There seems to be enough volunteer support among faculty, postdocs, and students
to provide presentors and organizers. It would probably be a good idea to develop some
sort of training for the presentors.
Victor can do repairs in planetarium, if we give him detailed instructions.
Mike Spencer does not have time to work on the planetarium, as in the past.
A Goto technician was used in the past, but probably not worth looking into this
again since he wasn't that useful.
New Planetarium Projector
Department & administration are generally supportive.
Art can request money from dept. for maintenance, repairs, and some purchases. $500 -
$1000 per year is probably no big deal.
Small upgrades
Some sort of surge protection for individual bulbs, to prolong their life.
Planet alignment - can probably be done by two people in an afternoon. This would be
a good first step to improve quality of shows.
Replace/upgrade/fix controls at the console.
Painting the inside of the dome - don't know what's involved here, but should ask Tim
Smart.
Add new posters inside dome - this seems like a good idea.
Replace slide projector(s) with computer projectors. Could use department laptop to run
this, or possibly a (new) dedicated computer. Dept. would probably be willing to buy this
if we developed a clear plan about how it would be used, and how it would benefit the
shows.
Redesign & improve planetarium website.
Cleaning
Can probably have facilities mop floors bi-monthly (dept. will pay for this), and we
can sweep it out on the alternate months.
Need to ask Tim Smart about options for getting exterior of domes cleaned.
Laserama
Tried to run last quarter, but a board blew. It should be fixed by now, but hasn't
been tested yet.
Hopefully try to have shows this quarter, but there are no plans yet.
Many of the shows are somewhat dated now, and so there is some interest in designing
new shows. Designing new shows involves some programming, but is probably not that
difficult. Would be good to design shows that appeal to both kids and their parents -
things like Disney, beatles, etc.
Laserama committee is not organized now, Tau Beta Pi needs to organize themselves and
this committee soon.
Would a new computer help? Alex is not sure...
Getting help from Mark Ross - he still lives nearby and works in Pasadena. Alex thinks
he's willing to help, if we're organized and his schedule permits.
Is the A/C actually working in the planetarium yet?