[Antenox]

Ok, so it shouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that I'm here looking for advice on a home planetarium to give as a Christmas gift.

Anyway, I found the Uncle Milton Star Theater Pro on Amazon.com for a pretty good price. My question is, is it any good?

The imagery used to advertise the Star Theater Pro makes me think that it's a superficially modified version of the Homestar or Homestar Pro, which I know has gotten great reviews, but I haven't seen any reviews for the Star Theater Pro specifically, and I'm always wary about making a purchase of over $100 that hasn't gotten at least a few testimonials apart from Amazon reviews.

Can anyone just give me a yea or nay recommendation on this particular planetarium, and maybe a description or even a comparison with the Homestar/Homestar Pro? I want to order it within the next day or two.

[Ken Miller]

Ok, so it shouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to figure out that I'm here looking for advice on a home planetarium to give as a Christmas gift.

Anyway, I found the Uncle Milton Star Theater Pro on Amazon.com for a pretty good price. My question is, is it any good?

The imagery used to advertise the Star Theater Pro makes me think that it's a superficially modified version of the Homestar or Homestar Pro, which I know has gotten great reviews, but I haven't seen any reviews for the Star Theater Pro specifically, and I'm always wary about making a purchase of over $100 that hasn't gotten at least a few testimonials apart from Amazon reviews.

Can anyone just give me a yea or nay recommendation on this particular planetarium, and maybe a description or even a comparison with the Homestar/Homestar Pro? I want to order it within the next day or two.

I've always had the impression that Uncle Milton just relabeled the Sega Homestar products, and that is the only difference. Like I've said before, it's a nice product. The thing is that everybody has to make their own value judgment as to whether it is worth the price. You might find a better price on eBay for the equivalent Homestar branded products.

My 4 year old granddaughter loved the original Homestar projector. She's 6 years old now, and I think she knows more about stars than I do. That probably isn't true for most kids that young. There are so many stars projected that you might have a hard time picking out specific stars and constellations. It is more of an awe inspiring thing than a learning tool.

[Ron Walker]

I agree with Ken.

[chris44448888]

I have one and it's it far better than the Homestar Pro and much brighter, well worth the $$

[Ron Walker]

I have one and it's it far better than the Homestar Pro and much brighter, well worth the $$

Hi Chris and welcome to OCP.

I know a fellow that has the same model of Homestar as I do. He was very unimpressed with the unit as it was very dim. I must agree as his was much dimmer then mine. Why, I don't know, as they should have been equal in brilance. I'm wondering if there are a bunch of Homestar's out there that are not up to snuff.

[chris44448888]

Hi Ron,
I have all of of the Homestar planetarium. The Homestar is 1 watt and dim, the Homestar Pro is 3 watts, better, but still not that bright. The Star Theater Pro, same as Astro Theater is much brighter than either and has better optics and the best bang for the buck considering you can find them for as low as $116. I also have the Homestar Extra which is by far the best of all of them. The brightness of the Star Theater Pro is just a little below the Extra, but the Extra has the best optic and features of all them and I think worth the $$.
The only bad thing about all of them is the star discs are all poor in my book. I have been working with Charles Rupp for the last 15 months on new discs for all those machines and they will vastly superior. They will have over 300k stars and be absolutely correct. They should be ready for sale in about 6 weeks. There will also be several other discs coming that include moon phases, twilight discs and Horizon discs as well as the Southern Hemisphere. There are also some other effects in the works.

[dwhitton1]

Hi Ron,
I have all of of the Homestar planetarium. The Homestar is 1 watt and dim, the Homestar Pro is 3 watts, better, but still not that bright. The Star Theater Pro, same as Astro Theater is much brighter than either and has better optics and the best bang for the buck considering you can find them for as low as $116. I also have the Homestar Extra which is by far the best of all of them. The brightness of the Star Theater Pro is just a little below the Extra, but the Extra has the best optic and features of all them and I think worth the $.
The only bad thing about all of them is the star discs are all poor in my book. I have been working with Charles Rupp for the last 15 months on new discs for all those machines and they will vastly superior. They will have over 300k stars and be absolutely correct. They should be ready for sale in about 6 weeks. There will also be several other discs coming that include moon phases, twilight discs and Horizon discs as well as the Southern Hemisphere. There are also some other effects in the works.

hello im new on the forum im from canada...
did you have finish your disc project
i would like to buy the Star Theater pro for my kids..

thanks dave

[timbo112]

[quote name='chris44448888' date='Feb 17 2010, 02:02 PM' post='32361']
Hi Ron,
I have all of of the Homestar planetarium. The Homestar is 1 watt and dim, the Homestar Pro is 3 watts, better, but still not that bright. The Star Theater Pro, same as Astro Theater is much brighter than either and has better optics and the best bang for the buck considering you can find them for as low as $116. I also have the Homestar Extra which is by far the best of all of them. The brightness of the Star Theater Pro is just a little below the Extra, but the Extra has the best optic and features of all them and I think worth the $.
The only bad thing about all of them is the star discs are all poor in my book. I have been working with Charles Rupp for the last 15 months on new discs for all those machines and they will vastly superior. They will have over 300k stars and be absolutely correct. They should be ready for sale in about 6 weeks. There will also be several other discs coming that include moon phases, twilight discs and Horizon discs as well as the Southern Hemisphere. There are also some other effects in the works.


Hi Chris,
After you're informative, quick reviews of all the planetariums I took the plunge and ordered the Homestar Extra.
It arrived today, I was a bit anxious forking out that much coin but I must say I am blown away.
It looks more realistic than I imagined for a projected image on the ceiling which isn't really far from the viewing point.

I just hope it lasts the distance for the price, it does seem to be put together well though.
I am very interested in the discs you mentioned you were working on.
Do you have any updates how they are going and when you think they will be available?
Cheers

[love the night s...]

before I purchase one which I have been researching all of them for awhile now. I wanted to know if the Home Start extra is still the top of the line in your oppinions ? please help I am anxious to buy one soon Thank you

[chris44448888]

[quote name='love the night sky' date='Aug 13 2010, 10:58 PM' post='35063']
before I purchase one which I have been researching all of them for awhile now. I wanted to know if the Home Start extra is still the top of the line in your oppinions ? please help I am anxious to buy one soon Thank you
[/quote


Yews the Homestar Extra is the very best out there!

[Nathan Volle]

Hi Ron,
I have all of of the Homestar planetarium. The Homestar is 1 watt and dim, the Homestar Pro is 3 watts, better, but still not that bright. The Star Theater Pro, same as Astro Theater is much brighter than either and has better optics and the best bang for the buck considering you can find them for as low as $116. I also have the Homestar Extra which is by far the best of all of them. The brightness of the Star Theater Pro is just a little below the Extra, but the Extra has the best optic and features of all them and I think worth the $$.
The only bad thing about all of them is the star discs are all poor in my book. I have been working with Charles Rupp for the last 15 months on new discs for all those machines and they will vastly superior. They will have over 300k stars and be absolutely correct. They should be ready for sale in about 6 weeks. There will also be several other discs coming that include moon phases, twilight discs and Horizon discs as well as the Southern Hemisphere. There are also some other effects in the works.

Hello Chris, I was just wondering about the star discs you mention---are they available?

[chris44448888]

[quote name='Nathan Volle' date='Jan 9 2011, 10:41 PM' post='37796']
Hello Chris, I was just wondering about the star discs you mention---are they available?
[/quotallencain@comcast.net

I an in the process of making molded for the plastic shell that holds the star discs for the AT and the Homestar Extra. I have the star count up, for the AT it is 1.2 million star and the Homestar Extra at 1.8 million stars.

[koenig]

I an in the process of making molded for the plastic shell that holds the star discs for the AT and the Homestar Extra. I have the star count up, for the AT it is 1.2 million star and the Homestar Extra at 1.8 million stars.

I have Home Pro, but the standard stars disk is "poor"...
Is it possible to place an order to your disk? Can you please inform when the disks will be ready.
Thank`s and good luck

[chris44448888]

The discs for the AT should be ready by mid March. The cost will $49/disc. There will be a southern hemisphere coming after that along with a few other discs

[koenig]

The discs for the AT should be ready by mid March. The cost will $49/disc. There will be a southern hemisphere coming after that along with a few other discs

Thank you for reply.
- How it will be possible to buy the discs in Europe?
- Is it possible to see a disc details anywhere?

(Also, I made a mistake, I have Uncle Milton Star Theater Pro of course).

[MorningStar]

Hi all, new here, a few things:

- I just bought an Uncle Milton Star Theatre Pro and would also be interested in the custom discs being developed if they are compatible with my unit. I'm also curious if you could share what are the additional 'effects'/images you have in the works aside from the standard star-fields?

-Also, I want to ask anyone who may know whether the Sega Homestar Pro discs are compatible with the Uncle Milton. I have encountered contradictory info all over the place, including this forum. While some folks have suggested the Milton is just a rebranded Sega, I'm not so sure. The discs appear similar but not identical - I've been unable to find out the dimensions of the Sega discs, I also note that the Sega discs don't appear to have the 3 pin-holes that the Uncle Milton does and instead has two parallel [holes?], but have no idea if these actually serve some function inside the unit (perhaps for the rotation?). There is a Sega constellations disc on ebay out of Japan that I'm interested in strictly for the aesthetic appeal, no big deal if I can't make it work I would just like to know whether I can swing it before deciding to make the investment. I also don't want to jam up my unit.

cheers all

[chris44448888]

Thank you for reply.
- How it will be possible to buy the discs in Europe?
- Is it possible to see a disc details anywhere?

(Also, I made a mistake, I have Uncle Milton Star Theater Pro of course).

The Discs will be available for sale worldwide. The discs will be avaiable on e bay and our web site when ready

[chris44448888]

Hi all, new here, a few things:

- I just bought an Uncle Milton Star Theatre Pro and would also be interested in the custom discs being developed if they are compatible with my unit. I'm also curious if you could share what are the additional 'effects'/images you have in the works aside from the standard star-fields?

-Also, I want to ask anyone who may know whether the Sega Homestar Pro discs are compatible with the Uncle Milton. I have encountered contradictory info all over the place, including this forum. While some folks have suggested the Milton is just a rebranded Sega, I'm not so sure. The discs appear similar but not identical - I've been unable to find out the dimensions of the Sega discs, I also note that the Sega discs don't appear to have the 3 pin-holes that the Uncle Milton does and instead has two parallel [holes?], but have no idea if these actually serve some function inside the unit (perhaps for the rotation?). There is a Sega constellations disc on ebay out of Japan that I'm interested in strictly for the aesthetic appeal, no big deal if I can't make it work I would just like to know whether I can swing it before deciding to make the investment. I also don't want to jam up my unit.

cheers all

The Uncle Milton discs will not fit the Homestar pro. The Uncle Milton machine is vastly better but the star discs are not as good as the Homestar. The holes in the discs are only there to hold the star film in place.

The additional discs that will be available will be a full moon disc with the moon that’s the correct size, a twilight disc with a crecent moon. There will also be a scenery disc for the horizon.

[MorningStar]

The Uncle Milton discs will not fit the Homestar pro. The Uncle Milton machine is vastly better but the star discs are not as good as the Homestar. The holes in the discs are only there to hold the star film in place.

The additional discs that will be available will be a full moon disc with the moon that’s the correct size, a twilight disc with a crecent moon. There will also be a scenery disc for the horizon.

Thanks very much for the reply - so, it's vice versa too I guess, the Homestar discs won't fit the Uncle Milton either? Good to know. Your custom discs sound really nice though, will certainly be interested if they will work in the U Milton. The major fault of the projector is the paucity of discs for the price, they really should have developed a larger range of discs to make real use of the function of having them interchangeable in the first place...Perhaps they will develop a new model at some point and didn't think the production costs were worth it, who knows.

[irlsanders]

Are the custom discs available yet? I've searched ebay and the web with no luck. Could you provided a link?

THanks.