I live less than 15 minutes from RVCC and have been to several shows there. Bill puts on a great show! I wish I had seen this thread earlier, Mark, I'd have met you there this past weekend.
I live less than 15 minutes from RVCC and have been to several shows there. Bill puts on a great show! I wish I had seen this thread earlier, Mark, I'd have met you there this past weekend.
You guys need to let me know who you are! Come up and say hi before or after the show. I'm there all day and night on Saturdays doing the shows, so sometimes I'm on "auto pilot" because of the long day - and may not seem "into" greetings. But if you tell me who you are and mention the forum, I'd be happy to blab for a few moments.
Thank you, LEDpaint for the compliment. As previously mentioned, I work with Pangolin and our scanners currently are DT40 Pro's. We're still using the crystals (AOMs) for color control and the 'waste' beam isn't wasted, it's the lumia feed!
-Bill
Mark... One of these days we'll do a road trip together. Unfortunately last Friday wouldn't have worked.
Unfortunately I was unable to attend the March 1st shows but, I really want to go.. A road trip with Brad would be really
cool and I look forward to doing that.
Mark
RVCC Planetarium's schedule is at www.raritanval.edu/planetarium
Note we're closed March 29-31 for the holiday.
Let me know if anyone from the forum is coming. I'm happy to extend a ticket discount. Even though the schedule is tight, if I know anyone is coming, I can give a quick 'tour' of how our laser system is hooked up. Unfortunately the 'big black box' is mounted high and you need a ladder to get up to it. (Lots of fun during maintennance and repairs... ) But I am planning on getting a camera high enough to take a few pictures of what's inside currently.
-Bill
Somehow I managed to find this video: http://www.thelostplanet.net/laser/R...Winter2012.mov
Just wanted to say, what an awesome job, Bill. Very nice to see a planetarium out there still doing it the way it should be done!
Lumia, fixed beams, scanned beams, diffraction and very nice choreography.
Also, I saw your thread for the ILT, I had a couple of those in the past, it's a very nice argon. If you guys decide to keep it I'd be happy to get it realigned for you, either just the cost of shipping or bring it to SELEM in August.
Wow.. That video rocks... I miss the planetarium shows from Fels
Thanks DZ, much appreciated. I do prefer to mix the "old school" type of show with the newer "ways". To be honest, I don't like "all graphic" shows. To me, after a while it become a "laser cartoon" show. But I think using appropriate graphics to go along with the lyrics AND utilizing patterns, lumia and diffaction grating effects - along with beams, makes the show more exciting. In the planetarium, I also sometimes just let the "universe" do part of a show. Sometimes just having a simple and faint laser effect and the stars and planets being the main show, gets the biggest applause.
I'm in the process of making videos (from the dome) of some of the more recent songs I've done. I record the audio/video in the theater and then strip the bad sounding audio (from the microphone) and make a new video with the original recording for better sound. I'll post some others as I get them done.
As for the ILT argon, my boss considers it mine. He gave it to me after we converted the projector for all the hard work I put into shows and keeping the old projector running. I only work there part time (for 20 years!) on an hourly basis, although they'd like me full time - the "upper" management won't allow it. So I'm also an adjunct professor at another school and also on the planetarium staff at another college planetarium in the state. (Thank you, economy. )
So since I don't have the time or proper equipment to get the argon running again, I'm selling it and taking the proceeds and getting something we can use in the planetarium. (Boss man says keep the $$, but he can't refuse a surprise donation of something we can use. ) As much as I'd like to go to some of these LEM events (let alone take an actual vacation), I can't afford it and have to work 7 days a week. But at least I can say I'm having fun with 3 part time jobs. Eventually I'll get full time work again.
-Bill