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toml_12953
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Joined: 13/02/2015
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Posted: 02:29am 20 Dec 2025

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matherp said The manual for astro is still wrong use the syntax for star
Updated manual attached

GPS_Astro_Reference.pdf

I'm still not getting it. Still getting parameter errors. I've tried both with and without quotes around the star name. Could someone provide a single line example?

TassyJim

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Joined: 07/08/2011
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Posted: 04:00am 20 Dec 2025

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toml_12953 said
I'm still not getting it. Still getting parameter errors. I've tried both with and without quotes around the star name. Could someone provide a single line example?

'
DIM FLOAT lat = -41.12545, long = 145.90739
DIM FLOAT alt1,az1, ra_out1, dec_out1
DIM FLOAT alt2,az2, ra_out2, dec_out2
DIM mystar$ = "Acrux"
DIM testTime$ = DATETIME$(NOW())

PRINT testtime$
location testtime$,lat,lon
astro Rigel alt1,az1 , ra_out1, dec_out1
PRINT alt1,az1, ra_out1, dec_out1

astro Betelgeuse alt2,az2 , ra_out2, dec_out2
PRINT alt2,az2, ra_out2, dec_out2

I couldn't get a result for object names that contain spaces.

It looks like the object has to be hard coded. Perhaps "EXECUTE" to the rescue?

Jim

Footnote added 2025-12-20 14:52 by TassyJim
Yes EXECUTE does allow you to have the star ina variable but still no joy with multi-word stars.

DIM mystar$ = "Acrux"
mystarcmd$ = "astro "+mystar$+" alt2,az2 , ra_out2, dec_out2"
EXECUTE mystarcmd$
PRINT alt2,az2, ra_out2, dec_out2

VK7JH
MMedit

matherp
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Joined: 11/12/2012
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 10923

Posted: 08:42am 20 Dec 2025

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The multi-word issue is a bug. I'll do a fix and maybe update the firmware if anything else crops up

toml_12953
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Posted: 08:57am 20 Dec 2025

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TassyJim said

toml_12953 said
I'm still not getting it. Still getting parameter errors. I've tried both with and without quotes around the star name. Could someone provide a single line example?

I'm still getting an error:

20-12-2025 03:52:54
[10] Astro Rigel alt1,az1 , ra_out1, dec_out1
Error : Argument count

It must be something unique to my setup.

matherp
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Posted: 10:47am 20 Dec 2025

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Quote It must be something unique to my setup.

I suspect you are still running the old software. Download fresh from Geoff, make sure you clear any caches

ville56
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Joined: 08/06/2022
Location: Austria
Posts: 382

Posted: 11:54am 20 Dec 2025

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could someone please post what the latest date/timestamp of the most recently changed file in the zip file is. Just to make shure, I've managed to clean the cashes and got the most recent version.

And I would suggest to have some kind of marking of the different bugfixes of an official release. Maybe V6.01.00RC0.x. Not neccessarily in the firmware itself, but to distinquish between the bugfixes when handling them on the local computer. If it would be also in the zip filename, things would be clear and everybody would have a handle in the discussions to name exactly what he/she is writing about.

Thanks,
Gerald

73 de OE1HGA, Gerald

phil99

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Joined: 11/02/2018
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Posted: 12:27pm 20 Dec 2025

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The current .uf2 timestamps are 19/12/2025 00:49 to 00:59

ville56
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Posted: 01:28pm 20 Dec 2025

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thanks, so I'm up to date

73 de OE1HGA, Gerald

toml_12953
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Posted: 11:45pm 20 Dec 2025

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matherp said

Quote It must be something unique to my setup.

I suspect you are still running the old software. Download fresh from Geoff, make sure you clear any caches

There is some disconnect between the uf2 files on Geoff's site and UKTailwind's source. Yes, I have cleared the cache before downloading the source. When I run the precompiled uf2, it runs fine. When I compile the source I get this:

PicoMite MMBasic RP2350B V6.01.00
Copyright 2011-2025 Geoff Graham
Copyright 2016-2025 Peter Mather

Total of 6 Mbytes PSRAM available
> run
01-01-2024 00:00:08
0 263.5669684 0 0
0 263.5669684 0 0

Edited 2025-12-21 14:40 by toml_12953

phil99

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Posted: 07:01am 21 Dec 2025

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In this post it appears the array version of KEYPAD is missing from the current firmware.

Footnote added 2026-01-13 09:20 by phil99
To use large keypads on the RP2040 see this thread

toml_12953
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Posted: 09:35am 21 Dec 2025

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Has help.txt ever been updated for 6.01.00? If so, where can I find it now?

matherp
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Posted: 10:37am 21 Dec 2025

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Quote In this post it appears the array version of KEYPAD is missing from the current firmware.

RP2350 only, manual should say this. In order to keep the image size small and give disk space on a 2Mb flash Pico I have to leave out some things on the RP2350.

Geoffg

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Posted: 11:51am 21 Dec 2025

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A lot of confusion here.

You say "RP2350 only" then "I have to leave out some things on the RP2350".
So, is the command for the RP2350 or RP2040 or both?

Is the command syntax:
KEYPAD keymapmap!(),var!,int, startcolpin, nocols, startrowpin, norows
or
KEYPAD keyret, myint, gp1, gp2, gp3, gp4, gp5, etc
and in the latter, how do you specify the keymap and rows/columns?

Some guidance is needed.

Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net

twofingers

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Joined: 02/06/2014
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Posted: 11:57am 21 Dec 2025

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matherp said

Quote In this post it appears the array version of KEYPAD is missing from the current firmware.

RP2350 only, manual should say this. In order to keep the image size small and give disk space on a 2Mb flash Pico I have to leave out some things on the RP2350.

Which ones are they?

Regards
Michael

BTW, `DrawPixel(a,b,c)` is in `PicoCFunctions.h` (v2.0.2 Makros) but not in the `CallTable` (`picomite.c`). It would also be nice to have `GetPixel()` and a positioning method for the graphical cursor (`CurrentX`, `CurrentY`) for outputting printable characters (MMPrintString) ... and ClearScreen(gui_bcolour)?

causality ≠ correlation ≠ coincidence

matherp
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Posted: 02:22pm 21 Dec 2025

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The RP2350 firmware supports both KEYPAD syntax variants. The RP2040 only the original. The only thing wrong with the manual is the the new variant should have had "RP2350 only" specified at the top of the manual entry. For the RP2350, the firmware distinguishes between the two variants based on the number of parameters to the command. AFAIK any other commands that are RP2350 only are already identified in the manual.

toml_12953
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Posted: 07:51pm 21 Dec 2025

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Thanks to all who got the fixed GPS.c over to UKTailwind. Now astro works perfectly.

matherp
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Posted: 10:56pm 21 Dec 2025

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If you didn't chase every minor update in github until I release changes on this site you wouldn't waste so much time. Github is just a filedump. Unless I update the readme then the code should be considered not to have changed

Geoffg

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Posted: 02:46am 22 Dec 2025

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The firmware on my website has been updated with Peter's latest.

Changes include:
- Fixed the star catalog in the Astronomical Commands
- Updated the Astronomical Commands documentation
- Updated PicoMite User Manual (now revision 4) - Added "RP2350 ONLY" to the new KEYPAD command

Download from https://geoffg.net/picomite.html (scroll to the bottom of the page).
WARNING: Loading this will erase the flash memory.

Geoff

Geoff Graham - http://geoffg.net

matherp
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Posted: 09:38am 23 Dec 2025

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6.01.00 has a undocumented feature that someone may be interested in. MMBasic has long had the ability to decode GPS input using OPEN "COMn:baudrate" as GPS. This sets up a background interrupt listener and decodes the GPS signal which can then be interrogated using the GPS function. This all works great but has the disadvantage that any error, ctrl-C, etc. terminates the GPS input and you then need to go through the setup of the pins again and re-open the channel.
In V6.01.00 you can use OPTION GPS comnTXpin,comnRXpin
e.g. OPTION GPS GP0,GP1
This sets up the pins on reboot to always background monitor the GPS on the specified pins so you can then use the GPS function with no other set up needed and the GPS decoder and parser continues to run regardless of errors etc.
Perfect for a bike/boat computer or car speed warning device (also for the STAR command to drive a telescope which is why I included it

)

JanVolk
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Joined: 28/01/2023
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 307

Posted: 10:39pm 25 Dec 2025

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There are problems with PicoMite MMBasic USB RP2040 Edition V6.01.00 regarding the option serial console GP8 and GP9.
The connection is disrupted with the output to the Tera-Term terminal.
I also tested with OPTION SERIAL CONSOLE GP0 and GP1, and the same issue occurs.
Test with PicoMite MMBasic USB RP2040 Edition V6.01.00RC25, and both serial connections work fine.
However, I noticed that the list of pins for OPTION SERIAL CONSOLE COM1, GP0, and GP1 shows strange information.
By "disrupted," I mean that the output to the terminal displays strange characters, which strongly resembles an incorrect baud rate.

Have a wonderful holiday.

> List pins
GP0 1 Boot Reserved: SSD RESET
GP1 2 Boot Reserved: CONSOLE RX
GP2 4 OFF
GP3 5 OFF
GP4 6 OFF
GP5 7 OFF
GP6 9 OFF
GP7 10 OFF
GP8 11 OFF
GP9 12 OFF
GP10 14 OFF
.....

Kind regards,

Jan.
Edited 2025-12-26 09:00 by JanVolk

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