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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : PicoGAME Mini
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Mixtel90 Guru  Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
This is the Mini version, for a single controller. Pocket dynamite, this one. lol Tom: Please hold off putting this onto the Wiki for the moment. I'd like to get any bugs out first. :) PicoGame Mini 00 - Construction Pack.zip Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3305 |
Nice. Ordered. $6.38USD with slow boat shipping. Looking forward to a play. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| twofingers Guru Joined: 02/06/2014 Location: GermanyPosts: 1522 |
Hi Mick, maybe you should change the name (PicoGAME) for copyright reasons? Best regards Michael EDIT: I hate this copyright stuff too! Edited 2022-06-25 08:34 by twofingers causality ≠correlation ≠coincidence |
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| pwillard Guru Joined: 07/06/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 307 |
As a fellow long-time user of Sprint Layout... Maybe we can share some Macros or Lay files. As always... nice work |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
I intended to put this in the OP, but it was late and I had brain fade... For those who may be looking for the first time, the original PicoGAME info is in This Thread. ----------------------------------- I'm not too bothered about copyright. It's written differently, in a different country and we don't have a similar product. PicoGAME VGA (which has a logo all of its own, designed from scratch by me) is a non-mobile hardware product (unless you really want to call a VGA monitor and PS/2 keyboard "mobile"). PicoGame (which has a completely different style of logo so there can be no confusion) is a mobile software developer. The Sega Pico is a different name again, hardware but a completely different name. Additionally, PicoGAME VGA (to give it it's full name) is a product design, not a company name. PicoGame is the name of the company, not a product. I won't change the name unless I get some sort of "cease and desist" letter, in which case I *might* consider not using that name again. I might come down like a ton of bricks on anyone I catch using PicoGAME VGA in a similar logo to mine though. That would be appropriating my designs. It's too late now anyway - the designs are already out there for free, everywhere in the world. I don't sell the hardware or even give it away so there's no way to stop distribution and none can be recalled because no-one knows where they are or how many there are. :) Edited 2022-06-25 16:49 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9467 |
I've always used SL from version 4 to now version 6. I have 348 macros I have designed over the years, happy to share on the forums if anyone else is interested. I would start a new thread, so as not to hijack this one. Interested? Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
I think the SL stuff should have it's own thread. :) I'll be happy to contribute some macros. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| twofingers Guru Joined: 02/06/2014 Location: GermanyPosts: 1522 |
@Mick I was just worried you'd get in trouble. You don't have to explain anything. It's okay with me and I love it when people post their ideas - thanks for that!  Best regards Michael causality ≠correlation ≠coincidence |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
TBH I don't think they'll bother. It would probably be more than a court case - or even a solicitor's letter - would be worth. A court might throw it out and they could be lumbered with costs. It's not worth suing a pensioner with no additional income. "Yes, Sir, I can just about afford to pay at 10p per week." :) -------------------------- I don't think the document is clear enough. To run the PicoMite SMPS: Break the 3V3EN link. Omit U1. C14 and C15 can also be omitted. Set the input link to get a supply from K1 (default position). Fit a wire link between VSYS and 5V. It's not really intended to be run from the SMPS because of electrical noise. I only brought 3V3EN out to a pad to make it easier to mess with. To run the linear regulator using the USB input socket: Set the input link to get a supply from VBUS. Do not be tempted to link the outer pads of the input link as this bypasses the protection diode in the PicoMite. Connecting both a K1 supply and a USB supply could then result in damage to the USB port of the host computer. Edited 2022-06-25 21:57 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3305 |
My PicoGAME Mini PCBs arrived today from JLCPCB. 17 days, slow boat, not bad.  I will mail one free to the first three people in North America who PM me with their street address. Thanks, Mick. Question: are the end panels supposed to snap off or do I need to cut them (I have a bandsaw)? Lance Edited 2022-07-12 10:13 by lizby PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
I couldn't get them to be snap-off for a couple of reasons. If you mark something as snap-off it's charged as an extra board unless it's identical to the rest, so that would have been the cost of three boards. Also, for snap off designs you have to leave waste areas that are big enough for the clamps and I've used virtually all of the available area for a cheap board. A bandsaw would be lovely but I've not got one. I do have a sharp craft knife and a 4in vice though. :) From the doc: (This is the bit that makes me apprehensive, when one of my designs gets built for the first time and someone else is the guinea pig! Some things, like the cut-outs for the sockets, are not easy to sort out in SL6. I can draw them in CAD, but SL6 can't import any sort of CAD files. It is missing simple tools that would make it even a half-reasonable general purpose CAD.) Edited 2022-07-12 17:28 by Mixtel90 Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
But you actually made those cut-outs in SL6? I looked for this feature but didn't find it (???) What did I miss?  |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
They are drawn on layer O firstly as a rectangle. Although it doesn't matter much on a big slot, you have to bear in mind that they will be cut out with a router so the corners will be radiused. You can get rounded corners by putting quadrants into them then drawing over the rectangle to join the quadrants. Then you can delete the original rectangle. Anything drawn on layer O will be cut. I also indicate that it's a cutout by drawing a simple cross roughly in the centre of each. You can make circular holes by putting a pad on layer O with the inside and outside diameters the same. Small slots are done by overlapping several of these together, in theory, but it's something I've not tried yet. Mechanical work in SL6 leaves a little to be desired. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Brilliant! Thanks buddy  |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3305 |
Craft knife and PCB in vice would probably make a cleaner cut. I probably won't be putting it a box though--nothing else I have is in a box. Even my CMM2 has always had the top off. I do appreciate the fact that you make them to fit a box, though. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Volhout Guru Joined: 05/03/2018 Location: NetherlandsPosts: 4835 |
Good that you kept the PORT A pinning identical, so most of the SW made for the VGA pico GAME will work also. PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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vegipete Guru Joined: 29/01/2013 Location: CanadaPosts: 1121 |
You are just not being creative enough. ;-) Draw the item in CAD, along with two fiducials forming, say opposite corners of a known size square. Save it as an image, or zoom to full screen and screen-capture and save (JPEG, I think.) Import the image in SL6 as background on the layer of your choice and adjust the image scaling so the fiducials match as close as possible and trace away. OK, it's a bit fiddly but it can get the job done. Alternately, use an online dxf to gerber converter, and import that in SL6. ============== Have all 3 pcbs been claimed yet? If not, I'll PM my address. Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs. |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3305 |
Ok, VegiPete--you're #2. PM me and I should send (from Nova Scotia) by Friday. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| Bleep Guru Joined: 09/01/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 570 |
Mick very generously sent me one of these, which I have successfully built & yes a craft knife & a vice worked very well, though you do need to really work at it with the knife, before it'll snap off nicely. Regards Kevin |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7483 |
On the later boards I'm removing the ground plane copper from both sides of the end plates. It eases the fitting a little and should make the boards easier to score as, at worst, only the very edge of the copper will be being cut. It'll reduce the strength a little, but as the panel is completely gripped by the vice jaws (and I've arranged the panels to have maximum width at the cut line) I don't think there'll be a problem. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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