¶ MiniVan
A MiniVan is a 4u x 12.75u rectangular board designed by evangs.
¶ Overview
The board (generally) keeps the traditional stagger from a larger board on its left hand side while having shorter modifiers. The right hand side also has shorter modifiers than a traditional keyboard would. It notably omits the [{, }], and '" keys from the right side of the keyboard as well. As this wiki is meant to be more of an overview of each inidvidual board and 40% keyboards as a whole, not all information regarding the different types of MiniVans can reasonably be added to one article. For more information on MiniVan keyboards and their variants, visit the Trashman Wiki.
¶ Layout
As MiniVan is one of the most common boards in the 40% community, MiniVans have a numerous amount of layouts some considered to be "true" MiniVan layouts (meaning that the top 3 rows are not modified from what was on the original MiniVan) and other more exotic layouts that change keycap sizes around to account for different layouts
The first version of the MiniVan, known as "TheVan44", has the layout as shown in the picture in the introduction section of this article. While several boards using this layout may be seen in some user's collections, this layout has largely fallen out of fashion in favor of layouts like the Minisub layout.
One of the most common MiniVan layouts that is regularly available on 3rd party PCBs is the "Minisub" layout, after one of the first keyboards that first supposed both a 6.25u space bar (Jetvan Layout) as well as a 2.75u, 2.25u, 1.25u split-bar layout (MiniVan Layout).
A KLE of for the Minisub layout can be found here.
¶ Case Options
There are many different case options for MiniVan keyboards ranging from 3D printed plastic cases to premium metal cases. Below are a list of a select few. More can be found on Trashman's Wiki. Only currently purchasable or cases with open source files are listed:
- TVK Plastic Minivan Case sold by CBKBD
- Minivan Acrylic Case sold by SM Keyboards
- MFR2 designed by Rainkeebs along side a 3D printable variant modified by Seirin-Blu
- Hubris designed by Rainkeebs for machining
¶ Availability
MiniVan PCBs in the Minisub layout can be source from many different locations but one of the easiest sources currently is CBKBD
Monorail—a PCB that supports V4N4G0N cases as well as a few different MiniVan layouts—by KiserDesigns can be sourced from KiserDesigns for those in the US and Keeb Supply for those in the EU.