Hello everyone!

I have just take my first small steps with the picomite. What a fantastic system and what great documentation! As a Basic enthusiast I feel right at home here, the forum looks like a friendly place with loads of useful information.

On that subject: How do I print something to a certain screen location. I can't find a "LOCATE row,column" like function.
I am using a Pico 2 and Teraterm. I have found a PRINT @(X,Y) command but X and Y have to be specified in pixels, that seems odd for a serial terminal.
When using pixel-like coordinates e.g. PRINT @(100,100) "Hello", the text is positioned somewhat away from top/left edge so I'm assuming there is some multiplication factor needed?
I'm sure I missed something obvious...

Thanks,
Arthur

Hi Arthur,

It's one of those gnarly parts of MMBasic, I haven't got H/W in-front of me, but try getting the values of MM.INFO(FONTHEIGHT) and MM.INFO(FONTWIDTH) and using those as multipliers for the font you aren't using .

If you are accessing the PicoMite through a serial console then you can also PRINT the ANSI escape codes to move the terminal cursor.

Best wishes,

Tom

Ah... confusion reigns. lol
Welcome to the forum, Arthur. :)

When you have a serial connection to a Picomite you aren't strictly controlling an ASCII device from an ASCII terminal at all. You are at the command line (console) of a device with full graphics capabilities in its own right. You have to think of it along those lines. When you do it makes sense, you can't specify a character position on such a system as the resolution is naturally in pixels, not characters. The character size is set by the font in use.

Thanks to both of you, it makes sense to me now.
I used
Const my=MM.Info(FONTHEIGHT)
Const mx=MM.Info(FONTWIDTH)
For x = 2 To 70
 For y = 2 To 20
   Print @(x*mx,y*my) "X",
 Next
Next

to get characters positioned correctly.
So this is to keep it sort of compatible with a graphic screen, I guess.
But for now i'll only be using Teraterm so i'm going to use vt100 sequences. I found some nice examples elsewhere in this forum :-)

Thanks for the quick response!
Edited 2026-07-20 20:57 by aaaaaaaargh

aaaaaaaargh as on the Parallax forum?  

Welcome. The PicoMite makes a great front-end for the P2  

  aaaaaaaargh said  

But for now i'll only be using Teraterm so i'm going to use vt100 sequences. I found some nice examples elsewhere in this forum :-)

Yes, I did implement 3DMonster Maze also for VT100 once.
Or Mandelbrot
Welcome to the forum
 Cheers
   Martin
Edited 2026-07-20 22:23 by Martin H.

  PhenixRising said  

aaaaaaaargh as on the Parallax forum?  

Welcome. The PicoMite makes a great front-end for the P2  

Yes, you caught me ;-)  And you, different handle over there?
I guess the PicoMite and P2 would be a nice combo, needs more thinking...
Edited 2026-07-20 22:34 by aaaaaaaargh

  Martin H. said  

Yes, I did implement 3DMonster Maze also for VT100 once.
Or Mandelbrot
Welcome to the forum
 Cheers
   Martin

Cool examples! This is going to be fun.

  aaaaaaaargh said  

  PhenixRising said  

aaaaaaaargh as on the Parallax forum?  

Welcome. The PicoMite makes a great front-end for the P2  

Yes, you caught me ;-)  And you, different handle over there?
I guess the PicoMite and P2 would be a nice combo, needs more thinking...

Yeah, I'm Mickster over there but I figured that it was too similar to Mixtel90 for here.  

I was on the old KISS thread. I have two P2-Edge modules, two KISS modules and the Cluso99 module.
I currently have the Edge modules talking to the (awesome) RP2350DIL modules but I am considering switching to the KISS because it is similar format to the RP2350DIL.

RP2350DIL

I guarantee that you'll get hooked on the PicoMite  

  PhenixRising said  

am considering switching to the KISS because it is similar format to the RP2350DIL.

Maybe get one of the new P2 sunnyside modules, that would fit the
RP2350DIL nicely. And now I know about it, I will have to get an RP2350DIL, I do love a dil/dip board 😋

  fred777 said  

Maybe get one of the new P2 sunnyside modules, that would fit the
RP2350DIL nicely.

It's nice but he lost too many pins. I'm already tight with 58  

  PhenixRising said  

It's nice but he lost too many pins.

Unfortunately yes...

So I'm curious, how are u using the Pico as a frontend?
Edited 2026-07-21 19:56 by aaaaaaaargh

The PicoMite or ARMite H7 or CMM2 is the command processor for my bespoke CNC controls.
These are not G-Code interpreting controls and five-axis is the minimum (I have 22 and 17 axis machines in the field).

I specialize in Tube Forming machines that not only bend tubes but automatically load/unload themselves.
The sequences can get complicated because unlike metal cutting (subtractive process), the workpiece grows.

Having a BASIC interpreter running the show, cuts down development time dramatically. Furthermore, I don't want to waste the precious resources of the Prop on displays and SD storage.
The PicoMite has become a serious controller in it's own right with low-level math, EIGHT PIDs, PIO, CRC, etc.
Two PicoMites can even be coupled (8bit one-way or 4bit bidirectional).

However, for personal satisfaction, I aim to exceed every metric of what the industry giants have and so the Prop is the only way to do this. It's really silly because we are talking ridiculous specifications that are practically useless.

The book "Programming and Customizing the Propeller" introduced me to RPCs (remote procedure calls) and so I am doing similar. The PicoMite calls out to procedures on the Prop.

Breaking News: St Georges Hall, Blackburn is being refurbished and they just placed an order for 4,000 chairs. They will all be made on a MicroMite-controlled CNC tube bender.
Edited 2026-07-21 20:10 by PhenixRising