At Christmas time I wanted to place my Miller Engineering Christmas Tree on top of my MTH operating Transfer Wharehouse but I did not want to cut a hole in the roof. MTH told me that the roof was not available as a replacement part. When digging through my "stuff" box (everyone has a "stuff" box/drawer right? That place where all that excess trimmings of styrene and wood wind up along with anything else that cannot be thrown away!
) Well I found this large roof top air conditioner unit that I had gotten in a package of roof top vents and exhaust stacks and it looked like it might be large enough for the Miller Engineering control board and the battery pack. After cutting the top panel off (glued together previously) I tested the fit and everythig looked good but was snug. I cut a slot for the on/off switch on the side and added a hole for the sequence select switch. Then I hot glued the pc board into the bottom keeping it snug against the side wall. This is important so there is enough room to hide all the extra wire and ribbon cable. I also added square styrene square stock with a hole tapped into the center in the corners. (The test fit indicated that everything would fit but top would have to be screwed on). I then cut a notch in the top of the other side so that the ribbon cable could would not get pinched when screwing the top down. Then I added a styrene channel down the side to hide the ribbon cable. Here are a few pictures of the assembly:
Overall View:
Closeup of On/Off switch along with Sequence Select Switch:
Closeup view of styrene channel for the ribbon cable:
My only issue now is that I have to build a base to mount the sign itself on, high enough so that the connector can mount vertically. The Christmas tree unit worked out great since the tree has to be added to a base anyway. I will Miller Engineering offered the ribbon cable with a 90 degree connector!
Anyway I hope someone can find this helpfull. Beats cutting a hole in a roof that cannot be repalced and with the Christmas tree this all blended right in!
