We promise to do everything in our power to keep our stake pool up and running 24/7.
We follow industry standard best security practices to help mitigate risk and we are always looking for
ways to improve performance and monitoring.
We will provide detailed progress, performance and status updates in our 'LOCO UPDATES' section below.
We will answer all questions honestly and promptly.
We pledge to only run one single pool and support pushing the decentralization and real world value of Cardano to the limit.
We are a proud member of the Bare Metal Alliance and the Single Pool Alliance.
We believe both alliances are extremely important in sustaining the true decentralization of the Cardano network.
Our Pool ID:
All systems GO, but we need your support. Your support keeps operators engaged and helps the Cardano ecosystem.
Please help us turn our stake green by delegating now!
✓ Relay One
✓ Relay Two
✓ Block Producer
✓ Network
✓ 24/7 Monitoring
✗ Stake
LOCO is a bare metal Cardano stake pool powered by Dell PowerEdge servers running ubuntu over at&t fiber.
No part of the stake pool is hosted in the cloud and all unnecessary ports are closed, including ssh.
DELEGATOR NEWS
Welcome to epoch 233!
December 1st - December 6th - 21:45 UTC
Epoch ends in approximately 1 day 7 hours 48 minutes
Currently, only 62% of the blocks are produced by stake pools.
Active Stake: 264k
Live Stake: 349k
We minted our most recent block in epoch 229 bringing our lifetime total to 9.
The CNCLI tool is saying we have a shot at lifetime block #10 next epoch!
That would be a great early Christmas gift.
Epoch 234: We have a chance at a block!
Epoch 229: blocks 4955422, 4957722 - ROS: 11.80%
Epoch 225: block 4866278 - ROS: 11.22%
Epoch 218: block 4719179 - ROS: 42.65%
Epoch 216: blocks 4663457, 4670770 and 4674262 - ROS: 30.58%
Epoch 215: block 4643623 - ROS: 8.26%
Epoch 212: block 4584799
For the foreseeable future, all stake pool profits will be added to our pledge in an effort to attract more delegators and improve pool performance.
With that promise, we increased our pledge from 12.7k to 13.15k on November 1st.
Please visit our
page for a full epoch schedule with block information.
It's true that smaller stake pools will not be assigned as many slots and thus mint less blocks than larger pools.
It's also true that a smaller pool may not get a single block during the epoch and therfore you will receive zero rewards.
Please realize that some luck is involved for any pool to mint a block, but over time things should even out.
Keep in mind that when LOCO does mint a block, nearly all the rewards will be spread across the small number of delegators.
We have had returns on stake (ROS) of 11.80%, 11.22%, 42.65%, 30.58% and 8.26%, small pools can produce huge rewards if you give us a chance!
Our pool costs are set to the minimum of 340 ADA and the margin has been permanently lowered to 1%. Our costs are low and our pool is 100% sustainable at 1%.
KNOW YOUR SPO
If you are a delegator or potential delegator, it's important to make sure your stake pool operator (SPO) has the skills necessary to run a pool in a professional manner.
Please visit our page for more information.
LOCO UPDATES
12/05/2020 - Upgraded CNCLI to the latest version, no pool downtime and no blocks missed.
12/04/2020 - Applied latest security patches yesterday, minimal pool downtime and no blocks missed.
12/01/2020 - Welcome to epoch 233! All systems Go! We updated the site for the epoch switch.
We are still seeking lifetime block #10 this epoch...
11/29/2020 - We upgraded CNCLI to work with the latest Cardano software 1.23.0 so that the Leader Logs will work. No downtime, All Systems GO!
11/28/2020 - We installed the latest Cardano software on relay1 last night and let it run overnight. Looks good so we went ahead and updated relay2 and
the block producer this morning. We also upgraded CNTools to work with the latest software. We are excited about this statement from the release notes:
"Another notable change in this release is an adjustment to the pool ranking that will benefit small pools that have not yet made many blocks. "
11/27/2020 - Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We would like to welcome our 2 newest delegators to the LOCO pool, hope you stay a while!
We are thinking of running a promo next year where we will give away a custom made guitar to a lucky delegator. Still working out the
details so stay tuned :) TGIF!
11/26/2020 - Welcome to epoch 232! All systems Go! We updated the site for the epoch switch.
We are still seeking lifetime block #10 this time...
11/23/2020 - Yesterday we checked the leader logs and it doesn't look like we are getting any blocks this epoch so we
decided to upgrade to the latest version of CNTools. Block producer was down for a bit but we missed no blocks.
All systems GO!
11/22/2020 - All systems Go! Just an FYI, later this week we will run patches on relay1, relay2 and the node producer.
We will check the leader logs before running the patches so we will not miss any blocks. Downtime will be minimal.
11/21/2020 - Welcome to epoch 231! All systems Go! We updated the site for the epoch switch.
We are still seeking lifetime block #10 this time!
11/21/2020 - Last day of epoch 230, All systems GO! Doesn't look like we are getting any blocks this time.
Happy Saturday!
11/19/2020 - We figured out our config/database issues with CNCLI leader logs and will attempt to check the logs next epoch and see how it goes.
No unscheduled downtime and all systems GO!
11/16/2020 - Welcome to epoch 230! All systems Go! We updated the site for the epoch switch.
Seeking lifetime block #10 this time!
11/16/2020 - Woke up this morning and found that we got another block, bringing our lifetime total to 9!
11/15/2020 - The cncli tool said LOCO wasn't getting any blocks this epoch? Not complaining but we got a block today!
Congrats delegators! Should see nice rewards! I'll have to doublecheck my settings and make sure I didn't miss anything.
11/14/2020 - Checked the leader logs and unfortunately it doesn't look like we are getting a block this time. All systems GO and no issues to report.
11/11/2020 - Welcome to epoch 229! All systems Go! We updated the site for the epoch switch.
Still seeking lifetime block #8 this time!
11/08/2020 - Block producer was for a short time so we could install security patches, no blocks were missed.
We are a proud member of the Cardano BareMetal Alliance. Recently we were added to adafolio.com as a
future delegation portfolio. Please visit
adafolio for more details.
11/07/2020 - We installed and configured a community-based cardano-node CLI tool (CNLI) on the block producer
so we could check the leader logs. Install went fine but unfortunately it doesn't look like we
are getting any blocks in epoch 228. Documentation for cncli can be
found here.
Relay one and relay two were down for a short time so we could install security patches.
Have a great weekend delegators!
11/06/2020 - Welcome to epoch 228! All systems Go! We updated the site for the epoch switch.
Seeking lifetime block #8 this time! GO CARDANO!
11/04/2020 - Updated the topologies on relay one and relay two, stake pool had no downtime. All systems GO!
11/01/2020 - Welcome to epoch 227 and welcome to our newest delegator! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
Seeking lifetime block #8 this time!
10/31/2020 - Happy Halloween delegators! All systems GO! No issues to report and no unscheduled downtime.
10/29/2020 - Block producer was down for less then a minute while we rotated our KES. All systems GO!
More info on KES can be found HERE.
Latest version of daedalus makes it look like all small pools are dead or disconnected or retired? We assure you LOCO is up and running and able to produce blocks.
Really disappointed in the new release of daedalus.
10/27/2020 - Welcome to epoch 226! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
Seeking lifetime block #8 this time!
10/25/2020 - Block drought is finally over! We minted out 7th lifetime block today. Congrats delegators,
you should see nice rewards.
10/22/2020 - Welcome to epoch 225! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
Six epochs in a row with no blocks, hopefully we can get a block or 2 this time!
10/19/2020 - All systems GO, no issues to report and no unscheduled downtime. Still waiting on a block.
10/18/2020 - We started researching leadership logs. These logs would allow us to see if any slots have been assigned to us for the current epoch.
This would allow us to schedule maintenance times to avoid missing any blocks while we are down. Have a great Sunday delegators!
10/17/2020 - Welcome to epoch 224 and welcome 2 new delegators! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
Five epochs in a row with no blocks, hopefully we can get a block or 2 this time!
10/15/2020 - All systems GO! No issues to report and no unscheduled downtime.
Still waiting for a block, lady luck has not been kind these last few epochs.
10/13/2020 - The dry spell continues, we are now back down to 2 delegators plus pledge. Is what it is,
when we do hit a block the remaining few delegators should make a nice profit! All systems GO!
10/12/2020 - Welcome to epoch 223! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
Four epochs in a row with no blocks, hopefully we can get a block or 2 this time!
10/11/2020 - Testing went well and all production nodes have been updated to release 1.21.1. Still waiting for that elusive 7th block.
All systems GO, no issues to report.
10/10/2020 - Loaded Cardano software release 1.21.1 on our test box, will run it a few days and if all is well load it on the production boxes.
All systems GO, no issues to report.
10/09/2020 - Waiting... waiting... waiting... All systems GO!
10/08/2020 - Not big enough to produce a block every epoch, but small enough to produce big rewards when we do!
That's the best way to describe our pool right now. All systems GO, no issues to report.
10/07/2020 - Welcome to epoch 222! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
Three epochs in a row with no blocks, hopefully we can get a block or 2 this time!
10/06/2020 - Completed the 'Send Us a Message' form today, it's available below. All systems GO, no issues to report. Have a great day!
10/05/2020 - Quiet day, no issues to report. We did a little more work on the contact form. The API for the save is done and we should
have the form ready by COB Wednesday.
10/04/2020 - All systems GO, still waiting on a block. We started work on a contact form where visitors will be able to
send us messages directly from the website, should have it done in a few days.
10/03/2020 - Beautiful day in San Antonio! All systems GO, no issues to report and no downtime.
We are still waiting on that elusive 'Lucky 7' block. We posted out first marketing video on twitter and are going to
try more videos in the future.
10/02/2020 - Welcome to epoch 221! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
We still have low active stake at 519k, but almost double from the previous epoch, so we are making progress!
TGIF delegators! Hope you have a wonderful weekend!
10/01/2020 - Crazy it's October already! All systems GO, no issues to report and no un-scheduled downtime.
We are still marketing on twitter and adapools.org but no new delegators yet. Still waiting for that elusive 7th block.
09/30/2020 - As promised, all pool profits so far have been added to our pledge and it's now up to 12.7k. We also lowered our margin to 1% in an effort to
attract delegators. Pretty quiet day so far, nothing to report and no downtime. Pool is chugging along waiting for a block. All Systems GO!
09/29/2020 - All systems GO. The Block Producer was down for a short time this morning so we could apply security patches, no blocks were missed.
Security is very important and sometimes the pool will be down for short periods of time to apply patches, just part of the normal process of running a stake pool.
We never hide anything and our site will clearly show when we are down and the reasons why.
We are still marketing on twitter and facebook and doing everything we can to find new delegators.
We are now posting each 'LOCO Update' on our @LocoAdaPool telegram channel. Have a great day delegators!
09/28/2020 - We completed security patches on relay 1 and relay 2 today with no downtime. We also tested our monitoring system to make sure alerts are working.
Waiting to see if we get a block this epoch, stake is low so fingers crossed we get lucky!
09/27/2020 - Welcome to epoch 220! We updated the site for the epoch switch, All systems GO!
09/26/2020 - We did some work on the website and now display the current live stake above. We also automated the rewards schedule so it's easier to keep updated.
Release 1.20.0 is working great, All systems GO!
09/25/2020 - Feedback from other SPOs on release 1.20.0 is good and our testing went well. We went ahead and upgraded all servers
early this morning. TGIF delegators!
09/24/2020 - Looks like Cardano release 1.20.0 is out. We will load it on our test platform today and if all goes well install it
on our production boxes this weekend. We made some enhancements to our 24/7 monitoring tool and will now receive a priority email message if any of our
servers are not reporting increasing height. All systems GO!
09/23/2020 - We did some work on our website today, always trying to improve it. No blocks today so far. All systems GO.
Sad to see a few more small pools announce retirement today. We are in it for the long haul but sure hope something changes soon.
Happy Hump Day!
09/22/2020 - Today we joined the Cardano Bare Metal Alliance. It is an alliance formed amongst Cardano Stake
Pool Operators who operate their stake pools using at least one bare metal server. All systems GO!
09/21/2020 - Congrats delegators! We got a block in epoch 218, expect to be paid epoch 220. Rewards schedule has been updated above.
We started looking at creating a 'Bare Metal Alliance' for bare metal stake pools. We puchased the domain names BareMetalAlliance.com and
BareMetalAlliance.org. Trying to see if there is any interest on twitter. I was contacted by another SPO who is trying to do something similar
and we are discussing options, we may just join forces with them if they are further along.
09/20/2020 - We swear to only run one single pool and support pushing the decentralization and real world value of Cardano to the limit.
We registered our pool this morning and we are now a member of the Single Pool Alliance (SPA). All systems GO, no issues to report.
09/19/2020 - Quiet day, no blocks yet this epoch. Today we completed a 'Know Your SPO' page and added a link to it above.
We believe it's important to make sure your stake pool operator (SPO) has the skills necessary to run a pool in a professional manner.
Have a great weekend delegators!
09/18/2020 - All systems GO, no issues to report. We are now updating 'Height' on pooltool.io so you
can easily verify our pool is up and running 24/7. Please consider staking with us. TGIF!
09/17/2020 - All systems GO, welcome to epoch 218. Low stake again this time so praying for a miracle.
Fantastic numbers for epoch 215 ROS: 8.26% and epoch 216 ROS: 30.58%. Numbers don't seem to mean anything
when it comes to attracting new delegators though. We started looking at adding 'Height' for our pool to pooltool.io.
Seems simple enough and we expect to have it implemented by the weekend. Good luck delegators, wish there was more we could do to
improve the situation!
09/16/2020 - All systems GO. We are still running ads with twitter and advertising any place we can think of. Still low on stake and pretty much
out of ideas until the Cardano network becomes more decentralized. We are in this for the long term and will ride it out and see where it goes.
We watched a youtube video update from Charles Hoskinson where he at least mentioned stake pools a few times and seemed to acknowledged that we are
important. Happy Hump Day!
09/15/2020 - Very quiet day today, just waiting to see if we get a block in epoch 217. All systems GO, no issues to report and no downtime.
We did do some research on safe ways to run generator power to the house, still in research mode on that project.
Here is one of many videos we looked at and
here is another.
09/14/2020 - All systems GO, no issues to report. A good stake pool is one that stays up and running 24/7, is well connected to the network
and is available to mint blocks when called upon. We have proven we can mint blocks! We have a very reliable power supply here so the risk of missing
a block because of a power outage is rare. However, that doesn't mean we shouldn't strive to do better. Today we started looking at generators to
power our hardware in the event of a power outage. We need something that can power 3 servers, 1 monitor and a fiber modem. The power can be easily
run inside from a generator running outside. Currently looking at the Honda line of generators as they are very reliable and super quiet.
Stay tuned for more information, we promise to keep you all updated.
09/13/2020 - Relay1, relay2, block producer and network good to go. No issues to report, no downtime. We are still advertising on twitter, facebook and adapools but no
new delegators yet. We are committed to running our pool long term and will continue to work hard for our delegators. Happy Sunday!
09/12/2020 - All systems GO, no issues to report. Welcome to epoch 217 where we have very low stake this time.
We are praying for some miracle blocks and new delegators. If you want to help your local community, stake your ADA with a local pool!
Why stake it anywhere else? If you are in Texas, please consider staking with LOCO.
09/11/2020 - All systems GO, no issues to report. A big thank you to our newest delegator! We hope you stick around at least a few epochs.
09/10/2020 - Pretty crazy... Our little pool just got it's third block of epoch 216! I'll be back, I need to go buy lottery tickets...
All systems GO, no issues to report.
09/09/2020 - All systems GO, but we need your support! Some talk on twitter about bare metal systems, like LOCO, uniting and forming a "Bare Metal Alliance" for
marketing purposes. Still early in it's planning stages, but we made it known that we are interested. We got our second block of epoch 216 today, very exciting!
09/08/2020 - Relays, block producer and network look good, no issues to report. Our new monitoring tool is really nice! We can check the status of the stake pool from
our cell phones without compromising the security of the pool and without opening up ssh or any other in-bound port.
Great news delegators, we minted our first block of epoch 216 yesterday. That's 2 epochs in a row with a block and 3 overall!
Hopefully we get a few more this epoch.
09/07/2020 - At 21:45 UTC we transitioned to epoch 216. Servers performed well, no issues to report. Thank you to the 2 delegators that have stuck with us
since the beginning. We hope you get a decent return from the block we minted in epoch 215. Rewards for epoch 215 will be distributed in epoch 217.
09/07/2020 - Happy Labor Day! All systems GO, no issues to report. We added a simple, yet affective push monitoring system without having to open up
any additional ports. It's working great and doesn't add any stress to the boxes. adapools.org started a free promo for stake pools that we are participating in.
Our ad gets placed in a queue daily where it eventually runs for 8 minutes at the top of the page. This is our second day participating, but no new delegators yet.
09/06/2020 - All servers now running 1.19.1. All systems GO, no issues to report. We added the ability to view Cardano flash cards
one at a time along with a shuffle feature. New page can be seen
here. Happy Sunday!
09/05/2020 - We updated the rewards schedule above to show the snapshot for epoch 215 was done at the 213/214 boundary.
We loaded Cardano software release 1.19.1 on our test platform and it is performing well. We will let 1.19.1 run a day and then
do a rolling upgrade to our production servers. We added database support to this website
so we can do more advanced pages later, test page with random database data can be seen
here. We purchased the domain names
"StakePoolTool.com" and "StakePoolMarket.com" to use as possible future marketing sites for LOCO.
We replied to Emurgo and Cardano Foundation Twitter/Facebook posts related to small stake pools. Both organizations are seeking feedback
on how they can make things better for us. All systems GO, no issues to report.
09/04/2020 - All systems GO today, no issues to report.
We added the rewards schedule for epoch 215 above, hopefully our delegators can make a good return. TGIF!
09/03/2020 - Added a Listing/Shuffle feature to the flash cards that can be seen
here.
Stake pool humming along, relays and producer look good, no issues to report.
Great news delegators, we minted our first block of epoch 215 today. Hopefully we get a few more this epoch.
09/02/2020 - Welcome to epoch 215! Transition from 214 to 215 was good and our pool performed well.
1.37 Million Active Stake for this epoch so more of a fighting chance this time to get a block.
Still very difficult times for smaller pools.
09/02/2020 - Completed version 1 of the flash cards, they can be seen here and
above in the new 'Education' section. We will continue to expand the education section and hopefully provide our delegators with meaningful content.
All systems GO, no issues to report today.
09/01/2020 - System is running great! No blocks so far this epoch, no surprise given the current Cardano network parameters. By request we are adding an education component to the website.
We started work on a new page that allows you to view Cardano related terms in fun ways. We will start with a simple flash card idea and expand upon that over the next few months.
Should have the first version of the flash cards done by the end of the week.
08/31/2020 - All systems GO today, no issues to report. We added an Epoch/Rewards page that can be seen here. We are always trying to improve our site and provide meaningful content for our delegators. If you have any content/ideas you would like to see implemented here, please contact us and we will work the updates into our development cycle. Just waiting to see if we get a block today. Have a great Monday delegators!
08/30/2020 - Many conversations on social media realated to the inequities that small Cardano stake pools currently face. We engaged in the conversations some and let our opionions be known.
We feel it's better for the network if we have individual pools run by distinct organizations. Currently there are over 20 IOG pools run by IOHK and there are other organizations running multiple pools as well. Obviously their decision and business model but we don't feel it's in the spirit of Cardano and it hurts smaller pools and the ecosystem overall. Feels very centralized.
We added a status bar above so delegators can see the current state of the system.
08/29/2020 - A good stake pool is one that stays up and running 24/7, is well connected to the network and is available to mint blocks when called upon.
It's really as simple as that. All systems GO today, no issues to report. Producer and relays look good.
08/28/2020 - Epoch transition was much smoother with release 1.19.0, great job IOHK! Our Dell servers performed well.
Only 300K Active Stake for this epoch so lesss than 1% chance of minting a block given the current network parameters.
No real surprise we didn't get a block in epoch 213, odds were against us. All we can do is keep our system up 24/7 and hope we get a chance this epoch.
08/28/2020 - No issues to report, our stake pool is running great. Block producer and relays chugging along as they should be.
We are just waiting to see if we get a block this epoch. A huge THANK YOU! to the person that delegated 1.1 Million ADA to the LOCO pool today, really made our week!
TGIF delegators!
08/27/2020 - We ran a few ads on Twitter and Facebook in an attempt to find delegators. We will be posting more ads over the next few days, they can be seen here. System looks good: relay1, relay2 and block producer good to go. No issues to report.
08/26/2020 - Talked with some other stake pool operators and release 1.19.0 seems solid. Our test platform performed well so we went ahead and upgraded all servers.
We also updated CNTools to the latest version. Pool is running great. We are just waiting to see if we get another block this epoch.
08/25/2020 - Pool is running great, no issues to report. Taking a peak at release 1.19.0, installed it on our test platform and currently testing it.
Made some updates to the website. We added architecture information and changed the navigation some. There is now a button for each epoch that allows the visitor to expand/contract
the comment history for epochs. Have a great day delegators! If you know anyone looking for a stake pool, please tell them about LOCO.
08/24/2020 - Transition from epoch 212 to epoch 213 went good except we had a bit of an issue with one of our relays. Ended up having to restart the Cardano service on it.
The problem caused no issues with our pool, as our other relay transitioned perfectly. Release 1.19 should improve performance as well as epoch transitions.
We are looking forward to installing it as soon as it's ready and has been throughly tested on our test platform. Epoch 212 was a huge success,
we had some luck on our side and minted our first block!
08/23/2020 - Upgraded all network cables this morning, speed tests look amazing! Ran latest security patches on all boxes.
Added second relay information above for other SPOs to use and verified everything is working correctly.
Still marketing on twitter and trying to find delegators. Finding delegators is clearly the hardest part of the job, especially for small pools.
08/22/2020 - Added a second relay to the pool and updated it's topology. Stake pool is running great. We made a commitment that LOCO will be my one and only stake pool.
Doesn't feel like things are decentralized when owners are running like 6 pools. We are really looking forward to the portfolios. Our hope is that smaller stake pools with the mindset of true decentralization and a commitment to run only one pool per operator can ban together and offer an attractive portfolio for delegators.
08/21/2020 - Yesterday was a very exciting day! We minted our first block ever. All the hard work of setting up and maintaining the system plus getting listed in
other peers topology etc. paid off! Very happy for our delegators, thanks for sticking with us! If you know anyone who is looking delegate their stake, please tell them
about LOCO.
08/20/2020 - Created a new page to help delegators understand the process of of staking. Page can be seen
here and is also listed above in the delegators news section.
We checked the pool in Daedalus this morning and it was showing 777, hopefully a good luck sign for delegators.
Looks like release 1.19 close to ready, we will wait to hear if it's stable, then wait another few days before we download and test it. System is running great, no issues to report.
08/19/2020 - Good morning delegators! Yesterday we entered Shelley epoch 212 and there are over 1000 registered stake pools. If transactions can someday be fairly distributed across all active pools, we will have true decentralization! Looking forward to a time when we are completely transitioned from the federated system. System is running great, no issues to report.
08/18/2020 - The stake snapshot for epoch 212 occurred 8/13. We should have ~415K active stake.
Minting a block for us will be like winning the lottery :) We will just keep plugging away and hope the little pools get a fair chance in the future.
'd' needs to drop and 'k' needs to rise! soon please... Go Cardano!
08/17/2020 - System looks good. Relay/producer up and running, transaction count is moving, logs look good.
Verified our relay is available to other topologies and is listed here
We also double-checked the node was started with correct keys and node certificates. Our live stake is up to 461K. LOCO was registered 08/10 so
hoping active stake looks much better next epoch. Hang in there delegators!
08/16/2020 - d is moving to .8 next epoch, 20% of pools will be minting the blocks! Jump aboard the LOCO train and let's make some ADA!
Nice to see some of the smaller pools minting blocks now, especially the SPOs that contribute to the forums!
08/15/2020 - Just a quick status update. Relay looks good, peers look good, producer looks good. Our relay is now registered with
the CNTools Topology Updater service, so peers that use that service can find us. Many pools will not be minting blocks just yet.
That is because network is still in the process of decentralisation. Currently only 10% of blocks are going to be minted by the
stake pool operators. Over time, this should reach 100%.
08/14/2020 - Very quiet day so far. All pool owners anxiously waiting to see if they get to mint a block. Servers are running great.
IOHK came out and said there will be some kind of gift for us commemorating producing our first block.
Maybe a t-shirt or something, they are still working on the details. That would be LOCO cool.
Have a great weekend Delegators!
08/13/2020 - This evening at 21:44:51 UTC we entered Shelley epoch 211. We witnessed the transition and our servers performed great! Now just waiting to mint our first block!
Right now, during this initial phase, only 10% of the blocks are produced by the stake pools. Hang in there delegators it's going to take some time for this to sort out.
08/13/2020 - IOHK is advising pool operators to roll back to the previous node version 1.18.0. They identified an edge case issue while doing some parallel testing.
We completed the rollback but this means a bumpy ride over the epoch boundary which is disappointing.
08/13/2020 - 1.18.1 is running great! We noticed it uses less RAM, both on the relays and producer node. Looking forward to seeing how it behaves when we switch epochs. We
updated our facebook and twitter accounts and will post the contact info above when the sites are ready to go.
08/12/2020 - Updated nodes to the latest software version (v1.18.1). Ran into a known bug and ended up having to rollback via
cabal clean, cabal update and cabal build all. All good now and We are ready for the next epoch.
08/11/2020 - Continued work on this website. Created facebook and twitter accounts to market the pool. We are techies but doing our
best to market the pool and try to find new delegators.
08/10/2020 - LOCO stake pool registered. We decided that all profit after expenses will be added to our pledge in an effort to improve pool performance.
However, pledge does not equate to minting blocks, slot leadership is mainly dependent on total stake delegated to the pool
regardless of whether it's pledge or not. Our hope is that delegators will support small pools, we work so hard to get our pools up and running and it is a real benefit
to the Cardano ecosystem. The promise of Cardano is the banking of the unbanked, a system for all. Took several hours before the LOCO ticker appeared in Daedalus. Network was upgraded to Fiber 1000. Speed tests look amazing and far execeed the recommended 1 GB of bandwidth per hour.
08/09/2020 - Updates to the website. Added additional relays to topology configuration per guidelines.
08/08/2020 - Producer node setup, configured and synced. Our pool uses Dell PowerEdge servers running ubuntu over AT&T Fiber. We have had success with this
configuration for other projects and have been using Dell equipment for over 20 years.
08/07/2020 - Relay node setup, configured and synced.
08/01/2020 - Settled on the ticker LOCO and the domain name locoada.com. LOCO meaning "locomotive" as in ADA train. Also could mean "crazy" as in crazy rewards from the LOCO pool. Or "We are crazy about ADA".
EDUCATION CENTER
If you stake your ADA with LOCO, you could earn a return on your investment.
Cardano addresses have separate keys for spending and staking.
If you decide to stake your ADA tokens, they will never leave your wallet.
Your tokens are not locked, you can spend your tokens at any time.
Your ADA is never at risk when you delegate.
You always remain in control of your funds.
The worst case scenario is a pool does not generate rewards.
For delegated stake to become Active stake it takes the current epoch + 1 full epoch.
For example, stake delegated during epoch 212 will not be part of Active stake until the beginning of epoch 214.
This is why it might make sense to wait until near the end of the current epoch to switch pools.
There is no advantage to switching pools in the middle of the epoch.
If the pool you are staking with out performs expectations near the end of the epoch, you may change your mind and not want to leave the pool.
If you are staking with LOCO and change pools now, you will still earn rewards with LOCO until your stake is active in your new pool.
OUR FIRST BLOCK
We minted our first block ever in epoch 212.
This was a very exciting moment as it confirmed our system is setup correctly and is well connected to other nodes in the network.
All the hard work we put into setting up the stake pool and network paid off.
Only a small percentage of blocks are produced by the stake pools right now.
This is a tough time for all small pools, but my hope is there are delegators that share the original Cardano vision.
The promise of Cardano is the banking of the unbanked, a system for all.
A vision where all have a fair, fighting chance.
That vision should include Cardano Stake Pool Operators!
LOCO is seeking delegators that want to be part of smaller pools now and grow with them over the epochs to come.
We are committed to never running more than a single stake pool and support true decentralization of the Cardano network.
A good stake pool is one that stays up and running 24/7, is well connected to the network
and is available to mint blocks when called upon.
It's really that simple.
24/7 MONITORING
24/7 monitoring is essential for any professionally run, reliable stake pool.
Our servers are listed above with a green ✓ or red ✗ status that is automatically updated every 5 minutes.
Click this green button anytime to peak in on our stake pool's status.
We keep track of the time, previous block height and current block height.
If block height stops increasing or the time since the last reported height is more then 5 minutes, our monitoring software will send us a priority 'pool alert' email.
When a pool alert occurs, a loud 'warning' sound also plays through a speaker every 10 seconds until dismissed. The warning is loud enough to wake us in the middle of the night if needed!
We also report block height to
.
Click the blue button and look for the green 'Height' box on PoolTool.
BACKUP GENERATOR
We believe it's important to have a backup generator during those rare times we lose power.
Our fiber internet connection enters our building from the box outside and directly connects to our router inside, no switches or hubs in between.
We have a Honda EU2200i backup generator that powers our main relay, block producer, monitor and router in the event of a power outage.
Our generator provides 1800 running watts of power and the total estimated power needed to run our pool during a power
outage is 1155 watts: (2) Dell servers: 550 watts each, (1) Fiber Router: 20 watts and (1) LCD Monitor: 35 Watts.
Our generator provides us with plenty of additional power, above that being used to host the pool, for lighting and other accessories.
BACKUPS/STANDBY SERVERS
Our pool is simple and consists of 2 relays, a block producer and a fiber router.
We perform weekly backups of all 3 servers. We also have warm standby servers ready to go in the event of a hardware failure.
Before performing any maintenance on our stake pool we check the Leader Logs to make sure we will not miss a block.
OUR RELAYS
If you operate a Cardano stake pool, please consider adding our relays to your topology.
All opinions are our own and do not constitute financial advice in any way whatsoever.
Nothing published by us constitutes an investment recommendation.
We strongly recommend you perform your own independent research before making any financial decisions.
