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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Maximite - 80’s flashback
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vegipete Guru  Joined: 29/01/2013 Location: CanadaPosts: 1109 |
Greetings All! A couple of weeks ago I received my CGColorMax1. (Note the missing 'u' - as a Canadian, I sure like seeing colour spelled with a 'u'. ;-) What fun! The CircuitGizmos version needs a component or two soldered on, which calls to mind the Apple 1 from the 70's. The board powered up fine although the USB/PS2 adapter wouldn't physically fit beside the vga plug so I had to root around a bit for a PS/2 keyboard. Had to try a few SD/MMC cards to find one that worked fine. But how totally cool! Works like a charm. The CGColorMax1 comes with both a screw terminal and barrel jack for the power in connection. I decided to mount both by trimming the screw terminal leads so they don't pass through the board and then soldering it to the bottom side. Then I soldered the barrel jack to the top side. I can understand the comments about the surface mount VGA and PS/2 jacks. I really hope they get changed to through hole components with the next spin of the PCB. Let the user solder them in if costs are a problem. A power switch was easy to add - just replace the power jumper with a 2 pin header from a scrapped PC with a switch on the other end. Today at work I set up a PC to flash the latest version of the firmware. Again, went without any problem one .NET 2.0 was installed. I looked at the MMIDE for the first time too, which also worked fine. Some minor comments about the Beginning Maximite (begmax.pdf) document from CircuitGizmos. - Hopefully the CGColorMax1 circuit diagram will appear at some point. Some details are not obvious from the start. (For example, the serial hardware isn't actually connected to the PIC32.) - I think it would be nice if Figure 70 showed which was pin 1. I've since discovered that figure 71 shows what I wanted to know. - I wonder if the interfacing examples for the CGMMSTICK at the beginning could be replicated for the CGColorMax1, perhaps with each set of examples in a separate chapter. - Is there documentation showing the soldering required for the CGColorMax1? Those new to the concept of soldering your own computer might appreciate simple instructions. All in all, I am very impressed with how the whole kit works. Two thumbs up! If I had more thumbs, they would all be up! I've attached a picture of my 4 year old son working on the CGColorMax. At first I thought he was writing a web browser for it but when I looked more closely, I saw he was just typing random garbage. But you never know. He has though learned to type 'RUN' <ENTER> to get a program to run. Pretty good. I think I was driving before I learned that. 
Visit Vegipete's *Mite Library for cool programs. |
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CircuitGizmos Guru Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 1425 |
That is a great post! Thank you for all of the kind words. Yes, space is rather tight along the back of the board. That is a smart move! The VGA jack is changing. PS/2 will stay the same (it loosens up after initial use.) Next version of the document I clear that up. Good suggestion. Another good suggestion. Also good! I will be adding these suggestions to my to-do list. Thanks again for the kind words! Micromites and Maximites! - Beginning Maximite |
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Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9307 |
Yes indeed, it is very scary how close to the 80's home computers, the MM is. Especially now that it is in colour! 
The B/W one was an excellent toy, and reminded me of a Sinclair ZX81 on steroids, but the colour one is so much better, and the MMBASIC language sees constant updates and bug-fixes, which means it gets better all the time too. 
Oh yeah, and us Kiwi's in New Zealand also spell colour with the u!!!  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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| CircuitGizmos Guru Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 1425 |
I'm careful to refer to the original Geoff Graham design as the "Colour Maximite". Perhaps when I ship orders of CGCOLORMAX boards I should include an extra U in the box for people to solder to the side of the R.  Micromites and Maximites! - Beginning Maximite |
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| Grogster Admin Group Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9307 |
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!  Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
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bigmik Guru Joined: 20/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2914 |
Is it a surface mount `U' ?? Mick's uMite Stuff can be found >>> HERE (Kindly hosted by Dontronics) <<< |
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| CircuitGizmos Guru Joined: 08/09/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 1425 |
U is through-hole. u is surface mount. Micromites and Maximites! - Beginning Maximite |
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| MOBI Guru Joined: 02/12/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 819 |
All this talk of "U"s is making me feel "sheepish" David M. |
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BobD Guru Joined: 07/12/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 935 |
All I can say is Baaaaaaah |
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