New 08M2, 14M2 and 20M2 now available!

Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
Revolution Education are delighted to announce the full M2 range is now available, including the 08M2, 14M2, 18M2 and 20M2 parts.

All parts include the same large 2048 byte memory capacity (8x larger than the older M parts), increased RAM, up to 32MHz operation and all chips support the advanced features such as I2C, touch sensors and parallel task processing.

For further information please study the PICAXE-M2 series datasheet.

The new parts are already in stock now with a number of distributors around the world, and may also be ordered online at www.techsupplies.co.uk


Enjoy!
 
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booski

Senior Member
the 08M2 looks like a fantastic piece of kit, so much stuff crammed into a tiny package! I like the idea of an internal temperature sensor too and HI2C, good stuff!
 
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Haku

Senior Member
32mhz 08m2 with 2k programming space? Fan-smegging-tastic!

*checks wallet*

Well, something to save up for :)
 
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Jamster

Senior Member
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO :D

Jamster
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
Quote from datasheet
The new PICAXE-08M2, 14M2, 18M2 and 20M2 microcontrollers build on
the pedigree of the ever popular PICAXE microcontrollers by adding these
new and improved features at no extra cost
Click to expand...
The 14M2 is 10p more than the 14M and the 20M2 is also 10p more than the 20M! How is that no extra cost?
 
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westaust55

Moderator
PICAXE manuals 1 and 2 are both now available at V7.7 if you use the link at the top of the forum pages (in the orange bar)

Great work and congratulation on the release of the rest of the M2 range to Techncial and the Rev Ed team.
 
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nick12ab

Senior Member
westaust55 said:
(for just 10p!)
Click to expand...
It is if you're using it commercially... does anyone actually use PICAXE commercially or is it just advertising blurb on the website. It would apply to schools.

Example with 100,000 units:
£1.80 * 100,000 = £180,000
£1.90 * 100,000 = £190,000
£190,000 - £180,000 = £10,000

I'm not criticising the pricing itself, just pointing out an 'error' in the flier. It's still considerably cheaper than this rubbish [link removed by Technical] so the pricing is still good.
 
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Jamster

Senior Member
Real-Life (In Circuit) Simulation
Click to expand...
If thats what I think it is then it will be brilliant!!!!

...and if it is what I think it is then my interactive PICAXE<-->PC software may be put away in the hard drive where it will gather virtual dust... :(
 
Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
nick12ab said:
It is if you're using it commercially... does anyone actually use PICAXE commercially or is it just advertising blurb on the website. It would apply to schools...... £190,000 - £180,000 = £10,000
Click to expand...
Schools (and commercial large use) do not pay the single unit price, so that comparison is very unrealistic.

The educational subsidised packs (ie tube of 30 of 14M2 for £30) price has not changed at all from the older 14M prices. And the 5 pack of an 08M2 has been reduced from £6.50 to £6.00 - a better chip for less money.

So a full tube price of 08M2 or 14M2 for educational use has not changed in price at all.

Single unit costs may vary by a few pence due to increased handling costs, it is very labour intensive to handle chips one by one - e.g. the cost in time to cut up a small bit of tube to safely post it!

We have clarified the picaxem2.pdf datasheet to avoid any more confusion.

Our subsidised educational full tube pricing can also be seen here:
www.rev-ed.co.uk/docs/micro_pricelist.pdf
 
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AndyGadget

Senior Member
So there goes all the fun and the sense of satisfaction when you've been three times around the 'code and shrink' loop and managed to squeeze that extra bit of functionality into an already packed 08M :)

That 14M2 looks like a powerful beast for its size. Amazing to think once upon a time we were designing with TTL logic in the same package.

Andy.
 
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manuka

Senior Member
"All the way with 2 AAs" - I can see the T-shirt already! Aside from other near gobsmacking features, the 1.8V minimum supply should appeal to skinflints & schools. Of course supply critical loads (white LEDs etc) may not perform, & students could promptly forget normal LED dropper needs elsewhere...

That internal temp measuring looks very handy (especially given heady DS18B20 prices), & suits simple 1 chip thermal data loggers -Swan's Law = "You can never have too many thermometers" . However the editor alert - "Kindly note this system can never be an accurate sensor and should only be used as an indicator of extreme temperature only." - may thwart. Stan.
 
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srnet

Senior Member
manuka said:
"All the way with 2 AAs" - I can see the T-shirt already! Aside from other near gobsmacking features, the 1.8V minimum supply should appeal to skinflints & schools. Of course supply critical loads (white LEDs etc) may not perform, & students could promptly forget normal LED dropper needs elsewhere...
Click to expand...
Yep "my PICAXE does not drive LEDs properly"

Whilst "Ye cannot change the laws of physics" it would be nice to have LEDs available with very low Vfs, in a range of colours ........
 
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manuka

Senior Member
LE= "leg-less" ? Maybe French for masculine version? Malaysia/Singapore already recognises the PICAXE-la of course! (A "La/Lah" suffix in their Manglish/Singlish is used to soften an otherwise stern tone. Hence "Stop-la")
 
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Haku

Senior Member
srnet said:
Yep "my PICAXE does not drive LEDs properly"

Whilst "Ye cannot change the laws of physics" it would be nice to have LEDs available with very low Vfs, in a range of colours ........
Click to expand...
Try a joule thief, it can power a white LED from less than 3v, those solar garden lights you get in 99p stores have a nice ready-made miniature joule thief circuitboard which is capable of powering several white LEDs (tested with 8 ok) in parallel from 2x rechargable AAs without the need for current limiting resistors.
 
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westaust55

Moderator
And albeit that the Rev Ed website still as at this morning (Aust time) indicates the latest version of the PE as V5.3.6,
PICAXE Programming Editor Full Download
Please uninstall any old version (via Control Panel) before installing this version.
Programming Editor v5.3.6 (full version, approx. 80MB)
Click to expand...
if you proceed to download the PE file, the BAS805.exe file is in fact already V5.4.0. :)
 
hippy

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
fritz42_male said:
Some people are just masochists!

:D
Click to expand...
I can understand the sentiments, indeed I felt that way myself having pushed the boundaries and squeezed every last drop out of an 18X ... then the X1's and X2's arrived.

I guess it's like living in an isolated community; you can take pride in hiking hill and dale, have a sense of achievement for your efforts and enjoy it, then someone builds a road and lays on a regular bus service. Your life's easier but there's a certain something lost which comes with that, a mixed blessing.

I expect those who find 'the challenge' as much fun as the end goal, and particularly those who can combine both - "they said it was impossible" - will notice the change most.

Best thing to do is to not see it as 'they've made it so easy anyone can do it with no effort' but to look at it as an opportunity for exhibiting cunning and cleverness in other ways than working within memory limitations. There's still the opportunity to play with SFR's and go beyond what the PICAXE Basic commands expose.
 
hippy

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
westaust55 said:
And albeit that the Rev Ed website still as at this morning (Aust time) indicates the latest version of the PE as V5.3.6,


if you proceed to download the PE file, the BAS805.exe file is in fact already V5.4.0. :)
Click to expand...
That could be good old-fashioned caching issues. Pressing F5 in most browsers will flush the local cache and reload the page, and hopefully flush any ISP cache along the route.
 
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inglewoodpete

Senior Member
Ain't it frustrating?

Just checking the mouth watering features of the new PICAXE 08M2 makes me want to buy several and use them to replace some of my bursting-at-the-seams 08Ms.

However, even with the new flexibility of the new chip, there still the dead boring input-only pin3. I know its a silicon limitation, so no need to jump to it's defence. Just frustrating for a circuit designer.

Where would we be without constraints? Probably wanting 10 pins on an 08M:)

Well done Rev-Ed. The 08M2 is an added and welcome surprise. Where to next?
 
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AndyGadget

Senior Member
fritz42_male said:
Some people are just masochists!

:D
Click to expand...
I see the 08M2LE has 256 bytes of program storage.
Maybe I'll buy a dozen of them when they appear ;)

I welcome it really. It does open up a lot of additional scope in a tiny package.
Congrats to Technical for translating the fairly impenetrable PIC technical data into something so easy to use.

(I'm guessing the 08M2LE is a stripped down version memorywise and saving a few pence for high volume embedded applications.)
 
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Technical

Technical

Technical Support
Staff member
The 08M2LE ("lite edition") is a special part for educational use only. It is exclusively available in the educational AXE10x project kits, ie the 'PIC & PCB for 99p' pricing deal that Revolution have maintained for 9 consequative years to support educational electronics teaching. It replaces the 08 chip in these packs, with the new benefits of twice as much memory/RAM, ring tone music support and touch sensors.

For all other projects use the 08M2.
 
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srnet

Senior Member
curry87 said:
Sounds good ! now will there be a X3 series next ?
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Well the 28X2 is based on the 18F25k22, the 18F26k22 is pin compatible and has twice the flash (64K), twice the RAM and 4 times the EEPROM.

The 100 off prices from Farnell are currently £1.48 and £1.73 respectivly.
 
C

curry87

Senior Member
srnet said:
Well the 28X2 is based on the 18F25k22, the 18F26k22 is pin compatible and has twice the flash (64K), twice the RAM and 4 times the EEPROM.

The 100 off prices from Farnell are currently £1.48 and £1.73 respectivly.
Click to expand...
Wow that's cheap how come a 28x2 is 5.39GBP each more than twice the cost of a 18F26k22 but only has only half has much flash,half has much ram and four times less eeprom etc seems a bit iffy to me ?
 
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srnet

Senior Member
curry87 said:
Wow that's cheap how come a 28x2 is 5.39GBP each more than twice the cost of a 18F26k22 but only has only half has much flash,half has much ram and four times less eeprom etc seems a bit iffy to me ?
Click to expand...
Not iffy at all, as your not comparing like with like..

28x2 at £5.39 is real bargain for what it is. The one off price of a 18F25K22 (on which its based) is £2.30. £3 for a rather good and exceptionally easy to use basic complier seems to be outstanding value to me.

The point here is that the 18F26k22 is now avaialble, but I suspect it may not have been when the 28X2 was first released, so there is the opertunity (now) to increase the capacity of the 28X2 at a modest increase in price.
 
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john2051

New Member
You could always buy them, and program in assembler. I for one am grateful to Rev ed for making it easier to program these devices. When I first decided to learn about microcontrollers, I looked at pic assembler, and thought 'forget it'. Then I came across the picaxe, and never looked back. I have matrix and mikroe boards here, all converted for picaxe.
Just my penneth worth!
 
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srnet

Senior Member
john hauton said:
You could always buy them, and program in assembler. I for one am grateful to Rev ed for making it easier to program these devices. When I first decided to learn about microcontrollers, I looked at pic assembler, and thought 'forget it'. Then I came across the picaxe, and never looked back. I have matrix and mikroe boards here, all converted for picaxe.
Just my penneth worth!
Click to expand...
Or a basic compilier at circa £150. Easier than assembler, but a lot harder than PICAXE and a good knowledge of PIC architecture is a must.
 
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curry87

Senior Member
Is using c compiler/programmer to program a pic in C that much harder then programing using the basic stamp does the higher learning curve payoff in terms of more program space, control of the pic etc?

How does it compare in price with just using the basic stamp vs programmer +pic etc ?
 
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MFB

Senior Member
Congratulations to Rev Ed on providing us with the new capabilities offered by the M2 series.
This is a small example of the seeming relentless progress of electronics that has kept me interested in the subject for decades. Having just finished a book describing the early development of satellites and space probes, by Van Allen’s university team in the 1950-60s, I am struck by how simple it would be to reproduce the functionality of these instruments using even the humble 08M!
 
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srnet

Senior Member
The 28x2 has about the same memory as the Apollo navigation and gudance computer did, runs a 100 times faster and could run an entire mission on a single CR2 camera battery.
 
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MartinM57

Moderator
curry87 said:
Is using c compiler/programmer to program a pic in C that much harder
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Yes and no. Depends how experienced you are and how much you (want to) understand the inner workings of microcontrollers.

I normally program AVRs in C using a £150 C compiler (plus an annual maintenance charge) using an £80 programmer. Is it as easy as PICAXE Basic - nope. Can I get down and dirty with the hardware components inside the AVR and make them do exactly what I want - yes. Can I write "proper" programs with different variable types, structures, floating point arithmetic, function calls with parameter passing, multiple source code files etc etc - yes.

Do I puzzle about how dereference a pointer to an array of pointers to functions in my 'void main(void) - yes ;)

Do I get the PICAXE out to prototype ideas, make things where an extra £3 over a blank chip is immaterial in the final cost of an item - yes :)
 
hippy

hippy

Technical Support
Staff member
curry87 said:
Is using c compiler/programmer to program a pic in C that much harder then programing using the basic stamp
Click to expand...
Not sure how 'basic stamp' came into this but I'll presume you mean PICAXE. Is it harder; yes. Does it get easier with practice; yes. It really all depends on skills, experience, aptitude and ability to learn and understand.

curry87 said:
does the higher learning curve payoff in terms of more program space, control of the pic etc?
Click to expand...
You get much finer control over things but if you don't need that then you've got a lot more to do to get the level of control the PICAXE just presents to you. For some the extra effort may indeed be beneficial, for others it's just unnecessary complication which makes things harder and take much longer.

Don't forget that a fair few members here are professional programmers, software and hardware engineers, well capable of using C and other languages with native microcontrollers but still choose to use PICAXE. Not always for all projects, but it says something that they make that choice.

curry87 said:
How does it compare in price with just using the basic stamp vs programmer +pic etc ?
Click to expand...
The M2's are all priced at or under £2 excluding VAT. Raw microcontroller chips can be bought for less than that but then you may have to add some £50 or so for the cost of a hardware programmer, but you won't require a download cable. One could say the break-even point depends on how many projects you are doing, perhaps 50, 100 ? It depends on what you've actually spent and there's far more to it than that so how does one even start to assess it ?

If one spends £5 and gets a project complete in an hour how does one compare that to a project that cost only £1 but took a week ? You can argue each case as 'best' but it depends on individual's own criteria and desires.

It's very hard to do a meaningful comparison as there's so much 'depends on the specific case and circumstances' to make it easy.
 
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srnet

Senior Member
curry87 said:
Is using c compiler/programmer to program a pic in C that much harder then programing using the basic stamp does the higher learning curve payoff in terms of more program space, control of the pic etc?
Click to expand...
I dont have any example in C, I program in Mikrobasic. But here is an example, its part of a larger program, its the routines to put a 18F25K22 PIC to sleep (low power mode) for several seconds, wakeup, resume the program and flash a LED and repeat.

Note all the work of setting up the registers you have to do and work out for yourself.

Code: 
program SimpleSleep

dim PICLED as sbit at RC2_bit

sub Procedure Interrupt
'There has been an int, GIE will have been cleared.
'On entry we are in internal 31.25Khz OSc mode
T1CON.TMR1ON = 0 'T1 is off
PIR1.0 = 0
end sub

main:

OSCCON = $72 'set to 16mhz from internal osc
INTCON = 0   'Disable all ints
T1CON.TMR1ON = 0 'T1 is off
TRISC.2 = 0      'PICLED to output

'set internal osc to 31.25khz from LF intosc
OSCTUNE.7= 0
OSCCON2.4 = 0

'setup for 31.25khz
OSCCON.6 = 0
OSCCON.5 = 0
OSCCON.4 = 0

TMR1L = 0
T1CON = %01110110  'T1 clock is from internal osc, SOSC disabled

PIE1.TMR1IE = 1  'enable TMR1 overflow int
INTCON.GIE = 1   'enable global ints
INTCON.PEIE = 1  'enable PEIE/GIEL
OSCCON.IDLEN = 1 'run perhirals during sleep

loop1:

T1CON.TMR1ON = 0 'T1 is off
TMR1H = $C0  'setup for sleep interval
TMR1L = 0

'switch to internal osc
OSCCON.1 = 1  'switch to internal clock 31.25khz
OSCCON.0 = 0

T1CON.TMR1ON = 1 'T1 is on, so ints should now occur .......
INTCON.GIE = 1   'enable global ints

asm
   sleep
end asm

'switch to external osc
OSCCON.1 = 0  'switch to external clock
OSCCON.0 = 0

PICLED = 0
delay_ms(100)
PICLED = 1

goto loop1

end.

The equivalent for a PICAXE should be;


loop1:

high b.7
pause 100
low b.7

sleep 2

goto loop1
 
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