Planetarium Star Projectors

[SpitzSTP]

Now that the Viewlex from Colorado has been unpacked it's back to the lasers. Karl and Swami get to work setting everything up. In addition to Karl's and Swami's solid state projectors and lumia projector, Karl is feeding the fiber launch for the AVI Omniscan using a ALC60X and PCAOM. Power draw was sufficient enough to trip the circuit breakers three times in a row, each time right in the middle of placing an online Pizza Hut order. Somehow that made the pizza taste better. Beam alignment was accomplished by Karl using a tool catalog turned to exactly the right page. Ghetto perhaps, but it works.

[SpitzSTP]

Several hours of compelling entertainment from multiple projectors. I only captured a few photos this time. I emptied the sofa of Viewlex parts just to have a more comfy place from which to watch the show. I dream of the day the starscape is fully restored, adding stars on three-axis rotation and subsequent release from earthly bounds, however virtual.

[SpitzSTP]

Farm fresh, vintage JHE laser projector coated in years of dust. This came out of a planetarium, complete with two tape ADAT's, rackmount modulator and a box of about 15 show tapes. I never know what I am going to find next. This unit definately needs some TLC.

[swamidog]

i'm looking forward to bringing this to life. i can't believe we didn't power it up on sunday.

Farm fresh, vintage JHE laser projector coated in years of dust. This came out of a planetarium, complete with two tape ADAT's, rackmount modulator and a box of about 15 show tapes. I never know what I am going to find next. This unit definately needs some TLC.

[SpitzSTP]

i'm looking forward to bringing this to life. i can't believe we didn't power it up on sunday.

It will be waiting for you! It would be great to get it cleaned up and running again. It might turn out to be a great little projector.

These are still for sale from the original manufacturer, Joe Hopkins Engineering:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JHE-RG-3-LAS...h=iteme37d1b8a

[swamidog]

eventually we should replace the HeNe's with some high power diodes. i'll bet those old abstracts will be killer.

It will be waiting for you! It would be great to get it cleaned up and running again. It might turn out to be a great little projector.

These are still for sale from the original manufacturer, Joe Hopkins Engineering:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/JHE-RG-3-LAS...h=iteme37d1b8a

[SpitzSTP]

eventually we should replace the HeNe's with some high power diodes. i'll bet those old abstracts will be killer.

Yes, I agree. Perhaps some new material can also be written for it. I would like to do the same thing with one of my favorite classics which I call "The Rock On A Stick". This hand-made projector came out of the planetarium at Brigham Young University Idaho, a.k.a. Rick's College in Rexburg, Idaho. It was made by a very creative man who hand-built dozens of these one-of-a-kind projectors for his planetarium. Illuminated by a small filament bulb, the rotating rock image (which is a real rock, with "sparkles") is cast upon the wall and appears as a tumbling asteroid in space. It uses a small motor to slowly rotate the rock. If only it were a bit brighter.. In a completely darkened room, the effect is astonishingly realistic.

[SpitzSTP]

AVI Omniscan tower being placed in the rack. I'll call a mobile welder to install a steel base plate to mount the unit, leaving enough room at the bottom to feed the umbilical without any binding. The telecoping pole raises up another 10+ feet so the sphere can poke up through the top. There is just enough room at the bottom to run the umbilical underneath between the casters. The rack can then be rolled around the house to find the perfect place for projection. There are a couple of hefty steel brackets at the bottom that once supported a tray of heavy batteries. These look stong enough to hold a steel base plate welded in place with four bolt holes. I'll need to refill the gear oil for the electric lift because all of it leaked out while the unit sat on its side for the past year. Thanks to Karl and Swami's efforts last weekend to feed the fiber optic with an ALC60X, I am sure that it still works. Much speculation on how it will perform with the Chroma 5 white light source.

[SpitzSTP]

Fine adjustments are being completed using bottle jacks and scrap lumber to determine exact mounting position. It works best with the lift motor in the corner so the sphere will go up through the opening in the top without having to do any cutting. It helps to have the gantry to adjust the position as this thing is extremely heavy. Somehow it just wants to be in this rack as I encountered no unexpected issues. This rack is a continuously-welded structure and extremely strong. Hours of heavy DNB while working puts me in the element. After alot of pondering I have decided to have my 40KW generator converted from propane to gasoline after pricing DOT-approved propane tanks and the mere thought of 60 gallons of propane under pressure in the garage. Not to mention the hassle of having to refuel at a propane facility and the requirement to recertify the fuel vessel at periodic intervals. The Onan uses a common Ford 6-cylinder engine and all I would have to do is take off the propane fuel components and replace them with a carburetor, fuel pump and regular gasoline tank. This will supply power for the Chroma 5. The AVI tower looks a bit like a Titan missile sitting in a silo.

[SpitzSTP]

Diagram for .75" thick aluminum base plate for the bottom of the rack with a cutout for the umbilical cable, to be cut on a waterjet. The original pedestal is being shortened from 52.5 inches to a mere 15 inches tall, keeping the angled umbilical feed for exit beneath the rack. Rather than have a mobile welder come out, I'll just take the pedestal to an aluminum fabricator/welder and have him do the work in his shop. When the aluminum base plate comes back from the waterjet place I will hit it with a coat of black paint and complete the assembly, then test the electric lift.