X- sounds like you know a little bit about these old telescopes. And you just joined (welcome). Can you post any pics of the scopes you are describing as mounted? Are you into things audio as well?This Warner Swasey telescope looks in great shape, at least the parts do. There is a lot of brass there and of different composition/colors. It is very interesting to see the two different gears on the right, the finder scope holders and so much more. The main person in charge of the design of the telescopes at Warner & Swasey (Cleveland Ohio) was Gottliebe Fecker, later on helped by his own son J.W.Fecker. Much later J.W.Fecker started his own company and the "legacy" of the Warner Swasey telescopes lived on with the Fecker telescopes. The optics was usually made somewhere else. I am myself working on restauring a J.W.Fecker telescope, manufactured 50 years ago. It is a reflecting 15 inch Cassegrain. Usually the reflecting telescopes (which are more modern) are mounted on a "fork", this one however is mounted on an equatorial mount. What is more surprizing is that the equatorial mount looks very similar to the older Warner Swasey equatorial mount. The entire telescope was originally painted (everything!) and as I started removing the paint I discovered two brass wheels and additional pieces (gears) made of brass. I suspect that the equatorial mount was possibly made using older existing pieces. I have seen only very few reflecting telescopes mounted on such an old equatorial mount. In the older Warner Swasey telescopes the brass is never painted, especially the brass wheels. I believe the telescope you are showing is also mounted on an (german) equatorial mount made of solid iron with a mechanical clock situated in the box below the mount itself. Are you refurbishing the telescope and the mount and the clock? or just the scope itself? It is a very interesting project. Thanks for sharing that with us.
Wow, that's quite massive. at least the platform is. Aside from interest in antiquity, what is the quality of the optics from something that old? (I gather that part of the magic of old Leicas is the optics, but that's not my area, so I'm curious).Thanks. The scope right now is in pieces as I have been working on it (and I still have a lot to do).
The only audio I am in is restauring an antique radio using parts from another old radio (you know
these radios with bulbs in them; I also got some video cameras with "tubes" rather than modern CCDs).
Here is a picture of that Fecker telescope (fully equipped) taken some years ago. As you see everything
is painted, including some of the pieces (wheels and more) made of brass. View attachment 6422
Wow, I had no idea he could be like that.and Mr. Jarrett apparently knows a thing or two about insanity and obsession:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=26493
This is pretty groovy
http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/ttrabco.html
.......... being a physicist
Because the arms are “fussier” to set up and maintain than their pivoted brethren. Pivoted arms are almost the analog equivalent of digital’s “look ma, no hands” approach in comparison to linear tracking arms.
done properly, parallell tracking arms are unbeatable
everything else is a compromise imo
btw mine is easier to set up than anything else; just need a template with a thin red line from turntable spindle and adjust overhang so the needle follows the line from center to outer rim of LP
that´s it
best
Leif
done properly, parallell tracking arms are unbeatable
everything else is a compromise imo
btw mine is easier to set up than anything else; just need a template with a thin red line from turntable spindle and adjust overhang so the needle follows the line from center to outer rim of LP
that´s it
best
Leif
Well there was the Dennis Shreve mod for the Rabco and it did serve as the inspiration for the Goldmund arm (that was also a nightmare to set up, align and get to work properly; tangency was an issue early on with the Goldmund arms). But when set up right, it did sound quite good. It worked quite nicely with the Spectral cartridge way back then.
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