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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:27:03 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 04:28 AM Here the main gear mechanism of the projector goes up. Just minutes after this the starball went onto the machine.
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:27:23 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 04:32 AM VoilĂ the starball! Dramatic Technicolor LED sky behind...
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:27:40 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 04:39 AM First light on the starball mixed with LED lights. Looks just great! Unfortunately the compression required here for the 100k limit makes a mess out of the stars...Orion in the center. The machine works very well after some 2 years in storages. Had a few sparks from the sliding contacts at the beginning but that stopped after a few rotations at somewhat higher speeds. Corrosion on some of the star plates is visible but only to the initiated....
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:27:56 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 04:51 AM The intensity and smoothness of the LED cove lights is just amazing. We limited the power at full DMX level to 50 % of the total brightness. Way enough. This way we have more resolution at the lower end. Dimming the LEDs is and was a headache much as I had expected. Different colors seem to have different starting points. The red lights work perfectly all the way down to zero . Green blue and white come on suddenly but without flicker. The LED dimmers have been changed several times and the software programming took several afternoons to get to this point. The supplier was surprised at how low the light levels must be in the dome. The LED lights in conjunction with the smooth and seamless dome give the impression of looking into an infinite sky dome when people come into the planetarium. This caused some gasps and remarks of how awesone it looked.
The way I work at the moment is to use the LED light down to about 20 % and then use the blue dome light on the projector for the last "mile" before going to black. The transition is invisible. The blue dome light on the machine consists of 2 60 Watt lamps and blue pyrex glass filters. And this is on a dead smooth VariAc.
'Testing red dome lights and various line projectors here: Sun and some planets are on as well.
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:28:12 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 04:58 AM The down looking spotlight theme used in the dome is also taken up in the rest of the room.
Everything is on dimmers and has a 2 second ramp to go to full brightness. So even if you hit the switch the lights will come on smoothly.
I am just beginning to program some scenarios into the dimmer board but for my first test projections I still do everything by hand.
The emergency lights are on a kill switch on my dimmer board. I can turn them off for the show but they control the presence of mains power and will switch on if there is a power failure. Two signs over the exits and 3 of the downlights in the dome are part of this emergency system. I also have 2 doors in the entrance way which will keep light out of the planetarium if someone comes in too late.
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:28:32 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 05:04 AM On the floor above the planetarium the top part of the dome is visible and makes for a very mysterious looking object. We have thought to paint it like Klaatus spaceship from The Day The Earth Stood Still.... wink.gif In fact I think I will use it as another projection surface. The room was painted a dark night blue and will house various exhibits of more than 100 years of puppet theater history. We got an archive of more than 1000 puppets dating back to 1908. I also would like to have some planetarium related stuff here. The lighting installation is still unfinished. We have various attachment points for lighting fixtures. Everything is as flexible as possible.
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:28:52 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 05:14 AM We are thinking about Opening Night !!!
Probably by the end of January. I had some test projections for friends and family and I am looking forward to a packed house ! People's reaction to the optically projected sky has been more than favorable. I hope I can keep up the interest. Like Ron I think a lot about what to present and how. Only practice will show if I can go against the grain of the multimedia star show that seems to be the staple in todays planetariums. It all depends on how it is presented and how people will feel about it. I am more than a bit nervous I confess!
To think that it looked like this in October shows the amount of work that has been done!
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:29:09 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Jan 4 2014, 05:16 AM To end this series I show you a look into the room from behind the star projector. Tell me what you think! I am following Rons progress and wish him all the best for his planetarium!
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:30:12 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Jan 4 2014, 10:45 AM I think everything is just fantastic! The seats are great, they look brand new. The lighting is just as great and does indeed look like the bridge of a starship. The star projection makes me drool. huh.gif You have a class "A" operation there. CONGRATULATIONS!!!...on a job very well done!
I look forward to your show reports. I really don't think you will have any problems at all as I find in talking to people that most everyone likes the "old fashioned" type star show more then ever as they are becoming harder and harder to find. I most admit that I'm glad you will face the crowds first as the more feed back I can get from you guys out there actually doing shows, the less trauma for me as the anticipation of a vicious hostile crowd with fangs and sharp pointed nails permeates my subconscious.
Again congrats on a job well done and a beautiful facility.
Some pic of the lighting control and dome side installation would be interesting.
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:30:30 GMT -7
Posted by: Ken Miller Jan 5 2014, 08:19 PM That is an incredibly beautiful result. The concept and implementation is totally inspiring. Good job!!
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:30:52 GMT -7
Posted by: moonmagic Jan 6 2014, 06:00 PM Let me add my sincere CONGRATULATIONS on your SPECTACULAR installation. It is "FIRST CLASS" all the way. We are all in awe! mm
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:31:12 GMT -7
Posted by: zemt Feb 22 2014, 06:21 PM Congratulation Albert for this wonderfull project ! maybe we will see this summer at Chavannes ? what is the diameter of the dome ? i find it a bit high. This is a choice that is discussed. Best Regards Yves Lss planetariums open project lss-planetariums.info/
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:31:34 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Feb 22 2014, 07:16 PM I am wondering Albert how the sound reflections are now that you have the dome finished. I have noted that while I had sound reinforcement zones before I had no real echo problem. Now that the drywall and plaster are in, the dome has become a real echo chamber. Great for music, bot not so good for dialog intelligibility. Since you have a plaster dome I'm wondering how things finally turned out and what steps you took to kill these reflections?
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:32:05 GMT -7
Posted by: albert Feb 23 2014, 08:15 AM Bonjour Yves, hello Ron,
I look forward to seeing you this summer in Chavannes! To answer your question: the dome is built to Zeiss specs, with a springline at 2. 10 meters. I added 5 cms to the height to leave room for a possible chariot on wheels under the projector. The dome has a diameter of 6 m. The zenith goes up to 5.10 meters. It does not give the impression of being too high when you are standing under it. Any lower, and the people would have to bend over to walk into it. Yesterday I had a giant with more than 2 ms in height and he could get in there without bumping into the light cove!
Hi Ron, I can imagine what your dome sounds like now. I was appalled at the echo when everything was just the raw walls. In the center I had more than 2 seconds of reverberation time. Clap your hands and count! Now the (plushy) seats are installed, the carpet is in and the semicircular wall the dome rests on is covered in tissue, the echo is tolerable. It gets worse towards the center of the dome, but I can talk to people without any strain on my voice. This was put to the test when we had OUR OPENING!!!!last Sunday. to celebrate the occasion (and to test my vocal cords, too) I had 5 shows back to back, from 14 .00 to 18.00. That went quite well and my routine has improved. Let me tell you, it's even more fun to do these shows than I expected! Since everything is "live" I can adapt to the needs of the audience. Friday we had a lengthy question - and -answers session....I came out sweating, because of some tough questions! I also turned some of the "drawbacks" of the old Zeiss machine into advantages. Yesterday I had the POLAR AXIS in use for the first time, going to the North pole....I asked a kid who had his anniversary that day to come and turn the crank of the projector...that certainly was more of an experience than just pushing a button or turning a pot! The LED lighting in the cove works perfectly now, but it was tough. We had to install a secondary lighting system for the "weak blue", a sort of glassfiber hose that is run by only four blue LEDs in the four quadrant points of the dome. This is on with the "strong blue" on the LED ring. And when I run the fader down, the "strong blue" goes out first, and then the dome is lit only by these four LEDs whose light is distributed all round the dome . we had to experiment with ND filters to cover up the entrance points of the LEDS into the fiberglass "diffuser" and now its just smooth as silk. Better than the "dome blue" on the machine itself, because the horizon is brighter than the rest of the dome.
I will put some new pictures ino these pages ASAP. All the best for you!
Albert
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Post by Ron Walker on Sept 18, 2022 17:32:25 GMT -7
Posted by: Ron Walker Feb 23 2014, 09:58 AM Congrats on your opening day. Five shows would have left me without a voice. I would love to know what your opening talk was about and what were the kind of questions were the tough ones. Was that Friday session part of a show or just open to questions? How about the regular shows on Sunday, were the questions as tough? Good to hear that the shows went smoothly and not as taxing as one would imagine.
What kind of show schedule are you planning for the planetarium and how long is each show? Terrified minds want to know everything. ohmy.gif
When you say the walls are covered in tissue, exactly what do you mean? I'm wondering if carpet is run up the walls to the spring line it will help more. It is also good to hear that the long echo is now controlled to a practical point. Time and experimentation will tell.
I would love to see pictures of the low light blue and exactly what it looks like.
Again Congrats!!!
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