Planetarium Star Projectors

[Picasso]

Love the Darwin Fish on the control panel.

[m2b]

Hey Mike, I am like a kid in a candy store in here. A friend of mine has been trying to get the permits to build a dome on his property in Cave Creek, AZ for a few years and is running up against alot of local opposition for erecting such a structure, not to mention the rediculous prices being charged simply for pouring a concrete foundation. He would have been better off getting permits to build a box structure making no mention of what it is for, and putting the dome inside of it. It would seem that actually having a dome may be firmly out of reach but there is nothing wrong with dreaming BIG , right ? At one point star projectors were firmly out of reach, with many of the ones I now have costing a quarter million dollars each, now nearly discarded for scrap. Often they just need a little TLC to get them running again. The Starscape projector is one that fascinates me as the prototype was originally built to train NASA astronauts and accurately simulates spacecraft pitch and yaw. Although this may place me at jeapordy of being a tad crazy I really would like to simulate the experience of leaving the planet and this may be the only way I can come close to that goal. Darken all the windows, get it pitch dark in here, fire up some stars and GO !! I am really looking forward to my time on this forum and I am truly thrilled to see the level of interest in what I am doing. Others I know, look at these machines and ask, "why do you have that in here" .. they just don't get it. The true magic only happens when it is too dark in here to even see the equipment. I somehow know, that you guys know what I am talking about

Hi all, brand new here and I just had to join. Another "It's A Small World After All" moment as I was cruising the web and found Mr. SpitzSTP. I'm the guy from Cave Creek and I finally got my permit to build a domed barn/tack room. It will be called either "The Barnetarium" or "The Star Barn". It will feature a Minolta IIB like the one in the left picture in post #5. The dome will be 30 feet in diameter and hopefully operational by the end of the year. While I'm not much into Lasers at this time (only so much of this fun stuff that I can afford to do), I'm sure Mr. SpitzSTP will stir my interest. Hopefully some day I'll be able to give laser as well as star shows.

[SpitzSTP]

Spitz 512 planetarium projector loaded yesterday in Kansas City, MO. This instrument was formerly installed at Southwest Early College (SWEC) and was removed last fall and placed into storage. This star projector still has alot of life left in it. It is being donated to Ft. Lupton High School in Colorado where it will be granted a new lease on life. I am glad to transport it now before gas prices rise any more than they already have.

[dar303]

One more saved, you are doing a great job!

[DZ]

Wow, nice job, Spitz. I'm curious, is this replacing an instrument in Colorado?

[SpitzSTP]

Wow, nice job, Spitz. I'm curious, is this replacing an instrument in Colorado?

Yes, the Spitz 512 from Kansas City, MO is replacing the old Viewlex projector in Colorado (pictured). I delivered the 512 yesterday. While I was there, I got to see a show under the dome... always an enjoyable time. A few pictures are attached. One of the pictures shows the old Viewlex / GOTO projector which will be restored and preserved in Phoenix. The other two pictures are of their new laser projector. I have the old laser projector along with a box of ADAT tapes and another box containing two ADAT tape machines and a controller. Thank you for following my posts, and the favorable comments

[DZ]

oh man, that Goto is nice! Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work!

[SpitzSTP]

Part of the JHE Laser Projection system, a couple of rackmount ADAT tape decks and a unit labelled "JHE FM MODEM", along with a box of ADAT tapes. There is of course, a table that goes with it.

[SpitzSTP]

A large and very heavy orrery, recently acquired from a planetarium along with alot of other stuff. I haven't tried it yet because the power supply is missing, but I believe that it projects high quality optical images of the planets in our solar system. Useful with a starfield background, plans are to incorporate this with the other instruments and augmented with laser display graphics. The four star machines here should produce an estimated 30,000 stars. Since I do not have a dome this relieves the requirement for astronomical "correctness" as far as star placement, as would be the case in a true planetarium. I am more or less lost in space anyway, so it's o.k. Everything on this unit is heavy duty.

[polishedball]

Nice new toys