Felix

About Candybots.
Does any one knows this littel guy (14cm high)? I remember it was carrying a piece of bubble gum in its belly (separates in 2 parts). Must have been quite before 1990.
The mold states: MADE SPAIN at the back and LICEN BELOKAPI under one foot.

Regards to all Dromers
Felix

 DSC04515.jpg   30.5K   16 downloads
 DSC04514.jpg   30.02K   13 downloads

[quote name='designprof' date='Jan 19 2008, 01:52 AM' post='72272']
Thanks Robobob for your comment. Yes, I've seen those photos and they're a great reference.
I have restored four Radicon buses so far and have a very good knowledge of the mechanism and electronics for Radicon.

Hi

I own a Radicon that I have restored to perfect working condition. Alas as I have no remote control, I had to test it by using the spark ignitor of my portable grill. No luck on Ebay (yet) by trying to buy an other Radicon operated toys from Masudaya, i.e. a cheap one in bad condition just for the remote. I do have the schematics for the remote but not the specs for the components so I wonder If you know them so that I could try to build a working replica of the remote. See http://danefield.com...h...&hl=radicon

Regards, Felix

Well the rigging with the two coils and the condensator must be some filter to eliminate or dampen the sparks  and RF eventually produced by the traction engine. Maybe Masudaya added it after printing the schematic when they realized that this engine might be producing interfering radio frequencies thus unintentionally triggering the nearby coherer. But it is only an assumption.

The mentioned exposed coil is just eye-candy, it serves no electrical purpose: on my Radicon both end touch the tin so they would anyway be shorted.

On the photo, the blue wire going to the monitoring lamp in the window should be soldered to the red wire (at far left) so that it only lights up when the steering engine is working, thus indicating an incoming "radio" command. This behaviour is like in the video but may be it is not the original way, at least according to the schematic where the lamp would be on as long as the on/off switch is on.

Thanks to all who replied till now. With all these appraisals, I start to feel very proud as a genuine Radicon daddy and I'm slowly mutating into a more engaged robot collector. It feels like picking up a lost sweepstakes from the street and winning the jack pot without even dreaming of it. So in order to fulfill my parental duties toward Radicon, I already rewired it properly as detailed before. The next thing were the blind eyes. One bulb with a bad contact (blinks again now thanks to contact cleaning fluid) and the other bulb dead. Trying to unscrew that one (E10 screw socket) the glass bulb came loose as the screw of those lamps are kind of glued to their holding sockets, probably to secure their sitting. Trying to buy 2 replacements on line at servicelighting.com for this very seldom flattened bulb type at a hefty price of USD 7 a piece had to be aborted as Switzerland is not a US-State with a US zip code. So I mailed them and here is their answer:

"Thank you for the information. The shipping would be $70.24 in addition to the cost of the product. There is also a 12% fee added to the sub-total for taxes and fees. We accept US-issued credit cards wire transfer only. To place an order for an international order it needs to be done through email. "

Quite a rip off isn't it? But there is a cheaper hack as I tried out. And here it goes (might help for other technical toys with blind vintage lamps):

Get the glass bulb loose from it socket (done without wanting). By crunching around a little bit the bulb should separate from the socket. Unsolder or cut any connecting wire. If the socket is terminally bent, cannibalize an existing flashlight lamp to get rid of its bulb an use its socket as a replacement. Now comes the dentist type of work. With a miniature hand rotary tool (Proxxon) and a 1/32" diamond bur - grinding bit I separated the dome of the glas bulb from its base, getting rid of the defective filament mount. Don't worry I didn't try to make a new filament. Just took a replacement bulb for the mini Maglite laying by chance in my scrap box. They are so small that they fit and the 3V seems hopefully OK. After cleaning the inside of the screw socket, I bent one lead of the miniature lamp (making a u-turn) and soldered 1 inch of insulated thin wire to it and to the socket's inside. Spiraled the lead to push it inside and soldered the mini's other lead (kept straight) and introduced through the hole at the base of the socket. Test. Yes it works! Using crystal clear epoxy I secured the glass dome back in place so the lamp is almost original and might blink for many years. Using crystal clear epoxy is important as some of the glue might adhere to the mini and should not obscure it. Still use enough epoxy to secure the glass dome all around well to the base because you'll need to grip and screw the lamp back inside without breaking the glass. Lucky that my wife wasn't around, she would have thought that I'm out of my mind and maybe even filed for divorce...

Radicon revival: update.

In order for the window lamp to light on only when receiving a command like in the video, this lamp should be connected to the other contact of the relay (together with the stepping motor and not like in the wiring diagramm directly at the plus 3V. I rewired accordingly and now it works like in the video which really makes more sense as a monitor for incoming commands.

It is easy to open the red eye covers by gently pulling the holding rings at the side where it gives way. One lamp had a bad contact and the other alas is defective. Unluckily these lamp bulbs are not the usual ones. They are flattened instead of globes. With normal shaped globes the red cover will not fit. So I'm trying to find a replacement here in Zurich. Vintage Bulbs seems to have them (thanks to the forum to indicate that adress under "tips") but at USD 7.02 plus probaly a minimum of USD 20 to send it to Switzerland and maybe a minimum order amount it is a rip off.