Planetarium Star Projectors

[SpitzSTP]

This projector was originally shipped by rail to Colorado in 1984 after it was acquired from the Smithsonian. The other MkIIA that was parted out was from Portsmouth Planetarium / Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth Virginia. Many spare parts still exist from the Portsmouth machine and what is left of that one will come to AZ as well. The remains are still in the planetarium, parked against the wall, ready to supply parts well into the future. Lucky for me, I found the past director of this facility who is able to fill in all of the blanks for where everything came from originally. I had searched for both the Portsmouth and Smithsonian projectors for a long time and the trail was hopelessly cold. Then one day, both riddles solved in one conversation. Those two projectors became one machine, thousands of miles away in a small town in Colorado. The history fascinates me as much as the machines do, along with the challenge and satisfaction of finding them.

[swamidog]

i kind of feel like you're collecting pieces of ufo that have tumbled to the earth. part of me really appreciates that.

This projector was originally shipped by rail to Colorado in 1984 after it was acquired from the Smithsonian. The other MkIIA that was parted out was from Portsmouth Planetarium / Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth Virginia. Many spare parts still exist from the Portsmouth machine and what is left of that one will come to AZ as well. The remains are still in the planetarium, parked against the wall, ready to supply parts well into the future. Lucky for me, I found the past director of this facility who is able to fill in all of the blanks for where everything came from originally. I had searched for both the Portsmouth and Smithsonian projectors for a long time and the trail was hopelessly cold. Then one day, both riddles solved in one conversation. Those two projectors became one machine, thousands of miles away in a small town in Colorado. The history fascinates me as much as the machines do, along with the challenge of finding them.

[SpitzSTP]

Fortunately, the original control console is still intact. Often these are discarded and replaced with more modern electronic control systems. Woefully inadequate funding sometimes preserves these artifacts that would have otherwise been chucked in the dumpster long ago. These consoles along with the older vintage projectors are getting harder and harder to find. Many have already been destroyed.

[SpitzSTP]

The past and present directors of this planetarium disassembling the machine. Jim (on the ladder) had this machine shipped by rail to Colorado almost 30 years ago. If it weren't for Jim, this machine would have been scrapped in 1984. He rescued it one week before the original facility that owned it had planned to scrap it. Jim paid for the freight and loaded the crates from railroad car to his pickup truck. This will always be Jim's machine. Adam, in the second photo, is a chemistry teacher who inherited Jim's planetarium and maintained it for many years. Adam designed and built a full-dome digital projection system on a shoestring budget. The result of his work is astonishingly good. Jim is removing each starfield condensor lens to reduce the weight of the star globes. Each lense individually bagged for placement in a padded shipping container. Loss of any parts will be a serious setback so great care is taken with this rare instrument.

[SpitzSTP]

Dismantling process continues. Aux projectors, starballs and planet cages removed leaving only the central core. Much interesting simultaneous conversation. Unlike most projects I do, this time there was alot of help and plenty of opportunities to ask questions about the history of this machine.

[SpitzSTP]

Custom gantry device built from a pair of scaffolds, 2x8 lumber, 1 inch galvanized pipe and a pair of chain hoists. Harbor Freight Tools and Home Depot are my friends. Yes, it really IS that heavy. It was gently lowered from it's perch where it has sat for the past three decades. There are two concerns in the order of importance, first to avoid getting hurt and second to avoid damaging the core. About two hours were spent just labelling wires before they were cut or disconnected. This is a fully-operational projector. In theory it should work again once everything is re-connected in AZ. These instruments produce a high-quality, crisp starfield that can only be improved upon by stepping outside at night, and looking up. Parts from the machine are ready for packing. The components themselves are finely-crafted works of art.

[SpitzSTP]

This one has more missions to fly.

[SpitzSTP]

Thanks to Karl, the GOTO Viewlex was successfully loaded on the truck and the replacement Spitz 512 was installed in its place. I met Karl at the Denver airport and without his help, I could not have pulled this off. We picked up a 26' box truck in Ft. Collins on Saturday, then loaded out the historic GOTO/Viewlex star projector at the high school in Ft. Lupton and installed the Spitz 512. I had taken out the Spitz 512 last year in Kansas City, MO from another school (Southwest Early College, or S.W.E.C. for short) and staged it in Colorado last year. I really appreciate Karl's help.. he loaded the Penske single-handed and assisted with the Spitz 512 installation. We headed southbound on I-25 quite late on Sunday and drove all night until the sun started to come up on Monday morning, at which time we pulled off to catch some zzzz's. I was starting to see double lane lines and was having an issue telling which one was the REAL one. Karl chose the back of the truck with the door propped open and I stayed up front with the windows rolled down for ventilation, as it was H-O-T out there in the Arizona desert. We managed to doze off for about an hour until the mosquito attack.. the buggers attacked us both with a vengeance which worked better than any alarm clock to provide motivation to get the wheels turning again. We left those mosquitos in a cloud of diesel fumes, except for those that hitched a ride in the cab and tormented us for another 20 or 30 miles.

[chad]

Wish I would have known. I would have come up and given you guys a hand.

Looks like the swap went well.
chad

[SpitzSTP]

Offloading in Phoenix was a real challenge. It was hotter than hell. Plus, I had to return to work at a job that grinds me down like a pencil every day. It was worth it to retrieve this star projector that once graced the planetarium at the Smithsonian. I do not have a forklift. I DO have a steep driveway which I now know where every bump, crack and uneven edge is. I DID get a truck with a liftgate, otherwise it would have been game over attempting rolling these bulky and heavy components down that skinny loading ramp that Penske puts on their trucks for civilian use. First order of business was to get the engine hoist up in there and the second order of business was to custom-build seven roller-dollies, and a trip to Circle K for two bags of ice. I put a temporary dent in the local supply of 3-inch roller-bearing casters, buying up 28 of them in a single day. Roller-dollies were crafted in a 113-degree garage out of 2 x 6 lumber and plywood panels. Each unit custom made for each piece of equipment. The last item to come off the truck was the huge Viewlex base which I nicknamed "fat bastard" because there is no other name that more accurately describes its mass and personality. It is one very heavy F.B. loaded up with transformers. As a side note, I do find that driving large trucks for any extended period of time (plus hanging around my buddy Karl) causes me to start cussing like a pirate with a peg leg and a parrot. Getting fat bastard out on the liftgate made me nervous so I clamped a piece on angle iron on the edge to avoid losing control of it. Once on the ground, I wondered to myself... how in the heck am I going to get this thing up the driveway? Short on time and temper I lashed a 2 x 8 to the bumper and PUSHED it up the incline in reverse, using good old fashioned detroit V-8 power. It worked like a charm. I turned in the Penske truck four days late, fortunately they only charged me $25 per day late fee. Everything had been carefully packed by Karl, transported and unloaded with ZERO damage or lost parts. My thanks again to Karl, without whose help, this GOTO/Viewlex would still be in Colorado.