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MicroMite Beta Test

1/14/2014

2 Comments

 
Geoff Graham, the brilliant creator of the Maximite Computer, recently announced a beta release of a Maximite on a chip called MicroMite. He stripped down the MMBASIC interpreter he wrote for the Maximite Computer and fit it on a 28 pin DIP PIC32MX1/2 micro. And you program it with a simple terminal program running on a PC.

He released the .hex file and documentation to those willing to beta test it and I signed up. He suggested a PICkit 3 to load the .hex file into a blank PIC32MX part but I decided to use a Microstick II module. It has a PICkit 3 programmer built in (called the PKOB or PICKIT On Board). It also comes with a PIC32MX250 and USB cable for $34.95. 
Picture
I loaded the .hex file, that Geoff supplied, into MPLAB X and 
programmed it into the PIC32MX250F128B without issue. I just had to select the PKOB programmer. 

Next I found my USB to TTL serial converter module and hooked it up to the board through a breadboard. The Microstick gets its power from the USB programming cable so I left it hooked up to my laptop. I connected the USB adapter to a second USB port and launched Tera Term. 

The > prompt showed up ready for program entry. The Microstick II has an LED connected to pin 2 so I decided to write a short program to flash the LED. 

The MicroMite has software inside that launches a full editor screen in the terminal window. So you can write your code just like you would in a text editor like notepad. The editor worked great within Tera Term. I wrote the code to control the LED, which was just about 8 lines of code, and then hit the the F2 function key to save and run the program. The program ran perfectly and the LED began to blink immediately. I had success 1st try. Great job Geoff. I love it when things are designed so well they work first try.

I'm just getting started with it but how interesting is it that you can now program a 28 pin DIP micro in the same code format you could program a VIC 20 or Apple II?


2 Comments
viscomjim
1/14/2014 09:46:07 pm

Hi Chuck,

I too am playing with this "micromite". I am very excited about its potential. I stumbled upon your site through both the back shed when you commented on the beta and just now through the chipino article on Jameco's site. I haven't gone through all your things yet, but it seems you have quite a bit to offer the hobbyist and pro alike in the world of pics. I am glad to have found you and will key you, Geoff, and the back shed posted on my progress with the beta. I look forward to your input also.

Jim

Reply
Chuck Hellebuyck link
1/14/2014 10:49:24 pm

Thanks for stopping by Jim.
I hope you find a lot of helpful information as I continue to expand elproducts.com.

Reply



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    About Chuck

    Chuck has been programming with PIC Microcontrollers since there were only five devices. Now there are over 700 and growing. He also has a lot of fun 3D printing designs using his Davinci 3D printer and TinkerCad software. In this series of blog posts and occasional videos on his YouTube Channel he tries to help you get started with electronics and 3D printing.

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