The rest is quarter inch wood rings separated by two thicknesses of mat board in between.
I
decided to redo the radar unit. I truly hated those small geared
motors that sounded like a B-52 bomber taking off. I finally utilized
the two timer motors I got 2 years ago from All Electronics that
rotate at 30 RPM. They make very little noise, a really low hum that
you can hardly hear. I cut an old computer keyboard cable into two
sections and pulled the wire out. What was left was a rigid but flexible
piece of tubing which works as a drive shaft from the motor to the
dental prophy angle inside the ear post. The motors are $2.50 each
from All Electronics (www.allelectronics.com/cgi-bin/category/400500/AC_Gear_Motors.html)
The only disadvantage to some might be that these motors have a mind
of their own and will change directions each time they're turned
on. One may not change direction, so you'll have two ears spinning
in opposite directions which fortunately isn't a problem for me.
I must give club member Tim B. credit for this idea. I
also rebuilt the lower part of the radar unit more accurately.
I saw a lighted animated lawn reindeer at a bargain store and a thought hit me. I could use the motor to make B9's head swivel slowly from side to side. No $400.00 stepper motor and circuitry, just a simple hook-up that took less than an hour. It hardly makes a sound and gave the robot some life for less than 20 bucks. It's attached underneath the collar and the "arm" from the motor swivels on a 4 inch long drywall screw hanging down from the radar unit, causing it to go from side to side. Sadly the Wonder Deer™ is no longer animated, but someone would probably have stolen it anyway like my "duck crossing" sign a few years ago.
