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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : FREE PICOMITES
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| PeterB Guru  Joined: 05/02/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 639 |
G'Day All Early this year I read about using a PICOMITE as a PC I/O extender. At the same time I discovered that, after 70 years of doing electronics for other people, I had no immediate projects and so I ordered 3 Picomites. After Lizby published his software I was convinced that it would be just so easy. I have now admitted defeat. It took a month to learn that I had to tell MMEDIT what it is talking to. I discovered that just as the rusty razor blades arrived. So if anybody would like 3 Picomites just PM me. I also have some of those 32 things that I will never use. I am going to stay with Arduino and MX170F. I know my limitations.  Peter(B) |
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Romeo Newbie  Joined: 11/02/2022 Location: FrancePosts: 24 |
This is a very kind attention.  May I suggest you to offer them as a win-prize for the MMBasic Programming Challenge 2022? |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5695 |
G'Day, PeterB :) What a pity... TBH Lizby's I/O expander software doesn't really warrant running MMEdit (unless you have to for some particular reason. Tera Term on a PC is excellent). There isn't all that much to it and the internal editor can cope fine. Once it's in you don't really need to look at it again - you just treat it as a magic I/O device. Once the PicoMite firmware is in they are lovely little things. Far easier to update than any of the other 'mites. They aren't all that dissimilar to the MX170 - they obviously have extra stuff on them and they are a lot faster, but MMBasic is pretty close. If you like the Arduino stuff, are you aware that you can now use the Arduino IDE with the Pico? (Coincidence - I was looking through the Photos thread the other day and spotted you. :) ) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3476 |
Hi PeterB, I understand your problem. For many years I programmed PIC 16F processors is assembly, simply because the instructionset is simple. The MX170 is a marvel in it's balance between simplicity and features. The picomite is more capable, but that has its drawbacks. Some of the commands are changed, or have added variables, and some had to change i.e. from HUMID to BITBANG HUMID. If picomite is the new entry level MMBASIC embedded controller, then the bar for entry level has been raised. Some people love Notepad, and some like Word. Bot you can use to type text, but the entry level of notepad is lower. I myself was lucky to be with pico from the start, but even then, I made the remark before, I need the user manual to create programs more often than with the MX170 Edited 2022-05-01 17:26 by Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| PeterB Guru Joined: 05/02/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 639 |
As further evidence of my mental decline I just generated a new post and lost it. I have had a response for the bits so that is that. Romeo, Mick& Volhout, I think my problem is I am 84 and a couple of years ago in the process of getting Nancye into a nursing home I got a bit over-stressed and then got a nasty bug from which I never fully recovered. The upshot is I am permanently tired and my brain just gives up. Apart from that I am in good shape  . It has been a lot of fun and I aint giving up yet but I am winding down. It does annoy me having all these tools and fun things and no incentive. Make the most of it.Peter |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3007 |
Peter--sorry to hear that you encountered problems, the least of which are the technical difficulties. But if you try again, please do come to the forum before you get thoroughly stumped--many are happy and able to help. Lack of a desire to get up and get at it is a bigger problem. At about 8 years shy of you, I'm beginning to feel some of that. Good luck. Lance PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 3476 |
Loosing a post now and then is not a mental decline, it happens occasionally on this forum. Especially with long posts. That is why I make short posts, and then use the edit function ro add to them. PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| al18 Senior Member  Joined: 06/07/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 174 |
I have lost posts also. I need to remember to copy my post before posting it, because this forum seems to log me out occasionally |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1796 |
I'm getting on a bit too Peter, getting a bit forgetful but keep at it, just ask questions, all the folk here are very helpful. I feel like a bit of a goose sometimes asking silly questions but I am only a self taught hobbyist not an IT professional. At our age we have to keep the brain ticking over, at the moment I am building the VGA version of the Pico, I've no idea what I will use it for but it keeps me thinking. Remember the old adage "USE IT OR LOSE IT". "It is better to be ignorant and ask a stupid question than to be plain Stupid and not ask at all" |
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| PeterB Guru Joined: 05/02/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 639 |
Lizby (Lance) et al I have gone to TBS for help on many occasions and we have had a lot of fun. I also like to think I have provided help in some small ways. The problem here was I had no idea what to ask, there was just problem after problem after problem. On top of that, this was not a real project. For the first time probably ever, this was just me saying "here is a device, what can I do with it?" Perhaps I need the incentive provided by a boss, customer, mate etc. I am a married man after all. In recent years most of my work has come from a mate who makes agricultural equipment. He seems to think he should pay me, I think I should pay him for keeping me alive. But that is slowing down now so perhaps he is getting old  I am slowing down but I am not stopped. I will keep going as long as possible and enjoy TBS Over the years I have got into trouble with Grogster for my black / sick humor e.g. "mental decline". He thinks I should add a funny face to make it quite clear. Sorry Grogster  PeterB |
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| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
Hi Peter I'm glad to know there's someone around here who is older than I am. Not by much, mind you, just two years. Don't give up on MMBasic and its variations. Its core programming is rock solid. Ignore Grogster. He's a Kiwi. Promote your sick humor ... we need more of it. I have had similar setbacks to the ones you have encountered. Sonja, my wife of 53 years died last September after an 18 month long siege when she was unable to get out of bed. It will take me a long time to stop missing her. Whatever you do, don't stop playing with gadgets. If you don't use it you will lose it. Whenever I'm writing code I use a mix of Notepad++ and MMedit. I write in NP++ and indent and error check in MMedit. I always save code files to the PC disk for safety before loading them into any chip. I also save "most" of my posts here to the PC disk and then paste them into this silly browser box if I think I really want to refer back to them. This post I'm just typing into the silly browser box. Good luck to you. Paul in NY |
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| PeterB Guru Joined: 05/02/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 639 |
G'Day Paul. That is very sad. I remember when you posted the photo of you and your wife I thought "why didn't I move to NY in 1964?" Nancye has just tested +ve for Covid and her mind is not in good shape but she is still here or in the nursing home actually. We have been married for 56 years and only had 1 argument. It started halfway down the church and is still going. She thinks that if I had really loved her I'd have married someone else. I seem to be happy with MMBASIC and the MX170. All I need now is my mate to come up with a problem and a whip. Life is good if you ignore the lumpy bits. Peter (for Grogster) |
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| Paul_L Guru Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 769 |
That's the way to have an argument with your spouse. So, you want a problem ..... Lance and I have been kicking around a couple of big ideas for years. They are both on hiatus presently. One is a better way to control my geothermal heating and cooling system. The other is a general purpose replacement for dBase/Clipper to run on MMBasic on the CMM2. That's a big one. Someone has to tackle it if the CMM2 is ever going to reach its potential. Paul in NY |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5695 |
The thing I love about the PicoMite is that it's dead easy to use, even for this almost-70 hardware hacker. * Firmware updates are a doddle. * Switch it off at the end of a session and your program is still there when you switch back on - no need to save it. * Multiple copies of your programming opus in flash slots. You can list them without loading them if you want to check back on something - your current program remains intact. * The most complicated thing about adding SDcard storage is buying and mounting a module - and the world is your unicorn then. :) * Pins in the wrong place on your pcb layout? Use different ones then. :) * For most purposes the internal 3V3 SMPS is perfectly acceptable - no need to sort out a regulator, capacitors etc. * In spite of what others may think about the built-in editor, I rather like it. It has it's problems, but I tend not to get too upset about them. After all, I can load the BAS file from SDcard into Notepad or something for the final tidy up if I really need to. If you are buying chips from official sources the Pico is cheaper than the MX170 too. In fact, for what you get, it's stupidly cheap. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| PeterB Guru Joined: 05/02/2015 Location: AustraliaPosts: 639 |
Paul, if you could just wrap up your geothermal whatsit and send it over I will have a good decko at it. For the other thing perhaps if you could translate it from the original Polish. Mick, next week there will be another new shiny toy and the week after another one. We old blokes can't keep up so we stick with what we know (almost). When I worked for a living, I had a reputation for being a bit stuck in the mud. The only time I used a new product it was a dud.  So there !!But if you young blokes didn't keep wanting new toys there would be no tried and tested toys so keep on keeping on. |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3826 |
Dzien dobry* Paul, It's been too quiet on TBS recently so if you want then let's discuss this; not that I can ever imagine doing this - too busy on other projects. I've probably asked some of these questions and made some of these comments before, alas poor memory is not the exclusive province of the venerable  .What is the use case where a CMM2 solution is better than a small Windoze/Linux PC? Surely a database needs network, printer and long term storage functionality. That's all stuff that would require hardware add-ons and drivers writing. You'd almost certainly need the CMM2 to be able to work as a USB host for more than just a keyboard. What performance do you imagine getting? In pure MMBasic (and excluding its 16-bit graphics and expanded memory) the CMM2 is comparable to an Apple-II running machine code. I think early versions of dBase may have worked on the Apple-II but you might be expecting the performance of a 286/386. Best wishes, Tom * Along with "tak" and "nie" the limits of my Polish, if you don't include haranguing a dishonest taxi driver in broken German - he blatantly fiddled the tachograph infront of me! Edited 2022-05-02 19:08 by thwill Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5695 |
With the current silicon shortages our options for another "shiny new toy" are somewhat limited. :) In fact, our options for using existing toys aren't exactly great. At least the Pico is (for the moment anyway) available. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3826 |
Speaking of which I have a handful of MX170s (mostly 28-pin thru hole) that I will probably never need - the PicoMite and RP2040 fulfill my requirements. If anyone wants them I will let them go for whatever you think reasonable. Best wishes, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 5695 |
ooh...... I'm interested in the through-hole ones for some of my I/O modules. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3826 |
I'll take an inventory when I get home. Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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