Space Theatre Planetarium- how accurate?

Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?

Hi:

We bought one of these for my daughter some years back, and she really
enjoyed it. As far as "accuracy," I assume you're talking about the
distortion brought on by its near-flat format. What I recall is "not
too bad."

Certainly, a genuine ball is better.

You might be interested in joining my Spitz Jr. (named for the famous
Harmonic Reed home planetarium, but we cover all home units)
Yahoogroup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/spitz-jr

Not much traffic there most of the time, but it's always possible to
get things started, and there are several folks very knowledgeable
about these things that can be found there.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

wrote:
Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?

Thanks for the reply, Rod!

I'm not too concerned with the distortion so much- I think mine has a
defective "star dome".. I've looked and looked and looked, and I can't
find one constellation. Polaris is not in the center of the dome like
it looks in the manual's star chart, none of the constellation masks
line up with anything that looks like the constellations they are
supposed to focus you on.. No Orion's belt, no big dipper, etc..

Can you find these on your space theater? Does Orion's belt have 3
stars on yours? I've called the company to see if they will send me a
new star dome, but in the mean time it would be good to know if some
people have had good luck with these..

I will join the spitz. jr. group too- thanks for letting me know about
it! :-)



RMOLLISE wrote:
Hi:

We bought one of these for my daughter some years back, and she really
enjoyed it. As far as "accuracy," I assume you're talking about the
distortion brought on by its near-flat format. What I recall is "not
too bad."

Certainly, a genuine ball is better.

You might be interested in joining my Spitz Jr. (named for the famous
Harmonic Reed home planetarium, but we cover all home units)
Yahoogroup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/spitz-jr

Not much traffic there most of the time, but it's always possible to
get things started, and there are several folks very knowledgeable
about these things that can be found there.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

wrote:
Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?

Just a quick note here- I bought and tried out the discovery
planetarium that has two star balls.. It worked great- for five
minutes.. Then it lost the ability to detect when the star ball had
rotated to the right position, so it just kept rotating.. It's a
shame, it was pretty neat, but I ended up taking it back- the software
was rigged for kids anyhow.. And also there is no way to line it up
with the actual compass direction. If I just got a lemon and it is
indeed a reliable unit, I bet it will inspire many young ones!

I will keep my search for a enthusiest level home planetarium projector
(not SW).. Maybe I'll have to make my own, if I can learn how to plot
stars properly. In the mean time, I am interested to hear if others
find the "Space Theater Planetarium" projector to be accurate with
respect to the constellations- mine is not, but I suspect that I just
got a faulty slide on mine..


wrote:
Thanks for the reply, Rod!

I'm not too concerned with the distortion so much- I think mine has a
defective "star dome".. I've looked and looked and looked, and I can't
find one constellation. Polaris is not in the center of the dome like
it looks in the manual's star chart, none of the constellation masks
line up with anything that looks like the constellations they are
supposed to focus you on.. No Orion's belt, no big dipper, etc..

Can you find these on your space theater? Does Orion's belt have 3
stars on yours? I've called the company to see if they will send me a
new star dome, but in the mean time it would be good to know if some
people have had good luck with these..

I will join the spitz. jr. group too- thanks for letting me know about
it! :-)



RMOLLISE wrote:
Hi:

We bought one of these for my daughter some years back, and she really
enjoyed it. As far as "accuracy," I assume you're talking about the
distortion brought on by its near-flat format. What I recall is "not
too bad."

Certainly, a genuine ball is better.

You might be interested in joining my Spitz Jr. (named for the famous
Harmonic Reed home planetarium, but we cover all home units)
Yahoogroup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/spitz-jr

Not much traffic there most of the time, but it's always possible to
get things started, and there are several folks very knowledgeable
about these things that can be found there.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

wrote:
Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?

Unfortunately, that's par for the course from what I'm hearing about
the Discovery planetarium. Shame.

Uncle Rod


wrote:
Just a quick note here- I bought and tried out the discovery
planetarium that has two star balls.. It worked great- for five
minutes.. Then it lost the ability to detect when the star ball had
rotated to the right position, so it just kept rotating.. It's a
shame, it was pretty neat, but I ended up taking it back- the software
was rigged for kids anyhow.. And also there is no way to line it up
with the actual compass direction. If I just got a lemon and it is
indeed a reliable unit, I bet it will inspire many young ones!

I will keep my search for a enthusiest level home planetarium projector
(not SW).. Maybe I'll have to make my own, if I can learn how to plot
stars properly. In the mean time, I am interested to hear if others
find the "Space Theater Planetarium" projector to be accurate with
respect to the constellations- mine is not, but I suspect that I just
got a faulty slide on mine..


wrote:
Thanks for the reply, Rod!

I'm not too concerned with the distortion so much- I think mine has a
defective "star dome".. I've looked and looked and looked, and I can't
find one constellation. Polaris is not in the center of the dome like
it looks in the manual's star chart, none of the constellation masks
line up with anything that looks like the constellations they are
supposed to focus you on.. No Orion's belt, no big dipper, etc..

Can you find these on your space theater? Does Orion's belt have 3
stars on yours? I've called the company to see if they will send me a
new star dome, but in the mean time it would be good to know if some
people have had good luck with these..

I will join the spitz. jr. group too- thanks for letting me know about
it! :-)



RMOLLISE wrote:
Hi:

We bought one of these for my daughter some years back, and she really
enjoyed it. As far as "accuracy," I assume you're talking about the
distortion brought on by its near-flat format. What I recall is "not
too bad."

Certainly, a genuine ball is better.

You might be interested in joining my Spitz Jr. (named for the famous
Harmonic Reed home planetarium, but we cover all home units)
Yahoogroup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/spitz-jr

Not much traffic there most of the time, but it's always possible to
get things started, and there are several folks very knowledgeable
about these things that can be found there.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

wrote:
Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?

Hi Rod.. It says my membership is still pending for your spitz jr.
group.. I'm anxious to see what files you guys have posted! :-)

Jason

RMOLLISE wrote:
Unfortunately, that's par for the course from what I'm hearing about
the Discovery planetarium. Shame.

Uncle Rod


wrote:
Just a quick note here- I bought and tried out the discovery
planetarium that has two star balls.. It worked great- for five
minutes.. Then it lost the ability to detect when the star ball had
rotated to the right position, so it just kept rotating.. It's a
shame, it was pretty neat, but I ended up taking it back- the software
was rigged for kids anyhow.. And also there is no way to line it up
with the actual compass direction. If I just got a lemon and it is
indeed a reliable unit, I bet it will inspire many young ones!

I will keep my search for a enthusiest level home planetarium projector
(not SW).. Maybe I'll have to make my own, if I can learn how to plot
stars properly. In the mean time, I am interested to hear if others
find the "Space Theater Planetarium" projector to be accurate with
respect to the constellations- mine is not, but I suspect that I just
got a faulty slide on mine..


wrote:
Thanks for the reply, Rod!

I'm not too concerned with the distortion so much- I think mine has a
defective "star dome".. I've looked and looked and looked, and I can't
find one constellation. Polaris is not in the center of the dome like
it looks in the manual's star chart, none of the constellation masks
line up with anything that looks like the constellations they are
supposed to focus you on.. No Orion's belt, no big dipper, etc..

Can you find these on your space theater? Does Orion's belt have 3
stars on yours? I've called the company to see if they will send me a
new star dome, but in the mean time it would be good to know if some
people have had good luck with these..

I will join the spitz. jr. group too- thanks for letting me know about
it! :-)



RMOLLISE wrote:
Hi:

We bought one of these for my daughter some years back, and she really
enjoyed it. As far as "accuracy," I assume you're talking about the
distortion brought on by its near-flat format. What I recall is "not
too bad."

Certainly, a genuine ball is better.

You might be interested in joining my Spitz Jr. (named for the famous
Harmonic Reed home planetarium, but we cover all home units)
Yahoogroup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/spitz-jr

Not much traffic there most of the time, but it's always possible to
get things started, and there are several folks very knowledgeable
about these things that can be found there.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

wrote:
Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?

Whoop! Sorry...I'll approve you as soon as I get home this pm.


wrote:
Hi Rod.. It says my membership is still pending for your spitz jr.
group.. I'm anxious to see what files you guys have posted! :-)

Jason

RMOLLISE wrote:
Unfortunately, that's par for the course from what I'm hearing about
the Discovery planetarium. Shame.

Uncle Rod


wrote:
Just a quick note here- I bought and tried out the discovery
planetarium that has two star balls.. It worked great- for five
minutes.. Then it lost the ability to detect when the star ball had
rotated to the right position, so it just kept rotating.. It's a
shame, it was pretty neat, but I ended up taking it back- the software
was rigged for kids anyhow.. And also there is no way to line it up
with the actual compass direction. If I just got a lemon and it is
indeed a reliable unit, I bet it will inspire many young ones!

I will keep my search for a enthusiest level home planetarium projector
(not SW).. Maybe I'll have to make my own, if I can learn how to plot
stars properly. In the mean time, I am interested to hear if others
find the "Space Theater Planetarium" projector to be accurate with
respect to the constellations- mine is not, but I suspect that I just
got a faulty slide on mine..


wrote:
Thanks for the reply, Rod!

I'm not too concerned with the distortion so much- I think mine has a
defective "star dome".. I've looked and looked and looked, and I can't
find one constellation. Polaris is not in the center of the dome like
it looks in the manual's star chart, none of the constellation masks
line up with anything that looks like the constellations they are
supposed to focus you on.. No Orion's belt, no big dipper, etc..

Can you find these on your space theater? Does Orion's belt have 3
stars on yours? I've called the company to see if they will send me a
new star dome, but in the mean time it would be good to know if some
people have had good luck with these..

I will join the spitz. jr. group too- thanks for letting me know about
it! :-)



RMOLLISE wrote:
Hi:

We bought one of these for my daughter some years back, and she really
enjoyed it. As far as "accuracy," I assume you're talking about the
distortion brought on by its near-flat format. What I recall is "not
too bad."

Certainly, a genuine ball is better.

You might be interested in joining my Spitz Jr. (named for the famous
Harmonic Reed home planetarium, but we cover all home units)
Yahoogroup:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/spitz-jr

Not much traffic there most of the time, but it's always possible to
get things started, and there are several folks very knowledgeable
about these things that can be found there.

Peace,
Rod Mollise
Author of:
Choosing and Using a Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
and
The Urban Astronomer's Guide
http://skywatch.brainiac.com/astroland

wrote:
Folks,

I recently bought one of these:
http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/c...acti on=prov&

It's no substitute for a real starball projector, that's for sure..
But, using a $10 kid's dome tent from IKEA, it looks pretty cool!

I'm new to astronomy, and I am wondering how accurate these things are?

Does anyone else have one? I have been thinking about it, and it would
not be hard at all to create a new vacuum formed "star dome" for it,
and make a much better projector out of it..

Thoughts?