Comments on: HomeStar - 21st Century Home Planetarium

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 20:54:52 +0000

Sorry Peter, I can’t help you there as I don’t believe I received this bracket with my planetarium.

By: Peter Gunston

Peter Gunston — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:20:22 +0000

Hi Jeff, just wondering if you can help me to identify the use of a bracket that came with the earth data disc. It is designed to fit on the underside of the disc holder tray for the sega homestar pro, is it just for the earth disc or for use with all data discs?

regards Peter

By: Peter Gunston

Peter Gunston — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:26:33 +0000

I have just purchased the 2nd edition, what a fantastic planetarium well worth the money. I especially like the new northern hemisphere data disc with around 60k stars it has the real wow factor and it is hours of entertainment identifying the various constellations and learning the facts and trivia about them, you don’t even have to wait for a clear dark night or even for it to be night. Just blackout your room and away you go. I purchased additional data discs (although not easy as Sega have stopped producing them) of the southern hemisphere (stars and stars with constellations) earth and the moon. They are all very clear and detailed. My next project is to build a dome to view the planetarium in as the unit, with its convex lens blurs the stars around the edges when projected onto a flat ceiling or wall. I managed to find plans for one made out of cardboard although I plan to make mine out of double walled corrugated plastic sheets with plastic “H” joiners. This should make it very durable and easy to flat pack for storage and transport. This should give me a complete out of this world viewing experience, can’t wait.

Anybody that bags this planetarium will never be satisfied with life due to their over the top expectations. If you are not impressed by the 60k stars projected onto the ceiling in the comfort of your own room, night or day, then how boring are they?

All in all the Sega Homestar Pro 2nd Edition is well worth the money. You can pick them up now for as little as USD$160 including free postage, my one cost USD$180 which is still great value for money. My 5 & 6 year olds love this in their room at night. I have gone a bit crazy with buying “space” products since my son has developed a keen interest in astronomy I have purchased this as well as the Uncle Milton’s solar system and moon in my room. I figure it is much easier and comfortable to learn about our solar system and the rest of the galaxy from the comfort of your own home, rather than buying an expensive telescope, waiting for a dark clear night in the middle of nowhere on top of some mountain. Which is where David should go and stay!

By: Ray

Ray — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:57:11 +0000

Hi jeff just read your response to david caldecotts review and was taken back by how much of a complete tool bag you are people dont choose to be poorly educated i went to one of the worst schools in bedfordshire that doe’snt make people less hestiant to listern to me i had no problem reading davids review and found it helpful. mrrr!

By: Zie

Zie — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:30:22 +0000

Hi there,

I just got my Sega Homestar Extra. I was so very excited about this product right from the outset. I purchased it via eBay for almost $550 bucks. This vendor from Japan also sent me a xerox copy of the working manual in English. As soon as I set it up and have it turned on, my heart just sank. This unit is almost like a slide projector and nothing more. The stars sizes are so large, it’s not even a good representation of what the actual star-watching is like. I could’ve just buy a slide projector and buy a couple of star or galaxy slides and make my own. I am really bugged about the size of the stars, as they are simple just huge, on the wall and the color disk looks faded when projected. The rotating disk just spins the star round and round in a circle. I wish it would’ve simulated the star movement, but it didn’t, it just spin in circle. Anyhow, I wish Sega uses the laser technology to make this product instead of using cheesy slides, because that’s what the effect turned out to be.……

In conclusion, I recommend people to skip this product because there is nothing that this product does that really mimic the real star look at all.…

Good luck!

By: Anto

Anto — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:46:51 +0000

Hello,

I bought homestar pro 2nd edition along with some disks and looks so cool; I would like to know

if anyone has 3D homestar planetarium disk version (with glasses for 3d viewing), and how to

obtain it; I cannot find sega toys’ e-mail address.

Please help

Thank you

By: Feenando

Feenando — Sat, 10 Jul 2010 08:04:37 +0000

Where can I download the instructions of the homestar extra 21st century planetarium? I just purchased one for my son’s birthday but it came with Japanese instructions and remote. Please help.

By: Travelay

Travelay — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 08:02:55 +0000

@David Caldecott — First of all, this planetarium doesn’t simulate the moon, so buying a telescope and looking at the moon isn’t an appropriate comparison. Secondly, your incorrect use of a possessive apostrophe for “1000’s”, “your” instead of “you’re”, and “there” instead of “their” (all beyond simple typos) makes you out to be an uneducated person. And most people are hesitant to listen to, let alone believe, uneducated people.

Too true, Jeff. If only there were fewer of these idiots posting badly-written “reviews” on the internet. Fortunately your writing is always grammatically perfect and that’s one of the reasons I enjoy reading it so much.

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:18:45 +0000

Hi Chris.I was really interested in your report on the Homestar Extra.I am thinking of getting one and constructing a mini planetarium of sorts.Could you tell me,does the star disc contain the entire Northern hemisphere of the sky? i.e. if you sat and watched,would it show the rise and setting of all the stars/constellations throughout the night visible from your location,depending on the time of year etc? obviously,minus the Moon,Sun and planets.Is the remote used simply to turn the unit on and off,or can you preset times or dates to project the sky?

By: Mark Haywood

Mark Haywood — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:13:56 +0000

Chris,

Long ago you mentioned translating the manual for the Homestar from Japanese to English. I recently purchased and just received the Homestar Extra. It was supposed to come with an English version of the manual but it only came with the Japanese manual. Do you know where I can find an English version of the manual?

Cheers, Mark