Inexpensive planetarium projector?

On Jul 1, 6:55 pm, "Howard Lester" wrote:
"RMOLLISE" wrote

I've got one now. Back when I was a kid, I never had one of my
own...apparently too expensive. I was able to borrow one for a while,
and was purty downcast when I had to give it back.

Yeah, I've got one now thanks to Ebay...spent more on it than I should
have, but...it was worth it. ;-)

Rod, I dare not ask how much... somewhere in my pea brained skull I recall
it cost maybe $30 or less new back then... got it from Edmund. Makes me
wonder if my old tripod mounted black Palomar, Jr. is still alive... ;-)

Ha! Try about 75 bucks. But getting that little toy and the Gilbert 2-
inch refractor I also pined for so much seemed to finally close a long-
open circle, and it was worth it at any price. Down here back in the
early 60s? Might as well have asked for the Moon as for 30 bucks. ;-)

I won't tell you how many lawns I had to mow to finance a (used)
Palomar Jr. ;-)

Unk Rod

On Jul 1, 7:20 pm, RMOLLISE wrote:
On Jul 1, 6:55 pm, "Howard Lester" wrote:

"RMOLLISE" wrote

I've got one now. Back when I was a kid, I never had one of my
own...apparently too expensive. I was able to borrow one for a while,
and was purty downcast when I had to give it back.

Yeah, I've got one now thanks to Ebay...spent more on it than I should
have, but...it was worth it. ;-)

Rod, I dare not ask how much... somewhere in my pea brained skull I recall
it cost maybe $30 or less new back then... got it from Edmund. Makes me
wonder if my old tripod mounted black Palomar, Jr. is still alive... ;-)

Ha! Try about 75 bucks. But getting that little toy and the Gilbert 2-
inch refractor I also pined for so much seemed to finally close a long-
open circle, and it was worth it at any price. Down here back in the
early 60s? Might as well have asked for the Moon as for 30 bucks. ;-)

I won't tell you how many lawns I had to mow to finance a (used)
Palomar Jr. ;-)

Unk Rod

"Gilbert 2-inch _reflector_" ;-)

And, I might add, I've seen the Spitz Jr. go for considerably more
than 75 bucks.

Unk Rod

RMOLLISE wrote:

On Jul 1, 6:55 pm, "Howard Lester" wrote:

"RMOLLISE" wrote


I've got one now. Back when I was a kid, I never had one of my
own...apparently too expensive. I was able to borrow one for a while,
and was purty downcast when I had to give it back.

Yeah, I've got one now thanks to Ebay...spent more on it than I should
have, but...it was worth it. ;-)

Rod, I dare not ask how much... somewhere in my pea brained skull I recall
it cost maybe $30 or less new back then... got it from Edmund. Makes me
wonder if my old tripod mounted black Palomar, Jr. is still alive... ;-)


Ha! Try about 75 bucks. But getting that little toy and the Gilbert 2-
inch refractor I also pined for so much seemed to finally close a long-
open circle, and it was worth it at any price. Down here back in the
early 60s? Might as well have asked for the Moon as for 30 bucks. ;-)

I won't tell you how many lawns I had to mow to finance a (used)
Palomar Jr. ;-)

Unk Rod


There is a used Spitz Junior planetarium offered on Ebay. Also, the
Sega Home Star Pro planetarium, for around $250, looks interesting. It
is claimed to project 10,000 stars and planets, uses six LEDs, but it
must be shipped from Japan.

Jim

On Jul 1, 4:13 pm, RMOLLISE wrote:
[...]
It depends on what you want. Quite a few of us still hold onto and
love our old Spitz Junior Planetariums, even though they are "toys."
The depiction of the sky they project is not bad. Not bad at all.
[...]

Whew, that brings back memories. I recall seeing one in school
circa early 1950s, and a Google search just found this:

http://www.antiqueradio.org/spitz01.htm

Looking back at my notes, I see that it was not the Sega that had
problems, but a unit Discovery Stores were selling during the
holidays. The Sega looks pretty good--if you can get one and don't
mind spending 200 bucks or so.


Anyone have any first hand experience with the Sega Homestar Pro
models? They seem to be abundant (5 or so) on e-bay. Most have
high shipping (probably due to import taxes), but they all come with
voltage adapters.

They look interesting, but we all know from the pics on the side of
the telescopes at the big box stores, pictures can be deceiving.

Just wondering...

Thanks,
Dave

wrote:

On Jul 1, 4:13 pm, RMOLLISE wrote:

[...]
It depends on what you want. Quite a few of us still hold onto and
love our old Spitz Junior Planetariums, even though they are "toys."
The depiction of the sky they project is not bad. Not bad at all.
[...]


Whew, that brings back memories. I recall seeing one in school
circa early 1950s, and a Google search just found this:

http://www.antiqueradio.org/spitz01.htm



For those with experience with the Spitz Junior projector, was the
projected image clear and detailed enough for you to identify the
constellations and learn the sky? To locate planets or Messier objects?
- Also, was there a "Spitz Senior" projector?

Jim

On Fri, 06 Jul 2007 17:47:27 -0600, JimC
wrote:

- Also, was there a "Spitz Senior" projector?

Sort of. Spitz builds projectors for "real" planetariums:

http://www.spitzinc.com/

Bud

--
The night is just the shadow of the Earth.