Who's got what?

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Permalink Reply by Mike Francis on November 1, 2008 at 8:39am

I'll bite. I've got a basic Starlab, with 8 cylinders which I bought used about 10 years ago. I use the starfield cylinder about 99.9% of the time. After working at the Charles Hayden for 10 years, using dozens of special effects and over 1000 slides per show (this was before video), I've reverted to stars and an arrow. I got to see John Meader's (Northern Stars Planetarium) setup a few months ago and I have to admit the possibilities are enticing, but the thought of carrying and setting up all of that stuff, makes one think twice.

Mike Francis
Stars Science Theater
http://www.Mike-Francis.com/sst.htm

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Permalink Reply by Christi Whitworth on November 3, 2008 at 12:08pm

I also utilize the standard STARLAB projector system. PARI has about 10 cylinders and has 9 programs developed from them and the state standards nearby. I know the big use of information about digital projectors shared will help people choose reliable equipment when they are given the opportunity so i like the idea of a FAQ on different projector systems. I really don't hink this is a bad idea for any type of projector system. Should we also be looking at the type of dome and dome material we are working with?

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Permalink Reply by Karrie Berglund on November 3, 2008 at 6:26pm

We already have a substantial FAQ page for our Digitarium projection systems and Digitalis inflatable domes. Here's a link to that webpage:
http://DigitalisEducation.com/faq.html

I think that the planetarium software used and support provided are perhaps more important points of discussion than the operating system, but our operating system is a customized Linux package. However, our users don't need to know anything about Linux to run our systems, since our user interface is a hand held, backlit remote control.

As far as planetarium software, our systems run Stellarium, which is free and open source. Our company president is one of the primary Stellarium developers; if you go to http://Stellarium.org, you'll find his name (Rob Spearman) listed in the Developers section.

Cheers,
Karrie

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Permalink Reply by Linda Krouse on November 25, 2008 at 5:06pm

I recently purchased an e-Planetarium (6m) about a year ago. The students sit on the floor in this one. I also purchased an extra dome that has added heighth for a higher springline so that I could use the 2nd dome for adults by putting chairs in it.

So far, we have presented about 120 shows since March of this year.

We weren't keen on the sound system that came with the setup, so e-Planetarium was very kind to credit us so that we could go to a portable Fender system which we like very much, which was in the $400 range. We purchased it from B & H. It is tough and meant to travel. The sound is great and it came with a microphone as well, which we use all the time.

We are currently also running Stellarium which has been warped by e-Planetarium for our presentation. Two shows came with our dome, which we occasionally run, but we are learning to produce our own programs that fit our own guidelines. However, e-Planetarium also offered to "warp" anything we produce until we are confident enough to do it. Carolyn Sumners and sales rep. Gary Paczosa couldn't have more helpful. Our machine also came with a warped version of Celestia.

I very much like the "walk-in" doors, and for adults, I am glad we purchased the higher springline for ease of entry and exit for grownups.

We are building a brand new Noble Planetarium due to open in November of 2009, and we are getting Uniview software to use in it. I asked Stefan Klashad of Uniview if it would be possible to get Uniview to warp their software to also allow us to use it in our portable dome, and he was able to do that and we can't wait to use it.

We have a rollaround cart that holds all the equipment, and yes, it is somewhat bulky, but not difficult once you get used to setting it up. The only drawback is the heavy weight of the higher springline dome. It definitely takes two to move it.

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Permalink Reply by Kyle Doane on October 27, 2009 at 8:46am

At SCIENCE DOME in the UK, we have three Digitarium projection systems: Alpha 2+, Gamma, and the new Delta system. We have a Digitalis dome, a Ray Worthy Dome, and will soon have a new outdoor 8 meter dome.

I have personally also used the STARLAB canister system, a Spitz starball (Willard Smith Planetarium, Seattle), and Uniview (InTech Planetarium, Winchester, UK).

I would be very happy to help with any questions about the above equipment. If you are looking to purchase a projection system, I would highly recommend looking at the Digitarium systems. The Digitarium system takes about the same amount of time to set up a basic STARLAB canister system. Every constellation has it's own line or art projection. Daily motion includes sunrise and sunset lighting. Planets correctly move with annual motion. You can even "zoom in" to correctly placed deep space objects as though you are looking through a telescope. There is no need for additional slide projectors. The remote control makes basic operation simple and intuitive. A planetarian could do a traditional star show out of the box.

You can also do many things that were simply not possible with an optical system such as changing your viewing location to other bodies (i.e. watch a "Saturn-rise" from Enceladus) and watching planetary orbits from a location far above the Solar System.) You can even write scripts which imbed video and graphics into your show. One of my favorites we created is a "Journey to the Moon" which includes NASA archival footage from the Apollo missions. You are also not limited to Astronomy topics. We have used the media capability of the Digitarium to present program on geology, ecology and paleontology.

Additionally, you may run professionally produced full dome movies such as "Black Holes: Beyond Infinity" or "Astronomyths" or any other media created for a dome. On the Digitarium system, you simply push the media button to cleanly start the movie, and push it again to return you to your starfield. The sky is not the limit.

The new entry level "DELTA" system is impressive and quite affordable.

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