A question for KD:
My MTH Radar Tower just arrived and tomorrow I'm supposed to receive my Faller synchronous motor to attach to it. I ordered that motor at your suggestion in this thread. It's the only thing I could find that would remotely meet the requirements for this. Not sure how the directions will work on the motor and whether they'll be in German. In the photos, it comes with extra pieces.....plastic and metal. The metal ones look like drive axles....not sure what the plastic ones are. How do these things attach to the drive axle that protrudes from the housing? From what I've researched, I won't have to change the internal cog wheels as supposedly the default setting is 15rpm (what I want). But I do have to attach it to the axle of the radar dish. Thanks!
Roger
Yo, Roger...
First of all, I worked with a Lionel product. I haven't compared its construction with an MTH version, so I can only relate accordingly.
Well it's been a few years since I made the conversion.
Regardless, the instructions (sic) are in English...and maybe a dozen other languages which cover the Faller market!!
OK, I just dug out my Disney radar tower and took a closer look. If I can enlist my wife to help (I'm hopeless when it comes to getting photos on this forum!!) I'll try to post some photos later on...they might help to clarify.
Here's what I've found... Referring to the Walthers sku picture, here's what I used...
The motor unit. If you want a different rotational speed, you'll need to read the instructions and using the extra gears make the change. Not hard. Easy to do. Can't remember whether I made a change from as-delivered, but I do remember (as a graduate mechanical engineer) taking it apart to see what's involved. Easy/clever.
OK. I actually used two common items...a plastic bottle cap and a plastic pill bottle. The bottle cap, glued to the inside of the round radar platform cap, was to extend the motor down enough to allow engagement of the radar screen. The cap I used (I'll show it more clearly if I can get a couple photos taken) lowered the motor by about 1/2".
A hole drilled in the center of the cap allows the motor to be attached. For this I used the large nut, shown in the Faller product picture.
The pill bottle I used (painted flat black) to cover the motor below the platform is 1-5/16" in length AND inner diameter.
OK, now for the radar screen. In the Faller photo you'll see a small nut and, just below the wrench, a threaded metal shaft, the longer of the two shown. That metal shaft has a small diameter end (to the left in the photo). This provides a snug friction fit in the hollow rotating motor shaft (pinkish color in the photo). I can't recall what the original production radar screen armature was. But I removed it, drilled a snug clearance hole in its place for that threaded Faller shaft, and installed the shaft with TWO nuts, one above and one below the radar screen plate. Since the Faller photo shows only one nut, I must have found a second in my scrap box. Otherwise, your hobby shop or a well-stocked hardware should be able to help.
Anyhow, with the motor installed in the platform and the radar screen gently inserted into the motor armature with about 12v AC applied, it works quietly and smoothly. As I said, I'll try to embellish this with some photos later.
Hope this helps. If not, my email is in my profile...send me your questions...I'll try to help you through it.
Thanks for your interest!
KD
