ATM J.W. Fecker

[Peter Abrahams <telscope@europa.com>]

Henry King, The History of the Telescope, p370, 395-6:  J.W. Fecker, one of
the first to master the construction of the Schmidt camera.  Father,
Gottlieb L. Fecker worked at Warner & Swasey 1895-, (holds patent marked on
W. & S. binocular).  J.W. started own business in Cleveland & in 1926 took
over Brashear-McDowell after death of M.  First large job, 69 inch f4.3 for
Perkins Observatory, Ohio Wesleyan.  1933, refigured 60 inch f5.1 mirror by
Common at Harvard, made new mount, then sent to Bloemfontein in South
Africa.  Paraskevopoulos designed & made set of control rods to adjust
figure of the primary for different inclinations of the telescope.
1937, first large Fecker telescope, 61 inch f5.1 Wyeth telescope for
Harvard's Agassiz station, Cassegrain - Newtonian, fork mount.  1940, 60
inch f5 for Warner & Swasey at Cordoba Obs., Argentina.  Also designed &
built the Copernican Planetarium, American Museum of Natural History.
Died 1945, had started work on a 60 inch / 60 inch f2.5 Schmidt for Harvard.  
J.W. Fecker Inc. continued, built two 10 inch refractors, 8 inch Mak at
City College, N.Y.; 24 inch for Arizona State College, Flagstaff; 38 inch
Cassegrain for Butler U., Indiana.

You'll find ads for Fecker telescopes (mostly professional but also
amateur) in Sky & Telescope circa 1950.

http://www.contraves-brashear.com .

1881  - 1920s    John Brashear Co.
1920s - 1960s    J.W. Fecker Company
1960s - 1974     A division of the Kollmorgen Company?
1974  - 1997     Contraves Goerz (name was later shortend to just Contraves)
1997  - 1999?    Contraves Brashear Systems (a transitional name)
1999? -          Brashear Systems
The John Brashear Company was established
                  in 1881 and the Goerz Optical Company in
                  1905.  The descendant companies of these two
                  pioneers were purchased in 1974 by a Swiss
                  corporation, Contraves A.G., and united to form
                  Contraves Goerz Corporation.  Its name later
                  changed to Contraves Inc.  

                  Today's Contraves Brashear Systems was
                  founded in 1997 when the Fire Control Systems
                  and Surveillance divisions of Contraves Inc.
                  were acquired by William E. Conway, a
                  founding partner of the Carlyle Group.  The
                  Company operates two manufacturing facilities
                  in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania area and
                  employs over 100 scientists, engineers,
                  opticians and support staff.  The Company
                  operates in four diverse, but complimentary
                  product areas:  
                      Telescope Systems  
                      Optical Components  
                      Electro Optical Systems for Fire Control,
                  Tracking and Surveillance  

I would be very interested in any further information on Fecker, including
such trivia as what his name was.
_______________________________________
Peter Abrahams   telscope@europa.com
the history of the telescope, the microscope,
    and the prism binocular