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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:18:15 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Mar 22 2008, 01:40 PM I came across some old newspaper clippings and thought they might be of interest. The first from 1957 shows the original Adler Zeiss II before it was updated.  |
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:19:22 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Mar 22 2008, 01:49 PM The second from 1970 shows the new Zeiss VI even before it was unwrapped.  |
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:29:29 GMT -7
Posted by: bauersfeld Mar 23 2008, 04:21 PM
Ok, so the first one is a Zeiss UNIVERSAL II (UNIVERSAL I was an experimental model for testing with funny "spikes" on the dumbbel for constellation projection") with the "ladder"-style supplemental base developed in 1926. The Adler's Zeiss were made in 1929 and placed on a trolley (I don't know the initial purpose, but it's so strange that they hadn't realize that when the instrument projects the stars and they move away the trolley, they can demonstrate the zenith motion (the Sun's motion towards the Hercules constellation - to the apex-point). This motion was first incorporated by the Pittsburg Planetarium, they simply lifted the instrument down to a pit).
On the second photo you can see an 1969 Opton model (it wasn't a Zeiss though) MkVI with the original cargo safety paper wrapped around the planet cages. Strange enough it were sold under the name "Zeiss MKVI" but it wasn't produced by Zeiss in Jena. Just take a look at this:
VEB. Carl Zeiss Jena
Planetariumbauabteilung
Carl-Zeiss str. 1.
Jena
Deutsche Demokratische Republik
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Opton Feintechnik GmbH.
Bergstrasse 23.
Aalen, Oberkochen
Bundesrepublik Deutschland
These were the addresses of the two Zeiss firms in 1972.
Anyway, in 1989 Opton joined the original Zeiss firm in Jena after the reunion of the two Germanies, and started to design the STARMASTER line together.
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:36:10 GMT -7
Posted by: mrgare5050 Mar 27 2008, 03:46 AM
the original cargo safety paper wrapped around the planet cages.
they wrapped the planet cages with 'safety paper'? must have been before the days of bubble wrap!
g
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:42:09 GMT -7
Posted by: mrgare5050 Feb 5 2010, 04:20 AM QUOTE(Ron Walker @ Mar 22 2008, 08:40 PM) * I came across some old newspaper clippings and thought they might be of interest. The first from 1957 shows the original Adler Zeiss II before it was updated. wait HERES more of the original Adler skyline! gare, mining thru the files  |
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:45:01 GMT -7
Posted by: mrgare5050 Dec 15 2016, 03:02 AM
QUOTE(mrgare5050 @ Feb 5 2010, 11:20 AM) *
wait HERES more of the original Adler skyline! gare, mining thru the files
this is such a great picture - worshipping at the zeiss altar in the fifties
gare, STILL mining thru the files
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:45:53 GMT -7
Posted by: Smailtronic Dec 28 2020, 12:07 PM Cross-posting here, to try to keep relevant Adler info in this thread. As many of you have already seen, we at the Adler re-acquired our original Zeiss Mk II/III earlier this year. I've made a couple online presentations this year about it, all linked here. I'm also including links to blog articles I've written/ghost-written related to it, and a major news piece about the project. There's significant overlap between each item, but I'm listing them all chronologically, so anybody who's really bored can dive in and see how things changed over the year. Of course, I'm also happy to answer any questions here, too July 31, 2020: First announcement/presentation at youtu.be/CtN-vvp3oGk?t=227. September 3, 2020: Second presentation at youtu.be/UydxgI7Xva4?t=1558. September 18, 2020: Glenn Walsh's adlerplanetarium.tripod.com/ containing spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2020/09/mystery-solved-oldest-us-planetarium.html based off my September 3 talk, plus buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/adler/pix/zeissiii/recovery.html. October 15, 2020: Third presentation at youtu.be/yikF-4wJf2I?t=10915. November 16, 2020: chicago.suntimes.com/2020/11/16/21560345/adler-planetarium-original-zeiss-projector-recovered about the search and recovery. November 28, 2020: www.adlerplanetarium.org/blog/americas-first-planetarium-projector-history/ about the search and recovery. |
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:46:28 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Dec 28 2020, 01:47 PM QUOTE(Smailtronic @ Dec 28 2020, 12:07 PM) * Cross-posting here, to try to keep relevant Adler info in this thread. As many of you have already seen, we at the Adler re-acquired our original Zeiss Mk II/III earlier this year. I've made a couple online presentations this year about it, all linked here. I'm also including links to blog articles I've written/ghost-written related to it, and a major news piece about the project. There's significant overlap between each item, but I'm listing them all chronologically, so anybody who's really bored can dive in and see how things changed over the year. Of course, I'm also happy to answer any questions here, too July 31, 2020: First announcement/presentation at youtu.be/CtN-vvp3oGk?t=227. September 3, 2020: Second presentation at youtu.be/UydxgI7Xva4?t=1558. September 18, 2020: Glenn Walsh's adlerplanetarium.tripod.com/ containing spacewatchtower.blogspot.com/2020/09/mystery-solved-oldest-us-planetarium.html based off my September 3 talk, plus buhlplanetarium.tripod.com/adler/pix/zeissiii/recovery.html. October 15, 2020: Third presentation at youtu.be/yikF-4wJf2I?t=10915. November 16, 2020: chicago.suntimes.com/2020/11/16/21560345/adler-planetarium-original-zeiss-projector-recovered about the search and recovery. November 28, 2020: www.adlerplanetarium.org/blog/americas-first-planetarium-projector-history/ about the search and recovery. This is great stuff and pictures for a geek like me who grew up with this machine. Thank You so much for posting this info here. I must admit I never remember the Peanuts-L constellation outline and the fact they used blue bulbs for the main dome lighting. |
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:47:08 GMT -7
Posted by: Smailtronic Dec 28 2020, 03:27 PM
QUOTE(Ron Walker @ Dec 28 2020, 02:47 PM) *
This is great stuff and pictures for a geek like me who grew up with this machine. Thank You so much for posting this info here. I must admit I never remember the Peanuts-L constellation outline and the fact they used blue bulbs for the main dome lighting.
Thanks Ron. The Linus slide was in a folder labeled 'Charlie Brown' with no information about what it was meant to be. A Snoopy slide was tucked in with Canis Major. There were a handful of other alternate constellations too. All of the Winter Circle constellations had a festive alternate: Orion was Santa, Taurus was Rudolf, Gemini was a snowman. There were also multi-projector groupings like Stonehenge, Quetzalcoatl, and Nut. It was an absolute trip going through them all to photograph/archive.
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 16:47:36 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Dec 28 2020, 07:21 PM
QUOTE(Smailtronic @ Dec 28 2020, 03:27 PM) *
Thanks Ron. The Linus slide was in a folder labeled 'Charlie Brown' with no information about what it was meant to be. A Snoopy slide was tucked in with Canis Major. There were a handful of other alternate constellations too. All of the Winter Circle constellations had a festive alternate: Orion was Santa, Taurus was Rudolf, Gemini was a snowman. There were also multi-projector groupings like Stonehenge, Quetzalcoatl, and Nut. It was an absolute trip going through them all to photograph/archive.
I'm racking my brain trying to remember seeing any shows with either the Peanuts characters or the festive ones. My first thought was no never but now I'm not so sure about the Christmas themed ones. It is so great that all of this survived the years and all the parts are there. Looking at the pictures I note two things very obvious in this clip from one of your pictures.
In this section of the Mercury projector I find it interesting that the offset plates used to change the speed of the planet as it moves in its rather eccentric orbit (and speed) around the Sun, were copied literally exactly by Minolta in their IIB design. In particular I note the three point suspension to support each of the offset plates as well as final gear for all planet projectors.
Also I've heard some say they had to replace their Zeiss because they couldn't get replacement parts like gears (which made me wonder a bit) and now looking at the gears in the bottom of the picture I wonder what gears they are talking about as I see no ware after forty years of operation. Perhaps they are talking about the main internal diurnal drive gear but knowing how the Minolta is built I would imagine the Zeiss is somewhat the same (built like a tank).
If I still lived in Chicago I'd volunteer to come down and help restore this great machine to operational condition (and I hope that's in the plans). Heck if you sent a planet cage to me in Arizona I'd do the same but I would never expect that to happen. I would suggest using an ultrasonic cleaner as they work extremely well on baked on dirt and old hard grease and oil.
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 17:00:12 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jan 4 2021, 09:41 AM QUOTE(Ron Walker @ Dec 28 2020, 07:21 PM) * I'm racking my brain trying to remember seeing any shows with either the Peanuts characters or the festive ones. My first thought was no never but now I'm not so sure about the Christmas themed ones. It is so great that all of this survived the years and all the parts are there. Looking at the pictures I note two things very obvious in this clip from one of your pictures. In this section of the Mercury projector I find it interesting that the offset plates used to change the speed of the planet as it moves in its rather eccentric orbit (and speed) around the Sun, were copied literally exactly by Minolta in their IIB design. In particular I note the three point suspension to support each of the offset plates as well as final gear for all planet projectors. Also I've heard some say they had to replace their Zeiss because they couldn't get replacement parts like gears (which made me wonder a bit) and now looking at the gears in the bottom of the picture I wonder what gears they are talking about as I see no ware after forty years of operation. Perhaps they are talking about the main internal diurnal drive gear but knowing how the Minolta is built I would imagine the Zeiss is somewhat the same (built like a tank). If I still lived in Chicago I'd volunteer to come down and help restore this great machine to operational condition (and I hope that's in the plans). Heck if you sent a planet cage to me in Arizona I'd do the same but I would never expect that to happen. I would suggest using an ultrasonic cleaner as they work extremely well on baked on dirt and old hard grease and oil. Here is the same area of the Mercury projector on the Minolta IIB. Note the similarities to the Zeiss machine. Minolta IIB  Zeiss II  |
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 17:01:05 GMT -7
Posted by: Smailtronic Jan 14 2021, 08:55 AM
QUOTE(Ron Walker @ Jan 4 2021, 10:41 AM) *
Here is the same area of the Mercury projector on the Minolta IIB. Note the similarities to the Zeiss machine.
Minolta IIB
Zeiss II
That's very interesting (and not surprising based on accusations I've heard about earlier Japanese planetarium projector designs).
Thanks for the ultrasonic cleaner suggestion; I'll pass it on to our Collections folks. We have been closed since March, and will remain closed until this summer (at the earliest). As such, we've been stretching our pennies, and haven't begun restoration work. The end goal is to restore it for display in the museum, but it will likely be a multi-year project.
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 17:01:38 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jan 14 2021, 11:37 AM
I guess no one respected patents after the war.
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 17:01:58 GMT -7
Posted by: moonmagic Jan 14 2021, 03:59 PM
QUOTE(Ron Walker @ Jan 14 2021, 01:37 PM) *
I guess no one respected patents after the war.
I've often wondered if patents around the 1940's-50's were International or only registered per Country? Were both Goto and Minolta producing machines before the end of WWII or was it all after 1945?
Also even with the end of conflict was their any real support for cooperation in manufacturing between Germany, Japan, and the USA? I may have skipped some history classes. mm
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Post by Ron Walker on Apr 18, 2022 17:02:26 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jan 14 2021, 04:37 PM
QUOTE(moonmagic @ Jan 14 2021, 03:59 PM) *
I've often wondered if patents around the 1940's-50's were International or only registered per Country? Were both Goto and Minolta producing machines before the end of WWII or was it all after 1945?
Also even with the end of conflict was their any real support for cooperation in manufacturing between Germany, Japan, and the USA? I may have skipped some history classes. mm
I don't think that either GOTO or Minolta made any planetarium projectors until well after the war. The original Zeiss patents were from the 1920's and I wonder if anyone honored them because of the war. There is so much about the Minolta that cries out Zeiss that I think there was a lot of copying going on. My history understanding isn't very good either.
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