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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : August SC.
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| Phil23 Guru  Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Couple of superb articles! MM Backpack Energy Meter looks fantastic. Great looking interface & graphs. Way ahead of what was anticipated in it's update. Excellent article on Explore 64, covering a variety of displays. Cheers Phil. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Only had a brief read, but interested to note that they are using the AT2432C in the RTC module for some of the logging to prevent loss of data in the event of power outages. Curious as to whether the MM Source code will be published or not. Cheers. Edit, The Energy Monitor that is. |
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disco4now Guru Joined: 18/12/2014 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1025 |
The silicon chip shop has the basic source listed for $3.00 (free for subscribers but not for those that buy at the news agent) PS The EXPLORE 64 kit looks to be at a competitive price $30AU + $10AU postage. F4 H7FotSF4xGT |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Yeah tat's a bit rough. Picked mine up before 7:00 at the local News Agency; was keen to see what was written.... They need the business. I could subscribe I suppose...... Then wait an extra week. Phil. |
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mikedownunder Newbie  Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 26 |
Hi Guys. Don't know what you mean by waiting an extra week for subscription, I usually get mine around the 28th of each month. 
As you say though the articles certainly look great and very exciting for the future. Keep up the good work. 
Mike |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Are you City or Regionally located? |
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| mikedownunder Newbie Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 26 |
I live just near Wyong, NSW. It's about a 2 hour drive down the crappy M1 to Sydney.
Mike |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
Can't help but comment on the Mailbag letter on page 14. "Don't understand things like MM.Vres/2"??? Clearly there's been very little reading of the manual here. That point is confirmed again & again. |
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| paceman Guru Joined: 07/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1329 |
Yes that was exactly my thought when I read that letter. Makes you wonder if they've downloaded the Manual at all or are just relying on reading the SC articles. |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9642 |
Manual?! WTF is that?   Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| mikedownunder Newbie Joined: 03/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 26 |
Remember: When all else fails read the MANUAL. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
AND again. Mind you, the other thing I think too many people don't do is try commands at the MMbasic prompt. That's one of the great advantages of using an interpreter. Cheers. |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
I am starting to regard SC and this bbs as a sort of technology Pravda.. the more dorothy-dix and insular it gets, the less people bother with it |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9642 |
If by "this bbs" you mean The Back Shed forums here, then I don't agree with your conclusions. I don't think the forum is untrustworthy or biased just because members might suggest that any other member read the manual. Hell, I have had that thrown at me plenty of times. Both here and on other forums such as the PICAXE ones when I was active there(and they tended to be much more curt). If I asked something covered in the manual, other members would encourage me to read the manual - that's what it is for. I understand your pain to some extent though. There is another letter in SC this month, where the writer says they need a manual to understand the manual. It is true that the manual is written to some extent with an expectation that certain things about the basics of micro-controllers will be known. As this is not elaborated on, it can perhaps make a reader feel as though they are the proverbial Micromite fish out of water, when they pick up the manual for the first time - especially if you have never really done anything with micro-controllers before.
But that is what forums like these exist for. No-one is expecting a newbie to the MM to pick up the manual and read it cover-to-cover, nor for them to understand all aspects of the manual. That's what we are here for - anything you don't understand in the manual, just start a thread on it - there are heaps of people willing to help.
I do agree with the writers of both letters in SC, whereby some simple articles on how to do the very simple stuff would be a good idea. How about members here post any suggestions for simple things they would like to know how to do, and we could all work on compiling a document for newbies? Thoughts? Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| isochronic Guru Joined: 21/01/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 689 |
Manual ? You assume that I have a micromite ? Why ? I don't, and probably never will. It is good to see people having a go at technical projects. And SC and this bbs, like to present themselves as a source ... but I think there is now tacit pressure to use the micromite and backback in every relevent project published. Those projects are heavily accentuated and promoted, and others are left to wither on the vine. To be fair, SC has three letters describing problems using the module in a parking assist, with a plug-pack. Really ? After so many articles on simple power supplies, and detailed descriptions of the IC connections almost impossible to avoid ? My personal opinion - I mean no offence or disrespect - is that the maximite/micromite genre is a "look at me" activity, and it will never address the hard foundations needed. |
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| Phil23 Guru Joined: 27/03/2016 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1667 |
I'd have to totally disagree with the "Look at Me" comment. I'd consider it to be more like "Look at what you can do!!!!" I don't have any of the published projects; be it a Park Assist, Boat Computer or Clocks etc; They are all things I probably wouldn't use. But I do find that the Articles & Publication of their code to be a huge asset; the published code serves as examples to supplement the manuals. All those above projects could have been published without code, source not available to the public; they are not. You have to credit Geoff for taking this approach. Six months ago I had no idea what I could achieve with these devices & now have 3 doing real life operations. I was totally ignorant that these capabilities existed. One thing I would like to see more of on here though, is people sharing their projects. Not necessarily the Code, but just the concept & a few photo's of things that have been created. That sort of stuff is very inspiring. Cheers. Phil. |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9642 |
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Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5129 |
I would like to point out there is no affiliation between Silicon Chip, Geoff, and this forum. This forum is not here to provide support for anyone or anything. OK, moving on. I can understand the confusion and frustration experienced by those writers to SC, but they need to take a step back and think about it for a minute. They need to realise the MM is NOT a commercial product. Therefore they need to accept there will be a lack of tutorials, documentation, 24 hour phone support, etc. If they dont understand something, they need to do their own research and learn, no one is going to hold their hands. Eventually they will understand what the MM is all about. I call it the light bulb moment. That moment when the light bulb flickers on, and you get it. Life is full of them. Its like learning to ride a bike, suddenly you get it, and then its easy. But until that moment, the whole process is frustrating, lots of confusion, too much and too little information. Thats what those writers to SC are experiencing. I've recently gone through the same process building a 3d printer, each step was maddening, but eventually I got it. I agree there needs to be more simple projects, tutorials, etc to get people started. But again, the MM is not a commercial project. Geoff or any of the other MM developers are not out to make a living selling MM stuff. If people think there needs to be more information for developers, then write it! Help is free, this forum is free. The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9642 |
Yes, I certainly remember when I first joined this forum, and the B/W Maximite was just released in SC, and that is what I came here for - looking for help, cos I felt totally lost with MMBASIC. I remember trying a few things that worked in the days of Atari BASIC, and they worked(like PRINT, IF/THEN, GOTO and GOSUB - that kind of thing), but it was only with a little paitence and perserverence that I was able to learn what I now know about MM. Cfunctions and Csub's are still a total mystery to me due to not understanding line-one of C source code, but I have decided to leave writing those to those who know what they are doing, and the rest of us(me included) can just reap the benefit of their hard work. We have one resident Cfunction/Csub guru here, and he knows who he is, so I won't name names again - I expect most members know who I am referring to.
As to the MMBASIC code, this is something I felt TOTALLY lost with when I started with it, but the more I tinkered around, the more I learnt, and the more comfortable I felt with it. Remember - last time I programmed was in the 80's with Atari BASIC and line-numbers, and just learning how to write code that did not use line-numbers was almost enough to put me off! But then you learn some more as you go, and find that structured line-less code really IS the way to do it, and you get better at it all the time - like with most things. "How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practise!"  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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palcal Guru Joined: 12/10/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1997 |
I subscribe to SC (sometimes I wonder why) and I have been playing around with first the Maximite and now the Micromite. I have developed some useful things but even if I hadn't this is nothing more than a hobby for me. I did program back in the 80's and can't thank Geoff enough for resurrecting all this. When people get on a bit (I'm 73) it is great to have a hobby to keep the mind ticking over. Paul. "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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