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muddy0409

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Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 125

Posted: 10:09am 13 May 2012

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I had a look at Arduino with some thoughts of using them here and there.
BUT having to learn yet another programing language, decided I was too damn old to go through that again.
Since I had all the stuff for PICs, PICBasic Pro, MEL programmer etc I asked around for a PIC alternative.
CHIPINO (http://www.howtronics.com/) was mentioned. It has a footprint compatible with ARDUINO and can use a heck of a lot of the ARDUINO shields.
So I am going to investigate a bit further, along with a graphic LCD set up as an 8 x 24 text display with a shield base.
All I gotta do now is find a suitable box for it.
There may be other people in here who may be interested in these.

Peter Moritz

Edited by muddy0409 2012-05-14

Don't poo poo conspiracy theories.
Remember that everything ever discovered started somewhere as a theory.

djuqa

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Joined: 23/11/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 447

Posted: 10:28am 13 May 2012

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Or you can just use a Duinomite
1/ Arduino Compatible
2/ Programmable with easy to use MMBasic
3/ Can use a VGA/Composite Monitor/LCD display and PS2 Keyboard for I/O
4/ Has SPI, I2C, USB, RS-232 Support
5/ Based on 32 BIT PIC32 not old 8BIT Technology PIC16F886
6/ And best thing at only $32 (DM-Mini) costs a tiny 2Bucks more than the Sparsely Equipped Chipino.
7/ Available here in good ole' Aussie Land from Dontronics and worldwide through a large network of Olimex Agents.
8/ Large network of existing users, support and information.Edited by djuqa 2012-05-14

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muddy0409

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Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 125

Posted: 10:57am 13 May 2012

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Yeah, I am ware of this. But I will still have to learn a new basic.

Don't poo poo conspiracy theories.
Remember that everything ever discovered started somewhere as a theory.

djuqa

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Joined: 23/11/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 447

Posted: 11:01am 13 May 2012

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MMbasic is very easy to learn and use as it is based on MSBASIC/GWBASIC and uses stock standard syntax.
Plus the Aussie Software Legend, Geoff Graham the Author of MMBasic, is a member here.
Edited by djuqa 2012-05-14

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muddy0409

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Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 125

Posted: 02:31pm 13 May 2012

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Well I certainly don't want to upset a fellow member, but all of my projects simply don't need anything above an 8 bit processor. Why use a sledgehammer to crack a peanut (to coin a phrase)

Don't poo poo conspiracy theories.
Remember that everything ever discovered started somewhere as a theory.

JohnS
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Joined: 18/11/2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3801

Posted: 03:40pm 13 May 2012

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Looks a bit crude but if it's all you need, go for it.

The DM has a nice wide power supply voltage range, if that helps.

John

muddy0409

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Joined: 15/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 125

Posted: 06:05pm 13 May 2012

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Thanks John.
ATM, yes, that is all I need.
If I ever get some BIG ideas, I may well need something more, just like the Duinomite.
Don't want to get above my station in life!!

Don't poo poo conspiracy theories.
Remember that everything ever discovered started somewhere as a theory.

djuqa

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Joined: 23/11/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 447

Posted: 10:18pm 13 May 2012

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but why use a T-model ford when for the same money you can drive a Rolls

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ArtBecker
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Joined: 25/08/2011
Location: Philippines
Posts: 47

Posted: 05:13pm 14 May 2012

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The problem with the Chipino is that the new version they sell is not the old version they advertise. And there is no schematic for the latest version.

The version they advertise is dual voltage; 3v & 5v, but that's not what you get. There is no 3-5v jumper any more, even though they advertise this as a feature, and show it in the photo of the Chipino.

You also don't get the reset switch, shown in their photos of the Chipino.

Nothing on their web site tells you that you will be paying for something different than what they advertise.

JohnS
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Joined: 18/11/2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 3801

Posted: 07:31pm 14 May 2012

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Ouch. Breaks our laws, dunno about others!

John

donmck

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Joined: 09/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1313

Posted: 07:46pm 14 May 2012

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djuqa said but why use a T-model ford when for the same money you can drive a Rolls

Peter, I keep reading what David quoted above, and hope to entice you to going in what I feel is the right direction.

Purchase from me a DuinoMite-Mini:
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/olimex-duinomite-mini.html
(or any version for that matter)

and if you don't like it after 7 days, return it for a full refund.

This will get you into the MaxiMite-DuinoMite world, and you will have the support of the members of this forum.

Cheers Don...Edited by donmck 2012-05-16

https://www.dontronics.com

jebz

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Joined: 13/06/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 79

Posted: 10:37pm 14 May 2012

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muddy0409 said I had a look at Arduino with some thoughts of using them here and there.
BUT having to learn yet another programing language, decided I was too damn old to go through that again.
CHIPINO (http://www.howtronics.com/) was mentioned. It has a footprint compatible with ARDUINO and can use a heck of a lot of the ARDUINO shields.

The Arduino has a vast library of code to support the various shields -
http://arduino.cc/playground/Main/InterfacingWithHardware#Co mmunication
Getting this code to work on the CHIPINO will be like taking on a new language and environment.

elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282

Posted: 12:38pm 16 May 2012

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ArtBecker said The problem with the Chipino is that the new version they sell is not the old version they advertise. And there is no schematic for the latest version.

The version they advertise is dual voltage; 3v & 5v, but that's not what you get. There is no 3-5v jumper any more, even though they advertise this as a feature, and show it in the photo of the Chipino.

You also don't get the reset switch, shown in their photos of the Chipino.

Nothing on their web site tells you that you will be paying for something different than what they advertise.

Art Becker,
I have to correct you because your statements on not completely true. I use the CHIPINO all the time with PICBASIC PRO and HI-TECH C also in some of my Beginner's Guide to Embedded C Programming books. I even created a Simplified C language similar to Arduino for the module.

Here are my corrections to your statements.

The module has the 5v and 3v rail on the Arduino headers but the option to power the PIC with 3v was removed because of issues with powering the module from the USB rail. It was also changed to make it compatible with Arduino which is 5v power micro only as well.

I don't see them advertising a 3v PIC option but you are right that the picture at chipino.cc is old.

The Reset switch is still on the board and that didn't change. It's connected to the MCLR pin. That never changed.

The schematic is included in the package download which is free to download at: http://www.howtronics.com/Download_ep_41.html
My SimpleC is also included along with sample files.

The reason I like the CHIPINO is it runs faster than Maximite and also draws a whole lot less power so I can use battery power without killing batteries quickly. I can also use it with other compilers like Great Cow BASIC and CCS C Compiler.

I do like the Maximite as well which is why I designed my own Maximino (Arduino style Maximite) that I've shown on here before. I use it for many little projects.

www.elproducts.com

ArtBecker
Regular Member

Joined: 25/08/2011
Location: Philippines
Posts: 47

Posted: 03:07pm 16 May 2012

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elproducts said Art Becker,
I have to correct you because your statements on not completely true.

I stand by my statements, and you have done nothing to disprove them.

elproducts said I use the CHIPINO all the time with PICBASIC PRO and HI-TECH C also in some of my Beginner's Guide to Embedded C Programming books. I even created a Simplified C language similar to Arduino for the module. [/quote]

Self-servng spam. Has nothing to do with my remarks.

elproducts said Here are my corrections to your statements. [/quote]

No "corrections" were made.

elproducts said The module has the 5v and 3v rail on the Arduino headers but the option to power the PIC with 3v was removed because of issues with powering the module from the USB rail. It was also changed to make it compatible with Arduino which is 5v power micro only as well.[/quote]

All you did here was verify that my first remark was true. The 3/5V option was indeed removed without notice to the paying customer.

elproducts said I don't see them advertising a 3v PIC option but you are right that the picture at chipino.cc is old. [/quote]

Well, let's see.

-- the 3/5V option is clearly shown in the schematic available when I bought the unit.

-- the 3/5V option was clearly in the photo when I purchased the unit.

-- the 3/5V option remains clearly in the photo of the unit to this day.

-- the 3/5V option was clearly listed in the construction steps for the bare board option.

-- the 3/5V option remains clearly in the photo of the bare board sold to this day

And yet you claim that you (oops, sorry, I mean the "Chipaxe Team") never "advertised" the 3/5V option.

elproducts said The Reset switch is still on the board and that didn't change. It's connected to the MCLR pin. That never changed.[/quote]

Perhaps you would be good enough to point out the reset switch (S1) on the Chipino I bought. Here are photos of the front and back.

[IMG]uploads/ArtBecker/2012-05-17_010332_reset_o.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]uploads/ArtBecker/2012-05-17_010403_reset_r.jpg[/IMG]

elproducts said The reason I like the CHIPINO is it runs faster than Maximite and also draws a whole lot less power so I can use battery power without killing batteries quickly. I can also use it with other compilers like Great Cow BASIC and CCS C Compiler.

I do like the Maximite as well which is why I designed my own Maximino (Arduino style Maximite) that I've shown on here before. I use it for many little projects.

More self-serving spam, unrelated to my remarks.

ArtBecker
Regular Member

Joined: 25/08/2011
Location: Philippines
Posts: 47

Posted: 03:15pm 16 May 2012

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Edited by ArtBecker 2012-05-18

elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282

Posted: 05:52pm 16 May 2012

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ArtBecker said

I stand by my statements, and you have done nothing to disprove them.

[/quote]

See the picture below.

ArtBecker said
Self-servng spam. Has nothing to do with my remarks.
[/quote]

This wasn't meant to be spam in anyway. I'm sorry of my post offended you.
I am just helping muddy0409 get an accurate answer to his original questions.

ArtBecker said
All you did here was verify that my first remark was true. The 3/5V option was indeed removed without notice to the paying customer.
[/quote]

I have notified them and they are correcting the picture. Apparently In the move from chipaxe.com website to howtronics.com website they didn't catch that mistake and have notified the guy who builds the website. But I just downloaded the documentation from their site and it has the correct schematic and doesn't show any 3v jumper. I know they have some old boards if you want that feature, I know they'll send you one.

They are just a great group of guys who are very familiar with PICs and PICBASIC and just having fun. They've donated over $1200 to charity through their $1 per CHIPINO board sold program. I think its a great. They've now expanded and formed a hackerspace that they call howtronics (how to electronics). I did join the hackerspace.

I do the same promotion for Maximite and have sent many people to Dontronics for Maximite and Duinomite boards.

ArtBecker said

ArtBecker said
Perhaps you would be good enough to point out the reset switch (S1) on the Chipino I bought. Here are photos of the front and back.
[/quote]

No problem. The reset switch location is pointed to in the picture below. Did you build the kit or buy it this way? It should have the switch. If you add a shield with the reset switch, it will also connect to the MCLR pin so you don't even have to populate it. The shield will do the job.

ArtBecker said

More self-serving spam, unrelated to my remarks.

[/quote]

These last remarks were more for muddy0409.
I was shocked to see you had a CHIPINO. The fact you bought a CHIPINO is an endorsement enough. You obviously saw the advantage to CHIPINO and bought one yourself. And your only complaints could be be easily corrected with a simple switch soldered in place or adding a shield with reset switch installed (most of them have it).

Not having the 3v jumper is only a loss if you wanted to run a 3v PIC and you can still do that if you power from the PICkit 2. The PICkit 2 can set the Vdd to just about any Voltage level. You could also replace the 5v regulator with a 3v regulator and run a 3v part. That's also why they sell the kit version for those that want to build it their own way.

Edited by elproducts 2012-05-18

www.elproducts.com

elproducts

Senior Member

Joined: 19/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 282

Posted: 06:13pm 16 May 2012

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What I really like is the RB6 and RB7 pins are connected independently to the PICkit 2. In PICBASIC PRO you have a DEBUG command that sends serial data just like the BASIC Stamp or Arduino for debugging your code. The PICKit 2 has a built in Terminal Application so your PICBASIC Pro program can send DEBUG data through the PICkit 2 connections to the Terminal Program. That way you can monitor variables while its running without any added circuitry.

The PICkit 2 also has a logic analyzer so a resistor jumper from any pin to the RB7 hole in the CHIPINO board and you have a simple way to see a waveform without connecting an oscilloscope. This is great for demonstrating PWM to someone.

What I want to eventually do is get a CHIPINO talking to a Maximite. The CHIPINO's can be smart sensor modules and the Maximite can be the central control/display and user interface.

www.elproducts.com

vasi

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Joined: 23/03/2007
Location: Romania
Posts: 1697

Posted: 10:01am 23 May 2012

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I like Chipino - thought, I would liked more if angled traces were at 45 deg.
Chipino can be also programmed with JALv2 and Jallib with astonishing results compared with any commercial language compiler (having a completely free compiler with full optimization of the code at commercial grade is quite amazing).

Why not an 18f2525 or 18f2620? Or any 18F microcontroller with Flash between 32 and 128K. Any of them have excellent support in JALv2 with Jallib libraries.

Can also be programmed with free Pic Micro Pascal - not as good as JAL in terms of code size but very close and an excellent solution for those who know Turbo Pascal/Freepascal and/or Delphi.
_____
Edit: I read the documentation a little, if you stick with Hitech C lite, try to adapt everything to MPLAB X (on their site, you can find also MPLAB C18 for Mac if you will use PIC18F). Edited by vasi 2012-05-24

Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton
Elvish name: Mablung Miriel
Beyound Arduino Lang

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