 16-story building in the middle of a large city.

That’s basically everything you need to know about the ideal hotspot placement.

Antenna Cables

Your signal, and subsequently your rewards, can be impacted by antenna cable.

All cables provide some signal loss, it’s important to be able to calculate and account for these variables.

Here is a table of cables, and the loss encountered while using them.

Summary: Best Place to Put Bobcat Miner 300

Participants on the Helium Network earn HNT by mining and expanding coverage for The People’s Network with compatible Hotspots. Bobcat Miner 300 can make HNT in two ways: Proof of Coverage and Relay Device Information Proof-of-Coverage tests are assigned to network hotspots randomly and automatically. Passing tests and providing witnesses earns you HNT.

More information about the workings of PoC can be found on the Helium website. In addition, Hotspots receive HNT for sending device data over the network. The more device data ta Hotspot transfers, the more money it makes. And you can find more information available on the Helium website.

Hotspot visibility and network participation directly inversely correlate with rewards received. The number of nearby hotspots and their density are examples of external factors. Both of these can have an impact on your rewards. Therefore, decide where to put your Bobcat Miner 300. The actual Bobcat Miner 300 is a LoRaWAN gateway that is connected to the Helium platform. As a result, the operation of the Lorawan gateway will have some bearing on the efficiency with which mining is carried out.It is critical to achieving higher yields. When positioning a Bobcat Miner 300, there are numerous factors to take into account.

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