Planetarium Star Projectors

[catalanjo]

Hey SpitzSTP

I think you should check out this thread :
(http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...00-ION-LASERS-)

They are big buggers but sound like a great deal for you and have more boot than you will ever need.
Just add on a dye laser to get a load of RED and you would have a "classic" setup !

Not cheap though !

Cheers

[dsli_jon]

Heya, there, Sir Spitz...

I can't resist... asking, what ever happened to all the equipment that Laserium...

Oh, some of it's still around, in various-forms...

(..this is the later-Gen 'CSDL' - not a 70's rig...but you get the idea... :)

..You're only a hop, skip, and a 6-7 hr jump-away - ya'oughta come out to LA, here, sometime... and bring a bib! Been extremely-busy, lately, and will-be, for some-time, yet, but would love to chat 'shop' with ya, sometime, and meet-up...

You'll certainly-be welcome to come to the 'SoCaLEM' (So Cal Laser Enthus... well, you get it - same as 'SELEM', there, just a 'tad bit closer'... but personally can't be involved in trying to host another one till prolly late-Feb, '12 - maybe even March, we'll see.. But, whenever it is, you'll be welcome....

Also, good to see you've 'met' Brian (laserist) - brilliant guy, and was both a Laserium Laserist, and is a planetarium-systems expert... but, I will shut-up, now and let Him speak for himself...

Anyhoo, great to have you here, and will look forward to chatting with you down the road, sometime...

Oh, PS - meantime, you might enjoy a few selections from this playlist: http://www.youtube.com/dslasers#p/c/E79D245CEE0519BF - in-particular: http://www.youtube.com/dslasers#p/c/.../5/N_vbI_uq2rU

Take care...
j

[Jem]

Oh, PS - meantime, you might enjoy a few selections from this playlist: http://www.youtube.com/dslasers#p/c/E79D245CEE0519BF - in-particular: http://www.youtube.com/dslasers#p/c/.../5/N_vbI_uq2rU

Take care...
j

Bah... Just tried to load that clip and got this message... This video contains content from EMI, who has blocked it in your country on copyright grounds.

B*stards! I've already paid for got the bl**dy music so what's the problem?

Ah well, i'll just have to use my imagination

[dsli_jon]

Bah... Just tried to load that clip and got this message...

Yeah, sorry-bout that, m8.... the 'u2b copybots' ignore the ASCAP-license for playback of this clip, as-well... insensitive bas... Well, we'll try and get those clips up on the 'new' Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/laserium - hosted off-of Laserium.com, where that should not be as-much an-issue... we'll see...
When I can make some time, I'll be happy to 'wetransfer.com'-them 2 ya...

cheers...
j

[ShortyInCanada]

So I spent a couple of hours at work yesterday checking out some of the content over there with you starprojector types. In particular I was going through lots about the limitations of "pinhole" dimensions for home made star projectors. There is a lot of talk about the filament shape being a mitigating factor involved. Now I didn't get to perform an exhaustive search but it appears that no-one there has tried out the latest in superbright LEDs as a lightsource. They are a purer white, low power, comparatively much cooler, almost indestructable, long life span, and with an almost pinpoint emitter that has no filament. You might have to use several in an overlapping ball formation inside the projector with each facing a different direction but the benefits should outweight the drawbacks tremendously.
I've been looking at making a simplified projector for my son's room as a sort of nightlite and I'm wondering if you might have any other helpful knowledge ?

And can you see the latest in LED lighting being an upgrade for the larger style of projectors ? With all those lenses the larger emitter surface area should be easily compensated for. Again the heat and power cosumption would be a motivating factor for change while the light source might actually be a larger area than an arc lamp. (I haven't seen the insides of a big projector to know how big that might be.)

BTW. I believe its a big Zeiss up here in the Vancouver planetarium. And they still do laser shows too. I haven't been to one now for .... has it really been almost 20 years ? But they advertized a laser show there on the radio just a few months ago. I think the proliferation of BC "bud" keeps the attendance pretty consistent.

[SpitzSTP]

Hey SpitzSTP

I think you should check out this thread :
(http://www.photonlexicon.com/forums/...00-ION-LASERS-)

They are big buggers but sound like a great deal for you and have more boot than you will ever need.
Just add on a dye laser to get a load of RED and you would have a "classic" setup !

Not cheap though !

Cheers

WOW yes, the bigger, the better. A few photos.. This star machine was once in the Fillmore East in NYC at a nightclub, under a 70 foot planetarium dome. And now, in the living room. It was mounted on a hydraulic piston lift atop a circular lighting truss.

[SpitzSTP]

Thanks for the greetings, I would like to chat and meet up sometime! LA not that far from here. Thanks for posting the pic of that rig, truly fascinating!!! The Laserium shows in the late 70's is what led me down this path in the beginning. First, how to create the starfield images and the quest for de-commissioned planetarium projectors. What an impression Laserium made on me all those years ago. Whenever I went to a show I would always sit as close as I could get to the operators booth just to try to sneak a glimpse at how all of this equipment worked. The good stuff was always shrouded in a black box and any request to see what was inside always denied. Hours spent trying to figure it out on my own, tinkering with MFE galvos and D/A converters using a small HeNe laser. I would always stay after these shows ended and ask alot of questions, and the usual answer was along the lines of "I can't tell you that, it's proprietary" The second best show I ever saw, was at the Texas State Fair, about 1979. They had an inflatable dome with beanbags on the floor, and the projection equipment way up high on a wooden platform. Forget the ferris wheel! Count me in for anything you have going in SoCal I'd really like to be there.

[SpitzSTP]

Try posting this question on www.observatorycentral.com, I can almost promise you will receive some helpful information in a heartbeat. A bunch of those guys in the "Planetariums as a Hobby" section have built their own projectors in the past and have undoubtedly dealt with the thought of using high-power LED's as opposed to filament bulbs. The Spitz star machines I have use Cermax-type xenon short-arc lamps, and the Minolta/Viewlex uses a filament bulb. I am amazed at what some of these guys can build from scratch. One fellow used a barrel that washed up on a river behind his house and drilled holes in it to make a projector, and he was just asking about using LED's as the light source. I don't really know the answer to the question as my focus has been on getting the commercial units and restoring them. I am glad to hear that BC is um, still buzzing

[laserist]

So I spent a couple of hours at work yesterday checking out some of the content over there with you starprojector types. In particular I was going through lots about the limitations of "pinhole" dimensions for home made star projectors. There is a lot of talk about the filament shape being a mitigating factor involved. Now I didn't get to perform an exhaustive search but it appears that no-one there has tried out the latest in superbright LEDs as a lightsource. They are a purer white, low power, comparatively much cooler, almost indestructable, long life span, and with an almost pinpoint emitter that has no filament. You might have to use several in an overlapping ball formation inside the projector with each facing a different direction but the benefits should outweight the drawbacks tremendously.
I've been looking at making a simplified projector for my son's room as a sort of nightlite and I'm wondering if you might have any other helpful knowledge ?

And can you see the latest in LED lighting being an upgrade for the larger style of projectors ? With all those lenses the larger emitter surface area should be easily compensated for. Again the heat and power cosumption would be a motivating factor for change while the light source might actually be a larger area than an arc lamp. (I haven't seen the insides of a big projector to know how big that might be.)

BTW. I believe its a big Zeiss up here in the Vancouver planetarium. And they still do laser shows too. I haven't been to one now for .... has it really been almost 20 years ? But they advertized a laser show there on the radio just a few months ago. I think the proliferation of BC "bud" keeps the attendance pretty consistent.

A number of the small to medium size projectors today use LEDs. None of the high end projectors use brute force to produce stars. At the extreme end Zeiss uses individual fiber optic strands to illuminate each star aperture on the star plates resulting in about a 200x improvement in efficiency over older condenser lens designs. LEDs are getting brighter and brighter, but with the advent of fulldome video the domes are getting darker to improve contrast so projectors designed for the largest domes still use more traditional light sources.

The McLaughlin Planetarium in Vancouver has a Zeiss (Jena) Universal Planetarium Projector installed in 1968. I was just there two weeks ago to demo the new Zeiss Velvet Video Technology. Velvet was developed by Zeiss specifically for planetarium environment and among it's strengths is a 2.5 million to one native contrast.

Brian

[SpitzSTP]

Interesting. I was at the UNC-CH planetarium last weekend and they are in the process of removing the big Starcaster that they had been using for years and years. They replaced with some fancy digital setup. The experience just isn't the same without that big Starcaster rotating around in the middle of the room.

I did some checking around. This is just what I was told, I have no way to confirm the accuracy of the following information:

"ALL the lenses/star plates were going to be removed and given away as memento's to those who contribute great funds. One of the star balls and one section of planet cages will be retained "for possible future display." The remainder of anything else will need to be returned to state general services."