Spitlight

The Spitlight projector from outside in January 2019 in Winterthur

Interior view: The interior is filled by the carbon arc lamp and the optics and offers space for 3–4 people.

In the cockpit of the spitlight. The actions of the projector can be controlled from here.

Spitlight , sometimes called Andreoli-Spitlight is an outdoor projector , which by Swiss engineer Gianni Andreoli was built (1919-1971) in the years 1955/56 and at the Winter Olympiad e of Cortina di Ampezzo in 1956 used for the first time has been. In 1985 it was entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest projector in the world .

history

The Swiss engineer Gianni Andreoli had already built a first large projector for the 1952 World Photography Exhibition. In 1955/56 he built an improved version under the name P.300.S Spitlight and has also registered various patents for it. In contrast to the previous model, it was mobile and was mounted on a Bedford truck. The generator that was specifically required was on a trailer that had to be carried around at all times. The vehicle was eye-catching because of its appearance, as it was reminiscent of a rocket. Thanks to a bogie, the structure could be rotated in all directions.

Complex high-voltage technology was combined inside. The centerpiece was a strong carbon arc lamp . It generated a light intensity of 375,000 lumens . A projection of normal slides was not possible due to the great heat development. Temperatures of 5000–7000 degrees Celsius were created and extensive cooling was necessary. That is why metal templates, so-called gobos, were used . This allowed simple graphics to be projected onto rock walls or clouds over a distance of 6 kilometers for 40 seconds each. The side length of the picture was then 1 kilometer. A drum mechanism made it possible to change the metal templates, so that animation effects such as a countdown could easily be achieved. The lamp's carbon rods had to be changed every 15 minutes. A team of 4 people was required to operate.

The Spitlight was first used at the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina di Ampezzo . It was later used for other major events. However, the inventor did not succeed in making his device profitable. To protect it from access by investors who might have dismantled and sold the device, it was hidden for years.

After the inventor's death, his widow gave it to the Technorama in Winterthur . This institution was originally conceived as a technology museum and was later transformed into a science center that no longer needed such devices. A private association led by the Winterthur technician Mark Ofner took over the device and handed it over to the Enter Museum for computers and entertainment electronics in Solothurn in 2019 . This association wants to restore the device and make it functional again.

literature

• Claude Settele: Coca-Cola in the clouds . In: Lucerne latest news, magazine. February 26, 1983, pp. 4-8.
• Martin Gysi: Winterthur section saves world record projector . In: Swiss Technical Journal (STV). 1986, No. 2, January 29, 1986, pp. 9-14.

Web links

• Entries in the database of the European Patent Office
• Andreoli's estate in the Swiss National Library
• Spitlight information in the Enter museum
• Interview with Gertrud Andreoli by Mani Hildebrand, Schweizer Fernsehen (SF DRS), 1982
• Interview with Mark Ofner on November 10, 2015

Individual evidence

1. ↑ European Patent Office. Retrieved June 18, 2020 . 
2. ^ Association for the maintenance and operation of the Spitlight projector. Retrieved June 18, 2020 . 
3. ↑ Mark Ofner, Winterthur. Retrieved June 18, 2020 .