Note: The Grid 160mm 16V8 Card is supplied in Kitset form only (assembly required). The base price is for the double-sided silkscreened Grid 160mm 16V8 Card PCB ONLY. The optional packs are required to make a complete Grid 160mm 16V8 Card Kitset. If you already have the required components, then you can just order the PCB only.

You may also be interested in the similar Prototype 160mm 16V8 Card (listed seperately).

What is Minimalist Europe Card Bus

Europe Card Bus (ECB) is a Retro CPU Bus standard from the late 1970’s / early 1980’s.

The “Minimalist Europe Card Bus” (as I’ve called it), is a Retro 8-bit CPU Bus and PCB design standard that I decided to define & document. The purpose of which is to provide a modular platform for me to re-experience the fun of experimenting with the different 8-bit CPU’s, and the various video and peripheral devices, that I grew up with in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s.

My goal is that of a robust and modular design platform which allows me to create interchangeable PCB cards, based on time proven reliable bus connectors and modern low-cost prototype PCB manufacturing.

i.e. A robust, flexible, and low cost way for me to re-create some of the early microprocessor circuits, that I’d originally built using Wire-Wrap methods back in the day.

As evident from the name, the Bus itself is based on a Minimalist implementation of the original Europe Card Bus (ECB) standard.

Grid 160mm 16V8 Card Design

The “Minimalist Europe Card Bus” (MECB) design implements a standardised 100mm x 100mm Card format.

This 160mm Card design was however prompted by requests for a Euro card Standard 160mm length Prototyping Card, and also by my own use of 100mm x 160mm square-pad Euro cards for my early (1970's & 1980's) wire-wrap creations.

Grid 160mm 16V8 Card Design Parameters:

• Implement the original Eurocard standard card size of 100mm x 160mm
• Corner mounting holes, as per the MECB Standardised Board Mechanical Specification.
• A 64-pin header, clearly labelled with the A & C rows and pins 1 – 32, for ease of access to all bus signals.
• Power bus bars along the two sides of the card, to distribute the +5V and Ground power connections.
• A MECB standardised 16V8 PLD glue-logic chip to provide 3 Chip Select outputs (CS0, CS1, CS2) with a 2KB MREQ and a 8 byte IORQ memory map granularity.
• All remaining board space (with exception of mounting hole clearance), utilised for through-hole pads, in a 0.1″ perf-board style plain Grid.

Note: There are also Grid style prototyping Cards available in the standardised MECB 100mm x 100mm card size, including with, and without, on-board glue-logic PLD (either 16V8 or 22V10). There are also Prototype Card equivalents available (with 3x1 connected pads). Please see the seperate product listings.

What You Get

To satisfy everyone's differing needs, I've split the Grid 160mm 16V8 Card Kitset into Optional Add-on Packs.

Firstly, note that the base price is for the double-sided silkscreened Grid 160mm 16V8 Card PCB Only.

Then you add the optional packs to complete the Kitset, depending on your parts requirements.

Optional Hardware Pack includes:

• 1x Right-Angle Male DIN41612 364 Keyed Bus Connector
• 2x M2.5 Stainless Steel Bolt 10mm (2 required for Right-Angle Connector)
• 2x M2.5 Stainless Steel Hexagonal Nut (for above Bolts)
• 2x 40 pin PCB Headers (to be cut into 2x 32 pin and 1x 3 pin headers)
• 4x M3 Nylon PCB Spacer 12mm
• 8x M3 Nylon Bolt 6mm (for Spacer mounting)

Optional Component Pack includes:

• 1x 20 pin Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) IC Socket
• ATF16V8 PLD Chip Tested and Programmed as per the linked Video (i.e. CS0 = $E0-$E7, CS1 = $E8-$EF, CS2 = $F0-$F7 I/O Address ranges).
• 0.22µf Bypass Capacitor

BONUS: If you order both Optional Packs (to make a Complete Kitset), I'll include a laminated full colour MECB pin-out guide (as per photos). This can be then be glued to the side of your DIN41612 connector, for a very handy adjacent reference to the 64 pin header for bus signal access!

Grid 160mm 16V8 Card BOM

The following is a full Bill Of Materials (BOM) to allow fully assembling your Grid 160mm 16V8 Card, ready for adding your own project designs.

Note that the PCB is supplied, and all components are available via the two optional packs.

Some components are of course optional. For example, you may not want the 16V8 PLD to get started. Also, you may choose to just use a regular IC Socket. I do highly recommend an IC Socket is used as it is likely you will eventually want to re-program your 16V8 PLD.

Default (PCB Only)

Optional Packs

The below linked video showcases and explains the 160mm card length background of the related MECB or ECB Expansion 160mm Prototype Card. The Grid 160mm 16V8 Card (listed here) is however a 160mm long variation of the existing MECB Grid 16V8 Card. Both of the aforementioned Cards are listed seperately.

Via the Documentation link (below) you'll also find related videos, and other videos presenting different components of the MECB retro 8-bit computing project.

Your Grid 160mm 16V8 Card Kitset order is shipped in a robust cardboard carton with packing, for safe delivery via New Zealand International Air Parcel (see example shipping photo).

Note: Visit the Documentation link (below) for more information on MECB, and for details of the various MECB Cards that have been designed so far.

We pride ourselves with our "Next Business Day" Shipping Policy, and robust carton packaging. We also build to order, so if you order items with an "Assemble it for me" option selected, it may slightly delay shipping (while we build it for you).