rkcarguy wrote: ↑Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:42 pmI found it, it's $395!
Such a deal! I'll take two so I have a spare.
I think you have the skills to make one, pickup a little low rpm gear motor from Amazon or Surplus Center, slip the light body through a large plastic spherical bearing clamped in your aluminum holder you already made, and you're home free.
Well, it is a little more complicated than that.
The Lissajous beam pattern requires motion in two axes: horizontal oscillation at a rate
X, and vertical oscillation at a rate of
Y, in which
Y is some multiple of
X. Most commonly,
Y = 2X in the Mars lights that were fitted to F-units.
Y could be faster if desired, but once you get to
4X it starts to look as though the locomotive is having a epileptic seizure.
Whatever the X-to-Y ratio, doing it with a single motor means a two-motion mechanism in which, assuming
Y = 2X the
Y motion crosses through center three times for a single
X transition. It's not a hard thing to design, except I will be cramped for space and working on real tiny mechanisms is not something that is easy for me anymore (Damned aging!!!).
I've given it some thought, but with so many things demanding my attention, designing a Mars light mechanism is relatively far down on the list. I still don't have the F-unit in paint.
So I probably should get that done first just so I can say I finished the unit.