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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : hardware vga thing
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stanleyella Guru  Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2567 |
Would this be any use for a picomite? It was posted on another forum for use with 8bit pics but no libs to support except https://www.instructables.com/Using-ESP32VGA32-Terminal-for-Z80-MBC2/ https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/374067497222?chn=ps&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A14SwgoBr2TtCdhMYVbo7IWg43&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&itemid=374067497222&targetid=1647205088280&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=1007416&poi=&campaignid=17206177401&mkgroupid=136851690655&rlsatarget=pla-1647205088280&abcId=9300866&merchantid=420527642&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjbyYBhCdARIsAArC6LI_klccW7fpyrnxZz1GkOjg0b_vQCKZAqOOgqhQ-gjsVYykvMvVvi8aAt-aEALw_wcB |
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| DaveJacko Regular Member  Joined: 25/07/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 83 |
I am really impressed by this amazing gadget! we need one of our clever members to have a look at it  Try swapping 2 and 3 over |
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| DaveJacko Regular Member Joined: 25/07/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 83 |
I'll retract that.. having thought about it. PicomiteVGA is more amazing than almost anything for £5 thanks to it's generous developers Try swapping 2 and 3 over |
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Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7938 |
Since you need a VGA monitor and a keyboard to make it do anything why not just plug the USB console in? I'm pretty sure a USB lead costs less than 14 quid. :) Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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| pwillard Guru Joined: 07/06/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 313 |
I think I have one of these in a drawer...Picomite comes first |
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Rickard5 Guru Joined: 31/03/2022 Location: United StatesPosts: 463 |
Looks neat I'd maybe pop the 12 what Evers for one but  I may be Vulgar, but , while I'm poor, I'm Industrious, Honest, and trustworthy! I Know my Place |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7938 |
Check out Geoff's little terminal, using just a PIC32MX250 https://geoffg.net/terminal.html Does more or less the same thing - converts TTL to a VT100 with VGA monitor * PS/2 keyboard. OK, there's no mouse or RF, but who needs them? VT52 and VT100 terminals didn't have mice or RF connection either. :) Edited 2022-09-01 16:17 by Mixtel90 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: 5091 |
No, not really.... With MMBasic we live in a world where connection with the outside world is more or less dictated by serial port. On CMM2 there where (short lived) project to add WIFI, but the issue around the ESP8266 modules (basically the firmware of the ESP's) did not make that baseline (in other words, WIFI was something for the experts, not the grand forum). This VGA terminal adds IP to the connection palette. It is logical that people on this forum read over that particular feature, because they are used to living in the serial port world. But it is definitely a useful feature to have an IP (wireless) terminal. Volhout P.S. The niche market for it needs to be determined. When you install a VGA monitor, PS2 keyboard (mouse) and use this board as an IP terminal, you could also install a 15 year old laptop (this age is cheap as hell) and have better performance. PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7938 |
Looks like the irony in my post might have got just a little lost in translation. ;) A simple wireless connection is easy over COM ports with something like the JDY-40 or the HC-12, the ESP is the beast to use for Wi=fi connection and, no matter how you dress it up, that's still a pig. Things haven't moved on since that CMM2 project. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
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CaptainBoing Guru Joined: 07/09/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2170 |
tend to agree with that. Network interface is fairly straightforward to do (very stable too with 8266) with a MMBasic based device. The real ball-ache is the protocols for any Ethernet comms, you have to do *everything*. Even just basic HTTP can become very fiddly and involved with tons of string slicing and parsing. Inconsistencies in the "console" output from such ethernet<-->serial devices don't help either. Without a layer to make it easy to interface, any network aware project becomes a marathon. So you want a layer in the firmware? what protocols? just sockets? even then, someone's pet protocol will get left behind so I tend to agree with the omission of network support in *Mites totally, no point making a rod for your own beating. If you want it, it's do-able with what you have and supporting everyone's wishes doesn't become a mammoth task for the developers which will inevitably leave someone p'd off that their protocol isn't supported (although basic sockets would cover pretty much everything if you put the work in). jus' sayin' Edited 2022-09-01 21:06 by CaptainBoing |
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andreas Senior Member  Joined: 07/12/2020 Location: GermanyPosts: 226 |
like this: https://www.budgetronics.eu/en/building-kits/ascii-vt100-video-terminal-building-kit-original-version/a-25776-20  -andreas |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7938 |
Interesting - that's Geoff's design as a kit. :) 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: 5091 |
They didn't even remove the copyright Geoff Graham message..... Volhout PicomiteVGA PETSCII ROBOTS |
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| lizby Guru Joined: 17/05/2016 Location: United StatesPosts: 3378 |
And then there's Annex RDS for the ESP32--an excellent Basic with a whole lot of internet capability and support for many of the devices that MMBasic supports on a $5 device (with shipping). Includes over-the-air programming from a browser and many other excellent features.  Annex Forum A PCB implementation with LCD & other devices:  PCB thread Youtube Video No VGA support, though--but I guess you could add a PicoMite or Geoff's terminal. PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2567 |
I only posted this device as it was recommended/suggested by the guru on another forum. I first asked how is a ps mouse going to do anything. The answer was why not get a board and try it. er.. bit vague. All he said was no modification to his basic and just used serial tx/rx. I was looking for info and thinking someone here may have one and what use is it. I know there is vga mmbasic and realise the effort in making it possible. I will get around to trying it but just still learning mmbasic and vga code looks very unfamiliar from the graphic code and it's all about graphics.. it also seems a work in progress ie betas. It says somewhere that the picomite will not be updated as the system/board changes too much:( Lots of interesting stuff to check out. Thanks. stan |
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| Tinine Guru Joined: 30/03/2016 Location: United KingdomPosts: 1646 |
Would be nice to compare....or maybe I missed it? Print "Maximite Benchmark tests" Print " " Print "Benchmark 1" Timer = 0 For j = 1 To 1000 Next j Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 2" Timer = 0 j =j0 BM2: j = j+1 If j < 1000 GoTo BM2 Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 3" Timer = 0 j = 0 BM3: j = j+1 a = j/j*j+j-j If j < 1000 GoTo BM3 Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 4" Timer = 0 j = 0 BM4: j = j+1 a = j/2*3+4-5 If j < 1000 GoTo BM4 Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 5" Timer = 0 j = 0 BM5: j = j+1 m = j/2*3+4-5 Gosub 4000 If j < 1000 GoTo BM5 Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 6" Timer = 0 j = 0 dim ray(5) BM6: j = j+1 m = j/2*3+4-5 Gosub 4000 For q = 1 TO 5 Next q If j < 1000 GoTo BM6 Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 7" Timer = 0 j = 0 dim ray2(5) BM7: j = j+1 m = j/2*3+4-5 Gosub 4000 For q = 1 TO 5 ray2(q) = m Next q If j < 1000 GoTo BM7 Print Timer / 1000 Print " " Print "Benchmark 8" Timer = 0 j = 0 BM8: j = j+1 m = j^2 blog = LOG(j) csin = SIN(j) If j < 1000 GoTo BM8 Print Timer / 1000 End 4000 RETURN Craig |
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| Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 7938 |
@stanleyella I'm always a bit wary of stuff that I can't find a circuit diagram and/or a manual for. If it looks like I'm going to struggle to use it then I won't buy it. In this particular case the example of using it with the Z80 SBC is interesting. The SBC will handle it as a terminal, but the wi-fi part is probably useless due to the limitations of the SBC. Goodness knows what tthe mouse does. :) The PicoMite VGA is very similar to the normal PicoMite. . You only have 2 screen modes. Mode 1 is 640x480, mode 2 is 320x240. . Only mode 2 is truly a colour graphic mode, with 16 colours. . Touch screens are not supported so all those commands are missing. . As there is no SPI display there is no SYSTEM SPI. . Screen mode 1 supports square character cells which align with a modified font 3. . Mode 1 is a 1-colour mode. A pixel is either off or on. . In mode 1 you can use "tiles" to set a foreground and background colour for each character cell. Those are just things I could think of off the top of my head. MMBasic on the PicoMite will, I suspect, be supported wherever possible on any future official Pico boards (although not all facilities may be supported as MMBasic has no command slots left). Third party boards are not guaranteed to follow the Raspberry Pi spec so it wouldn't be possible to support MMBasic on all variations. As for it being a work in progress, well, I suppose support always is! We are seeing a few tweaks now as well as bug fixes. I think both versions of the PicoMite are getting pretty full now. :) 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: 3378 |
It's not particularly fast. A bit slower than a Micromite MX170 at 40mHz, but if you want the kind of internet connectivity which requires a great deal of tedious work (and additional components) in MMBasic, it can be a good choice. Annex Basic Benchmark I had to change the code a bit. I think the only significant change was the empty GOSUB to a line number; I had to change that to a label. ' bench1.bas Print "Maximite Benchmark tests" Print " " Print "Benchmark 1" millis0 = millis For j = 1 To 1000 Next j millis1=millis-millis0 Print "Benchmark 2" millis0 = millis j =0 BM2: j = j+1 If j < 1000 GoTo BM2 millis2=millis-millis0 Print "Benchmark 3" millis0 = millis j = 0 BM3: j = j+1 a = j/j*j+j-j If j < 1000 GoTo BM3 millis3=millis-millis0 Print " " Print "Benchmark 4" millis0 = millis j = 0 BM4: j = j+1 a = j/2*3+4-5 If j < 1000 GoTo BM4 millis4=millis-millis0 Print " " Print "Benchmark 5" millis0 = millis j = 0 BM5: j = j+1 m = j/2*3+4-5 Gosub empty If j < 1000 GoTo BM5 millis5=millis-millis0 Print " " Print "Benchmark 6" millis0 = millis j = 0 dim ray(5) BM6: j = j+1 m = j/2*3+4-5 Gosub empty For q = 1 TO 5 Next q If j < 1000 GoTo BM6 millis6=millis-millis0 Print "Benchmark 7" millis0 = millis j = 0 dim ray2(5) BM7: j = j+1 m = j/2*3+4-5 Gosub empty For q = 1 TO 5 ray2(q) = m Next q If j < 1000 GoTo BM7 millis7=millis-millis0 Print "Benchmark 8" millis0 = millis j = 0 BM8: j = j+1 m = j^2 blog = LOG(j) csin = SIN(j) If j < 1000 GoTo BM8 millis8=millis-millis0 wlog millis1,millis2,millis3,millis4,millis5,millis6,millis7,millis8 End empty: RETURN PicoMite, Armmite F4, SensorKits, MMBasic Hardware, Games, etc. on fruitoftheshed |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2567 |
I have only used the non vga picomite but use it for glcd which is impressive. It is the main reason I use it but it has many features to learn. There are many devices that initially look interesting.. hmmm? are they? I used a V53L0X laser range finder. i2c and it is good and want to convert to mmbasic. |
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| stanleyella Guru Joined: 25/06/2022 Location: United KingdomPosts: 2567 |
sorry I could not get it to run |
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