Antique brass telescope made by Fecker c. 1931-1933 in PA
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For sale is a telescope made between1931-33 by J. W. Fecker in Pittsburgh, PA. It was dated using the date code on the two Telechron clock motors in the mount casting. It was restored over a period of about 2 years. When it came into my father's possession it was largely complete, but it had been sitting in a damp basement for decades. It was taken completely apart, cleaned, polished, painted and lacquered, and re-assembled. A few things were repaired including the declination slow motion clamp casting. A new knob was made for that. A faithful replica of the RA clamp was generated but this was to large and hit parts of the mount as the telescope was moved. 3D printed knob and shaft assemblies we designed and made to find out what would not interfere as the scope was slewed around the sky. Weight was added to the front of the telescope for balance.
A new eyepiece holder was made that uses a Baader Clicklock collet style locking clamp. A Takahashi prism type diagonal is fitted, which also uses a collet type eyepiece clamping system.
Regarding the objective, it was scratched and frosted by fungus. The glass was polished and refigured by Roger Ceragioli of the Arizona Mirror labs. One small change was to make R2 and R3 slightly different to eliminate ghost images which are known to occur when they are identical. A glow-in-the-dark objective cap with a Fecker inscription was 3D printed. It uses Velcro loop material as a cushion for the lens cell polished bronze. The finder has a matching cover.
The telescope would have normally been supplied with a shapely cast iron pier. One was located that was not under a Fecker telescope, but the owner would not part with it. I designed and made an oak pier using wood sawn from trees in my yard. I was inspired by the shape of the timber frame mounting of the Williams College 1852 Alvan Clark telescope, mounted by Phelps of New York.
This telescope was restored by Alan Sliski, current president of the Antique Telescope Society. David Sliski, his son is helping him sell the telescope. It will most likely travel to NEAF for those who might be interested in checking the piece out in person. Please feel free to inquire about additional details about the telescope and refurbishment.
A new eyepiece holder was made that uses a Baader Clicklock collet style locking clamp. A Takahashi prism type diagonal is fitted, which also uses a collet type eyepiece clamping system.
Regarding the objective, it was scratched and frosted by fungus. The glass was polished and refigured by Roger Ceragioli of the Arizona Mirror labs. One small change was to make R2 and R3 slightly different to eliminate ghost images which are known to occur when they are identical. A glow-in-the-dark objective cap with a Fecker inscription was 3D printed. It uses Velcro loop material as a cushion for the lens cell polished bronze. The finder has a matching cover.
The telescope would have normally been supplied with a shapely cast iron pier. One was located that was not under a Fecker telescope, but the owner would not part with it. I designed and made an oak pier using wood sawn from trees in my yard. I was inspired by the shape of the timber frame mounting of the Williams College 1852 Alvan Clark telescope, mounted by Phelps of New York.
This telescope was restored by Alan Sliski, current president of the Antique Telescope Society. David Sliski, his son is helping him sell the telescope. It will most likely travel to NEAF for those who might be interested in checking the piece out in person. Please feel free to inquire about additional details about the telescope and refurbishment.
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