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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : MMBasic Ten Years On
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Plasmamac Guru  Joined: 31/01/2019 Location: GermanyPosts: 501 |
He Geoff, Thanks for so much fun! Btw Peter too  Plasma |
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CircuitGizmos Guru Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 1421 |
I wasn't here at the VERY beginning, but nearly so, and it has been a great ride! I thank everyone - those that are present and those that are no longer here on TBS - for _all_ of their contributions. Even people just asking questions because sometimes the answers lead to some very interesting conversations and sharing of ideas. It is still hard to convince some people to give MMBasic/micromites/maximites a chance because of the unfair criticism of BASIC. And some people that want their retro computers still want the crappiest 2k momochrome misfit ever produced because... they're masochistic? But there are people that have come over to the micromites and maximites and have rediscovered the wonder of personal computersthat fueled them in the 1980s. There are also people born well after that time period that are discovering this delight for the first time. Thank you ALL! Micromites and Maximites! - Beginning Maximite |
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Geoffg Guru Joined: 06/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 3165 |
There are very few people on the Back Shed who were around in the first days. One was Glenn (Gizmo) who hosts and maintains this forum. He built one of the first Maximites and posted a review (he still has it posted here). When I saw his review I talked him into hosting this forum (in June 2011). Many thanks to Glenn, this forum and his ongoing support is one of the factors behind the success of the Maximite, Micromite and MMBasic (such as it is). One thing that I didn't mention in my initial blurb was the startling success of the Maximite when it was first released. To keep costs down I had talked Altronics (an Australian electronics retailer) into making a first run of 200 kits for the Maximite (they normally only made kits in batches of 100 which lasted them a year). However they were rather slow so the kits were not ready when the first SC article appeared. Within a week that first 200 had sold out... even before deliveries had began. So they started on another batch of 200 but that immediately sold out again - and they still had not delivered any of the first batch. This repeated for the the third and fourth batches and it eventually took six months before they finally caught up with the backlog. The original monochrome Maximite was Silicon Chips' most popular project by far and I suspect that it still holds that record. Many thousands have been built or purchased around the world. This was repeated again with the Colour Maximite and later the Colour Maximite 2. Amazing. Geoff Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net |
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panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1094 |
I find it sad that neither of the two main hobby electronics suppliers here in Australia- Jaycar and Altronics - sell any of the Maximite/Micromite kits. They seem wedded to the Arduino and while this is not a bad thing, it's a shame they don't do more for the local product. Much cudos should also go to the businesses that do supply kits or complete boards - CircuitGizmos (CircuitGizmos on TheBackShed) in the USA, Micromite.org (Whitewizard on TheBackShed) in the UK and RicTech (Grogster on TheBackShed) in New Zealand. Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
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| circuit Senior Member  Joined: 10/01/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 225 |
I followed Peter Mather across from PICAXE - my recollection is that he had a somewhat transient post on the PICAXE forum comparing the merits of the two systems; so convincing a case for moving to MM that it was rapidly deleted by the host. In fact I still use PICAXE chips for simpler projects where six pins and 8-bits will do nicely but shift up to MM for larger scale stuff. I find the two systems are quite usefully complimentary - and they can talk to each other. Echoing many of the thoughts expressed in the posts above, I express sincere thanks to Geoff and Peter for so generously giving of their time and providing this niche group with such easy access to these amazingly powerful devices. |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9043 |
I found the MM when I saw it in the SC(Silicon Chip) articles in the form of the original B/W(black-and-white) Maximite unit. I remember even way back then falling in love with it, as I programmed lots of things in ATBASIC(Atari BASIC) back in the 80's when I was a teenager on my 800XL and later 130XE 8-bit machines. So, I was immediately drawn to the Maximite, and the only thing I lamented about the original unit and firmware, was no serial port at all. That was fixed quite soon I seem to recall, with the addition of a bit-banged serial-port via a firmware upgrade. Once I had a serial-port to play with, I was happy as a pig in..... Up till that point, I had played with Arduino, but never really liked it cos it uses C, and me and C have something of a hate-hate relationship.  I could never get my head to comprehend C, but I guess I just needed to study it more and spend A-LOT more time with it to get good at it, but I simply did not have the time once I was out of school and working, as at that point I was also doing my electronics technician apprenticeship so had to concentrate on studying for that. I soon found BASIC-stamp, but did not like the cost of those, so quite quickly found and settled on PICAXE - also via SC articles. The PICAXE was a chip I used lots of, until the Micromite came along. I still use the 8-pin PICAXE for simple single-task things such as a data filter for a 'Dumb' RF receiver, but other then that, all my designs now use the Micromite controller as it is just so much more powerful with what you can do with it then the PICAXE. With no disrespect to PICAXE - I had just outgrown them and as they had not released a more juicy PICAXE chip..... So, MMBASIC was familiar territory to me when migrating from PICAXE, as they both used a form of BASIC. A highlight of my journey this far, would have to be my collaboration with Geoff to design the PCB layouts for the E64 module and the E100 unit, then later on with Robert Rozee on the E28 module. The Micromite is currently my go-to MCU, and frankly, I don't see that changing anytime soon. Have met and interacted with lots of lovely members here, and this forum is one of the best there is, and possibly the most welcoming of newbies. The same cannot be said of some other forums, so this is very nice place to live.  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 3830 |
Don't forget Mick Gulovsen (bigmik) in the "Magical Land of Oz" http://www.dontronics.com/micks-mite/files/ - though I'm not sure he would call himself a business the customer service is still great.Best wishes, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
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Cyber Senior Member Joined: 13/01/2019 Location: UkrainePosts: 161 |
Looks like Altronics still sells original Colour Maximite: https://www.altronics.com.au/p/k9555-maximite-colour-computer-kit/ |
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| Pluto Guru Joined: 09/06/2017 Location: FinlandPosts: 327 |
Many thanks to Geoff, Peter M and all other enthusiasts on this forum for the continuous developments.  For many years I used a programming software called Flowcode for programming various PIC's. About 4 years ago I decided to go for an upgrade of the software and luckily the representative for the software was on vacation. Googling for other possible options I came across the MicroMite. Ordered a 44-pin module and after that I have newer used the old programming software! I am only doing hobby projects and for most projects the 28-pin chips are sufficient. Triggered by the discussions on this forum I have also tested almost all of the other variants except the ColorMaximites. Help, support and suggestions has always been rapidly obtained from TheBackShed. Congratulations MicroMite! /Fred |
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electricat Regular Member  Joined: 30/11/2020 Location: LithuaniaPosts: 74 |
I found Maximite while searching for something at hackaday.com It took me day or two to completely fell in love and order parts for two machines. It's amazing creation! Exactly I was looking for. Hard, long term work and super nice result! For me it`s like a gift from good old friend, when you have no enough words to thank!!! Long years and good health for all of You :) My short story. Since times, 9 years ago I returned to electronics hobby and choose PIC camp, I practiced to read Microchip`s datasheets for reason - to feel hardware! And write small programs for small devices using mikroe.com Mikrobasic compiler. Nice thing it allows ASM includes and feature if needed to look how basic lines was translated to ASM. So, together with external programmers I had enough tools for my creations. But year after year I was looking for machine like my old beloved ZX spectrum was. Switch on and you already into programing environment :) Be it small idea to write ASM routine, or ASM and basic mixed program to modify some game :D Simple. I was searching through blogs, forums and googled much. I`ve found dozens of different nice creations, but not exactly I wanted. Until I found well balanced, to my eye, maximite! :) Yesterday I also flashed my first Micromite and ... it`s ... well... so lovely and balanced thing to play with I ordered parts for ASCII video terminal too :) |
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knivd Regular Member Joined: 07/09/2014 Location: United KingdomPosts: 71 |
With some delay on the topic - it surely served as a great source of inspiration for me, which ten years on still going strong |
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| William Leue Guru Joined: 03/07/2020 Location: United StatesPosts: 381 |
I also learned about the CMM2 from The 8-Bit Guy's YouTube video. I immediately ordered one and have been having fun with it ever since. MMBasic is a productive and robust language. We owe Geoff and Peter a huge thank you! -Bill |
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jwettroth Regular Member Joined: 02/08/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 70 |
Congratulations to Geoff and Peter on this milestone. I learned about the Maximmite very early on- but don't recall exactly where- probably poking around in international hobby magazines while on travel. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with the range of mites. I was amazed at the Micromite ('150) during its development. The fact that you could hook up an LCD character module and a Dallas temp sensor, write 3 lines of code and display temperatures with nice formatting was just incredible. The Micromite is just such a simple way to develop instruments, play with ideas and build useful gadgets- beautiful. Thanks very much and thanks to all for this polite and helpful group that has assembled around the 'Mites. An inspired design and a lot of hard work by many. John Wettroth |
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