remote control for balloon lighting

If you want power and remote control, you're going to have to figure out how to get two wires to the balloon.  My first thought would be #32 wirewrap wire with the light yellow insulation, it's probably the least visible hanging from the ceiling.

You might consider a small inexpensive (they start at $0.99) RF remote control and an internal battery, assuming that the accessory doesn't draw too much current. Take a look at some of these:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p3984.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC2.A0.Xrf+remote+control+4+channe%3B&_nkw=rf+remote+control+4+channe%3B&_sacat=0&_from=R40

Where did you find the 99 cent one?

Arthur:  I wonder how small any of these are without the casing(?). I would really like to keep this self-contained; the baskets are about one inch diameter inside, pluses and minuses.  John: The back-n-forth (a small switcher I rewired to DC) would be difficult with still more wiring; the up-n-downs not so bad. As for color, I have a sky-blue w/ clouds background up to the ceiling. I would rather replace some batteries every few weeks or months if I have a choice. I realize the hard wiring is more dependable, controllable, etc.

Thanks Guys.  Wally

Wally, you gave us the basket size{1" square} but how big are the balloons- got any pics too?

Out of curiousity, how are you getting the up/down or side to side motion on those...did they come equipted or did you rig that?{sounds neat}. I happen to have the old hawk graf zeppelin kit and even thought the scale is wrong{1/200 I think}, it'd still be neat to have that wondering overhead and would fit my layouts time frame rather well too.

Zeppelin sounds neat; sometimes size does not matter. On my back-n-forth: Dallee Electronics (717-661-7041) has a kit; I rewired a small SW switcher to DC, followed the instructions from Dallee (with a couple of calls & some finagling) and wallah! Back-n-forth. There are five blocks in the track (run in middle, slow down each end, reverse each end). I

laid the 027 track and wiring on two 12' sections and mounted these L sections from the ceiling above the full 24' of my layout. A small transformer for power source.

On the up-n-down, I purchased a 30 rpm ac motor (Parts Express or Micromark?), added a four-inch eccentric; monofilament up to the first balloon, then up to a pulley and continues on across the ceiling to the second pulley and down to the counterweight balloon. Speed is nice and realistically slow. The back-n-forth speed can be controlled; very little voltage is needed. Will try to get some photos posted.

Wally

What aspect of the balloon(s) are you trying to remotely control?

Here's a balloon I did some time ago before super-bright LEDs and 99 cent remote control modules were available.  The store-bought balloon weighed several pounds (wood frame, fabric cover) so much larger than your up-down tissue design.  I put a sound system into the basket to play the whooshing of the burner synchronized to the flickering bulbs - which were 4 Christmas string incandescents (2 Volt).  Like yours, there's a monofilament to the ceiling with the motor drive.  In my case the "remote control" was to have the burner turn on when the balloon is rising.  The motor drive was speed controlled so when the burner stopped, the balloon would slow down then reverse and slowly drop until fired again.  So the wireless link sent the burner-on, burner-off commands.

The basket is battery operated.  Like you say, there's something elegant about a self-contained basket albeit at the expense of battery change-out hassles.  The technology of the day was Ni-Cd so I used AAA-type which of course would be too large for your basket.

But to your specific project, I'd take a look at the 99 cent r/c system if that's all they cost these days.  Another source of low-cost r/c modules is from toy cars and motorcycles.  I gutted a toy r/c car (less than $10) and used the transmitter and receiver with it's motor Fwd/Rev output to hack the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile - a video showing the remote transmitter shown here:

https://ogrforum.com/t...r-mayer-wienermobile

The receiver module is shown below and might be of suitable size for a 1" basket.  I'm sure there are smaller boards out too.  Red/black wires are power-in, white wire is the antenna, two brown wires drive the motor (bi-directionally). In any event there are hundred or thousands or these <$10 r/c toys that are candidates to be gutted for a low-cost r/c system - but not 99 cents!

For your basket power source, I'd take a look at a rechargeable Lithium as used in digital cameras.  Here's the charger/battery for my somewhat outdated camera with 3.7V, 740mA-Hr capacity or 2.8 Watt-hours. 

Surely by now there are even smaller batteries with more capacity.  The idea would be quickly pop-in/out the battery into the basket and use an off-the-shelf charger.  I don't know about your Evans Designs LED module but I'd think an r/c receiver and flickering LED circuit could be made to operate at 3.7V from a Lithium battery like this.  I'd think a receiver with flickering LEDs could operate at about 0.1 Watts so even my old Lithium battery could run it for, say, 25 hours.  Presumably you aren't running your system 24/7.  Then you start playing games with putting the receiver into a low-power idle mode (no flickering) or installing an on-off switch, etc. 

Until Tesla's broadcast power is re-invented or escapes the government warehouse it's stored in; batteries seem like the way to go.

Stan, now that's neat! Excellent job with the additional sound.

A few years ago, one popular technique for creating bulb flicker for the firebox, campfires, etc. was to drive a bulb with a radio's speaker output.  The audio signal varied in a way that made the bulb brightness vary "randomly" to give the flicker effect.  IIRC there even was some knowledge base of which kinds of music or talk-stations would give a better visual effect.

Fast forward to today.  You can buy a super miniature FM stereo radio receiver (I guess for joggers/runners) for $1 at the dollar store.  Let's say you have two balloons on a counter-balancing system.  One goes up while the other goes down.  FM stereo has a left channel and right channel output.  Put one radio in each balloon tuned to the same frequency - the left balloon only uses its left channel output, the right balloon only uses its right channel output.  When the motor drive is lifting the left balloon, it transmits an FM signal with audio on the left channel and nothing on the right channel...and the opposite when lifting the right balloon.  The FM stereo transmitter could be one of those wireless adapters that let you play a portable CD or MP3 player through your car's FM stereo receiver - they are less than $5.  The bonus is you could probably rig something up so that the transmitted audio signal is the whooshing burner sound itself.  That way the radio output could drive both the LED and a small speaker.

Well, I still don't know what the OP is trying to accomplish via remote control so I'll now cease and desist.

For flames, I buy the flickering tea light candles from the dollar store and strip the flickering LED out of them.  You get flicker without any radio.  I use them for steamer firebox lighting, they do a nice job.

Engine powered?...neat idea...you are to O gauge electrical ideas like Lee to O gauge S/S autos!

He just wants remote on/off control of the light{s}.

I use a diode, resistor, cap, and a choke (for DCS compatibility) and power it from track voltage.  It can also be powered from other voltages like headlights, then I'd adjust the components.

Thanks everybody! I'll (try to) digest all this and get back to y'all ASAP upon completion of "something". I also have waiting: Miller signs to be "re-powered" from battery to wired source; re-constructing a plastic helicopter I found at York to rotate blades slowly? (need 30 rpm motor), and the usual maintenance and upkeep that we all enjoy. Maybe expand my layout somehow; maybe upward(?).

Wally

P.S. my wife's wrist fracture is coming along; now in removable splint/cast.