This page contains all the MicroMite products and kits available from Rictech.

Colour Maximite version 1.5 (PicoMite VGA USB v2)

IN STOCK: 05


This is the latest PCB from the world of MMBASIC - the PicoMite VGA, USB edition.  A feature-rich board, measuring only 100mm x 75mm.  It contains the Raspberry Pi(TM) RP2040 chip as the heart of the board.

• Small size - only 100mm x 75mm
• Colour VGA output (MODE 2 @ 320 x 240)
• Mono VGA output (MODE 1 @ 640 x 480)
• Dual-core ARM M0+ RP2040 QFN processor 
• USB keyboard support
• USB mouse support
• USB Hub support
• PS3 and PS4 USB game-controller support
• USB-C connector for power and console
• 2.5W class-D stereo audio amplifier with screw-terminal output
• PWM audio output filter
• Volume control
• Micro-SD card slot (supports FAT16 or FAT32)
• RTC and backup battery
• USB-to-serial chip
• 40-pin I/O connector.
• Supports serial(UART), I2C, SPI, OneWire(TM) and PS/2 protocols

The board comes fully assembled/programmed/tested, and ready to use right out of the box.  The MMBASIC interpreter runs one one core of the CPU, and the VGA output runs on the other core, meaning that generating the VGA has no effect on the speed of the MMBASIC interpreter, as they both use their own core in the CPU.

You will need to supply a CR2032 button-cell battery.  We cannot supply the board with the battery, as Litium button-cells are a prohibited item as far as shipping is concerned, but the CR2032 button cell is ubiquitous and very easy to find in just about any country.

International tracked shipping is used for all orders, and a tracking number will be emailed to you once your parcel is shipped.  The case+panels option will be available from late June 2024, but you can pre-order if you like, on the understanding that those orders won't ship till then.

US$55 each, fully assembled WITHOUT case or panels.
US$75 each, fully assembled in case with front/rear panels.

SELECT OPTION:

No case(just the PCB) $55.00 USD Include case & panels $75.00 USD

COLOUR MAXIMITE 2!!!

The latest offering for the Maximite series of computers - the new all powerful CMM2, Generation 2 - VERSION 2!.

IN STOCK: 0 - Sold out, sorry.  More will be available early 2025 after our Christmas holidays.

The Color Maximite 2 (CMM2) is a small self-contained computer inspired by the home computers of the early 80's such as the Tandy TRS-80, Commodore 64, Atari and Apple II. It includes its own BASIC interpreter and powers up instantly into the BASIC interpreter (there is no operating system to boot). The emphasis is on ease of use and, as a result, a first time user could enter a small program and have it running within minutes.

While the ease-of-use and built-in BASIC concept is borrowed from computers of the 80's the technology used is very much up to date. The CPU that powers the Color Maximite 2 is an ARM Cortex-M7 32-bit RISC processor running at up to 480MHz with 2MB flash memory and 1MB RAM. This processor includes its own video controller and generates a VGA output at resolutions up to 1920x1080 pixels and with up to 24-bit color.  Despite this unit running a BASIC programming interpreter(which is usually considdered slow), the CMM2 can process your program at more then 200,000 lines per-second.  That is very, very fast!

The Color Maximite is designed to be simple and fun. Our version of the Color Maximite 2 is the same as the kit version from magazine articles, except that ours is an assembled board.

Some features of the CMM2:

• Extremely fast 480MHz ARM processor with 516KB of program memory and 24MB general purpose RAM.
• VGA output with five resolutions from 1920x1080 pixels to 240x216 pixels with up to 24-bit colour (16M colours).
• USB Keyboard (can be wireless with a USB dongle).
• Mouse support added to the G2 version of the design
• Support for SD cards up to 128GB formatted in FAT16, FAT32 or exFAT.
• Extensive features for creating computer games. These include multiple video planes, support for Blits and Sprites and full support for the Nunchuk a game controller.
• Stereo audio output can play WAV, FLAC and MP3 files, computer generated music (MOD format) and robot speech and sound effects.
• Twenty eight input/output pins with 12 capable of analog input. Connector is compatible with Raspberry Pi Hats.
• Power is 5 volts at 170mA typical (ie, from an USB port or charger).

YOU WILL REQUIRE 1x CR 2032 BUTTON-CELL BATTERY.
We cannot include this, as batteries are a prohibited item.


US$105 fully assembled, in case with front/rear panels, PayPal fee and international tracking.  PCB-only option also available.  Both options include an SD card for you to use, preloaded with demos to show what the unit can do.

"How come these new ones are $50 cheaper then the ones you used to sell?"
As this new PCB layout is FULLY assembled at the factory, INCLUDING all the connectors, we no longer need to chage for our time to source, stock and install the connectors here, and this has the benefit of allowing the new design to sell at a lower cost then the ones we had to complete manually, as we no longer need to charge for our time to complete each board one by one. :-) 

MicroMite Explore 64 Version 1F - FULLY ASSEMBLED MODULE

NOW AVAILABLE AGAIN POST-COVID!!!

This is the latest version 1F module.  It has a 1455 interface included on-board, so you can directly connect to USB without the need for the daughter-board, and with the aid of a free programming software, you can program any new version of MMBASIC into the module without needing anything other then the utility and a USB cable.

It is designed around a four-layer PCB, and includes footprints for the common W25Q SPI memory chips, as well as a Microchip UNIO chip in SOT-23.  Neither of these are supplied by defualt, but can easily be added by the constructor if wanted.  Standard Explore-64 functions remain the same, the most obvious included feature being the inclusion of the 1455 interface without the need for an add-on daughterboard.

Supplied fully assembled and tested.

US$80 including airmail to anywhere on the planet.
COVID19 has resulted in the price of this item increasing slightly due to post-virus inflation..

Built to order with a lead-time of approximately one week.

 

MicroMite Explore-28 module

LATEST MODEL!!!   Version 1D.

This is a fully assembled E28 module.  The module contains a USB interface, and you can program the firmware into the chip at the heart of the module, using just this module itself, and pic32prog ASCII programmer tool.  The MicroMite itself can also be used to update the code in the USB interface chip(should that ever be required), making for one complete, simple, cheap solution.

Designed to be the same size as an Arduino Nano, it is only 38mm x 17mm in size.

DRIVER FILES:
Driver files are available for this module for use under Windows XP, Windows 7 or Windows 8.
You must have SP3 installed on your XP machine.  Unzip the files, and run the driver installation tool exe file.  You can download the ZIP file from our Downloads page.  This driver will not work with versions of Windows earlier then XP, so Win95/Win98/WinMe are NOT supported.  Both 32-bit and 64-bit drivers are included.  This driver may also be used with Windows 7 and Windows 8.  Windows 10 has native support for this USB chip, so no drivers are needed for Windows 10 machines.  Linux should see this module as a USB-serial adaptor, and locate it under /dev.  Usually shows up as /dev/ttyACM0 then you can talk to it using Minicom or similar.

US$35 including airmail(and PayPal fee) to anywhere on the planet.

Built to order with a lead-time of aproximately one week.

GENUINE HC-12 RF Module

This is the GENUINE HC12 module, sourced from the hc01 factory in China.  Guaranteed not to be a clone or fake module as is the case with many of the listings on eBay or AliExpress these days.  Clone modules are off-spec with their frequency, and will not operate correctly in the same network as other genuine HC12 modules becasue of this frequency error.  To be sure you are using the genuine article and have the minimum number of problems with your HC12 network, purchase only original modules sourced from the manufacturer.

For details on the problems with the clone HC12 modules and the problems they can cause for you, please see this forum thread:
https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=10443&PN=1

Each module comes complete with small helical antenna.

US$12 each including airmail shipping to anywhere.  GENUINE ARTICLE.  
Please contact us for bulk discount if you want more then ten.

COVID19 has resulted in the price of this item increasing due to post-virus inflation.

 

E28 Blank PCB, Panel of five.

A panel of five blank E28 module PCB's, for those who wish to source all the parts and build them.
Bill of materials etc, are in the E28 Constructors Pack in our DOWNLOADS section.

US$10 per panel of five + US$15 tracked postage.

MicroMite Plus Explore 64 - Blank PCB(panel of three)

A panel of three blank MM+ PCB's for building the MicroMite Plus Explore 64 module.
The boards sent will always be the most up to date version.  Current version of this board is 1F.

PLEASE NOTE that the 1455 SOIC chip must be programmed before you install it.  There was no room for the ICSP connector on this board due to its small size.  You can install an SOIC MCP2221A chip as a direct drop-in replacement if you can't program an SOIC 1455 chip, but the serial activity LED won't work.

US$10 + US$15 tracked shipping.

MicroMite Explore 100 - Blank PCB

This is the blank four-layer PCB for Geoff's Explore-100 TFT module.

NOTE: If you are just ordering this PCB (and no other products), AND you are based in UK or Europe, then please visit our  UK based partner who will have shorter delivery timescales, and lower shipping costs (when compared to despatch from our main New Zealand Warehouse).

US$10 + US$15 tracked shipping.

E100 and Micromite Backpack port tester PCB

This PCB can be used to test that all the pins are intact and working correctly via LED's.  Designed to plug directly into the LCD port of an E100 board, or by flipping the board 180 degrees, you can also use it to check the connections on an SPI-LCD-based Micromite Backpack unit.  The backpack port tester can also be used to test ANY supported SPI LCD module with touch, but you will need to change the tester code to reflect you chosen pins.  This is just the PCB - you will need to supply the components: 4x 3k3 standard resistors, 29x super-bright LED's, 1x 40-pin(2x20) box-header(standard 2.54mm pitch), 1x pin-strip(14w).  Use 1k resistors instead of 3k3 if you are using standard LED's.  MMBASIC code to run this tester on an E100 or Micromte Backpack can be downloaded from our Downloads page.

US$5.00 + US$15 tracked shipping.

Pi-Cromite blank PCB.

This PCB is used to host a Raspberry Pi Zero, and to run the 'PI-Cromite' port of MMBASIC by Peter Mather.  With this board and a Raspberry Pi Zero module, you can run a version of MMBASIC that has been customized to run specifically on the Raspberry Pi Zero board.  The Pi Zero mounts directly to this PCB, and the pins are all routed out to useful connectors for MMBASIC features.  You can install this board on either a parallel LCD or an SPI LCD.  Please see https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9847&KW=Picromite for details on the board.  For details on the Pi-cromite port of MMBASIC by Peter Mather, please see this thread: https://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9487  This is the very first post by Peter about the Pi Zero port, so just follow your nose from there.  There have been many more threads about this port and improvements as Peter developes the code.

US$5.00 + US$15 tracked shipping.