TFT bonus

[BeanieBots]

In the documentation it explains how to set the TFT orientation using "TFT.INIT N"
Where N can be:-
0 Portrait
1 Landscape
2 Portrait reversed
3 Landscape reversed

For those with a curious mind, try values 4, 5, 6 & 7.
At least for me, using a ESP32 with Annex32 WiFi BLE CAN 1.44.2 it gave some amusing results.

[AndyGadget]

Hmmmm, I just get the same result as 0,1,2,3; ignoring the higher bit.
(Same FW level running my 'quakes' program.)

[cicciocb]

The effect depends on the model of display connected

[BeanieBots]

To be fair, I did only try it on one display. The cheap 2.8" TFT with SD type shown in the help files.
On mine, those values mirror the display, so nothing too exciting.

Edit: Hi AndyGadget. Long time no speak (many years) cf. PICAXE?

[AndyGadget]

Hi BB.
Mine was one of the higher res ILI9481 displays. (Are any of them cheap nowadays?)
If it's character reversal, I remember playing that trick on a newbie technician decades ago. Reversing the field coil connections on a dumb CRT terminal Took him ages to twig what it was.

I've used Picaxe for some projects since, horses for courses and all that, but mainly ESP32 now. The lure of wifi comms on these devices was too strong.
I'll modify someone else's C++ code (to the best of my abilities) if I really have to but with Annex you can have a working program while you're still trying to work out why your curly brackets don't match in C++.

[BeanieBots]

Hi AG,
Not very cheap any more
About £20 on Amazon. BitsBox still advertises them for £12.50 but none in stock.
Your mention of field coils reminded me of a trick we played. Had several techs convinced that colour TV worked by having different coloured electrons in each gun!

I still have quite a few PICAXE projects both home and commercial. Shame we can't use Annex for commercial but now I'm fully retired so it's a moot point for me anyway these days.
Like you, it was wifi, especially the ability to program wirelessly in BASIC that made me switch camps.
I started off with an ESP-01 using a PICAXE to send it AT commands but that novelty soon wore off.
Then I found ESP_BASIC (mmscool I think was the originator) but it was very flakey and got shelved very quickly.
Then I found Annex which is just so easy and absolutely stable.
I'm now converting my ancient home automation stuff which uses PICAXE talking to bluetooth, zigbee, xbee and even some 433Mhz Tx's
ESPnow outperforms all my other wireless devices and can easily be sent to a central hub to send over wifi to Rpi's etc. etc.

Couldn't agree more about C++. Had many an arguement with what I call C++ snobs when I was using VB6. Funny how I (a non programmer) could get something up and running (and stable) long before they ever could. All that time spent playing with a ZX81 proved to be worthwhile after all. I think it's because the language is called BASIC that scares them.

[Stuart]

On the subject of TFT displays, Mode 8 works for the M5stack basic. That gives you Portrait with the buttons to the left and the power socket at the top. The config is set to Portrait and display type is MsStack#2. For mechanical reasons I needed the power socket at the top.