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The Legendary Questar 3.5" Telescope
"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth"
I was in first grade when JFK made that speech, the space race was in full gear and I became very interested in Astronomy. When I was older my parents gave me a small refractor one year for Christmas. I think it was from E.J. Korvettes. I could see the moon, Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings. When I was in junior high, I started to see magazine ads for this amazing Questar 3.5" Telescope. I used one at Northwestern University. I had never seen or used anything like it. Ever. It was beautiful and functional. Werner Von Braun had a Questar. So did Arthur C. Clarke. Johnny Carson and Barry Goldwater owned Questars. The Smithsonian has one on display. The first pictures of the earth taken from space were taken with a Questar telescope. These Questar ads were speaking - TO ME!!! Beautiful pictures of the moon, galaxies and nebulae were featured in these ads - things I had no hope of seeing in my modest instrument. But alas, well placed hints to my parents produced no fruit - a $1000 telescope was simply out of reach for our family. I decided I'd be a better engineer than astronomer, and I kind of forgot about the little Questar that had made such an impression on me. Fast forward a lot of years and my Questar 3.5" finally found me! Made in 2003 in New Hope, PA from all USA made components, this Questar 3.5" became available locally as part of an Estate Sale. I have completed the initial cleaning and the scope is in really good shape. It truly is "an observatory in a box" as vintage ads clearly state. The quality and craftsmanship are evocative of a fine piece of audio gear. There are actually a lot of parallels to the venerable McIntosh MC275. Both became popular in the '60s are still in production today. Each has been improved over the years but retains the soul and character of the original. Like my MC 275 this little telescope is a keeper. The first line of the Questar Warranty and Service Policy reads: "We invite you to inspect a Questar at our offices in New Hope, Pennsylvania, USA where you are always welcome." Indeed... Tom
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Main System: Amati Futura Mains Amati Homage VOX Center, Proac Response 1sc Rears, Three MC2301's for L,C,R MC 602 for the rears C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 80 Nottingham Dais with Wave Mechanic Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation SurfacePro 3, RPi 4, ROON, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material. Lake House: Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 77, Rega P3 OnDeck: McIntosh MAC 4300v |
#2
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Tom, that is too cool. CONGRATS!!
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#3
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Thanks Randy!
First light will be later this evening - the skies just started clearing up. Tom
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Main System: Amati Futura Mains Amati Homage VOX Center, Proac Response 1sc Rears, Three MC2301's for L,C,R MC 602 for the rears C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 80 Nottingham Dais with Wave Mechanic Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation SurfacePro 3, RPi 4, ROON, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material. Lake House: Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 77, Rega P3 OnDeck: McIntosh MAC 4300v |
#4
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Tom....how cool is that!
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Pete No. 35 Main System: VPI Prime Signature TT in Rosewood, Ortofon Cadenza Black, Stillpoints LP1 V2, McIntosh: MP100, MR78, MCD1000 Transport on Stillpoint Ultra Minis, MDA1000 D/A Converter on Stillpoint Ultra Minis, MS750 Music Server, C40, MC501's (3), Soundcraftsmen: DC2215 Eq/AS1000 Real time analyzer, DBX 3BX II, Carver C9, Nakamichi Dragon, Crown SX724, Crown D-75A (as headphone amp), Sony XBR55X900E 4K TV, JBL L220A's, JBL B460, Sumo Delilah active crossover, WireWorld Silver Eclipse audio interconnects, WireWorld Starlight and Silver Starlight Coaxial Digital interconnects, Wireworld SuperNova 7 Toslink digital interconnect, WireWorld Aurora 7 and Silver Electra Power cords, Wireworld Silver Eclipse 8 speaker cables, Terk AF-1 Powered Antenna, Oppo UDP-205 4K Blu-Ray Player, Bryson BUC-1 USB Converter, Wireworld Gold Starlight XLR Digital interconnect, PS Audio Direct Stream Power Plant 12 on Stillpoint Ultra Minis, PS Audio Dectect, FuruTech Flux-50 NCF Inline Power Filter, Add-Powr Wizard EM Field AC Line conditioner; Stillpoint Ultra SS's under (3) McIntosh MC501 Amplifiers Florida Room/Art Studio System: Harmon Kardon T60 TT/Ortofon 2M Black, McIntosh: MR77, C32, MC2205; Crown Power Line Four, Wyred for Sound DAC-2 Digital to Analog converter, Soundcraftsmen AE2000 Eq, JBL 4313B's, JBL 2241-based Sub, JBL BX63A Active Crossover, Oppo BDP-105D Blu-Ray Player, Samsung 5500 Series 32" Smart TV, Terk AF-1 Powered Antenna Master Bedroom System: McIntosh: MX120 Theater processor, MC206 6-channel amplifier; MR74 AM/FM Tuner, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, JVC HM-DH40000U D-Theater Digital VHS, Phase Technology PC80 Towers (now used as stands), (2) JBL 4401's, (1) JBL Studio 6IW speaker, (2) JBL Studio 6IC speakers, Sony XBR-49X900E UHD TV, Panamax 1000 Line Conditioner, (2) JL Audio E110 Subwoofers, Wireworld Solstice speaker cables, Wireworld Aurora Power cords, Wireworld Equinox and Solstice speaker cables and various other flavors of Wireworld and Audioquest cabling Office System: Marantz 150 Tuner, Crown DL 2, Crown EQ 2, Crown SA 2, Crown D-75A (as headphone amp), McIntosh MCD7009 (as transport), DBX 3BX Series II, Oppo BDP-103 Blu-ray player, JBL 4401's, JL Audio E112 Subwoofer, Samsung 5500 series 32" Smart TV, Wire World Oasis audio interconnects, Wire World Solstice speaker cables, Wyred for Sound DAC-2 DSDse Digital to Analog converter, Wireworld Starlight Coaxial Digital Interconnect, Sennheiser HD800 Headphones, Sennheiser HDVA600 Headphone amp, Wireworld Silver Eclipse Balanced Interconnects, Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB Cable, Add-Powr EAU-2 AC Harmonic resonator High Resolution Source: HP Omen 17" Gaming Laptop |
#5
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Beautiful - I also lusted after these when I was a kid.
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Tony D'Agostino Momentum S250 MxV & HD pre; Linn Klimax Organik DSM, SonicTransporter, EtherRegen; Acoustic Signature Typhoon Neo, Koetsu RSP, Boulder 1108; Sf Il Cremonese; Shunyata Everest, Altaira, Sigma & Alpha v2 |
#6
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Thanks Pete, Tony!
First Light I woke up early this morning and the skies were clear! The scope and tripod were easy to move and polar alignment took only a minute. I live 25 miles SW of Minneapolis in an area with a lot of light pollution. The seeing was just OK last night. The first target was Jupiter. The first thing I noticed was the contrast was really high. The bands were crisply defined in the 16mm EP. The seeing wasn't good enough to use the barlow. Mars was really small, not much to see there, just a red blob. The terminator on Venus was clearly defined and easy to see,. A filter would have been a nice addition here. M42 in Orion looked great in the 32mm EP. I could easily see the four brightest stars in the trampezium, but e and f were not visible. The moon was a treat - very crisp views with great contrast. I tried to find the Crab Nebula but struck out. It was pretty close to the moon and I just couldn't find it with the setting circles. It looks like the RA drive is not working. I can hear a very faint hum when it is plugged in, but it is not tracking. I'll take it apart later today. I'm not surprised since it has never been used. In summary, a good first outing. I found the controls easy to use and very smooth. I really liked the parfocal Brandon eyepieces and their integration with the finder. After polar alignment the tripod worked pretty well, it took less than 2 seconds for the vibrations to settle out. Tom
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Main System: Amati Futura Mains Amati Homage VOX Center, Proac Response 1sc Rears, Three MC2301's for L,C,R MC 602 for the rears C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 80 Nottingham Dais with Wave Mechanic Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation SurfacePro 3, RPi 4, ROON, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material. Lake House: Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 77, Rega P3 OnDeck: McIntosh MAC 4300v |
#7
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Terrific small mak. Your parallel to the MC275 is most apt. Congrats and a great find on a great little telescope.
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Glenn... Canton Reference 9 Clearaudio SM Pro Focal Bathys JLA 10" Dominion Kuzma Stabi S w/MC & MM Magnepan 1,7i McIntosh MA8950 & MR88 Oppo 203 Roon Nucleus Rose Hifi RS150B Shunyata Gemini-4 Sony ST-A6B, TA-F6B, ST-J75 & PS-X75 Sorane SA1.2 & TA-1L Stillpoints LP1v2 WW Pt, Au & Ag Last edited by Formerly YB-2; 11-01-2015 at 05:02 PM. Reason: my 'doh' moment. |
#8
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Thanks Glenn,
This sure is a small mak with all the benefits and limitations that go along with it. While I've got a few bugs to work out yet, this is already a great addition to the stable. It is just very well designed and executed. I had fun looking at some sunspots with the off axis solar filter this morning.
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Main System: Amati Futura Mains Amati Homage VOX Center, Proac Response 1sc Rears, Three MC2301's for L,C,R MC 602 for the rears C 1100, MX 151, MCD 1100, MR 80 Nottingham Dais with Wave Mechanic Sumiko Palo Santos Presentation SurfacePro 3, RPi 4, ROON, WW Starlight Platinum USB, Schiit Yggdrasil, Benchmark DAC3 HGC MX 151, OppO BDP-95, JVC RS-500 DILA projector, 106" diagonal Stewart Luxus Screenwall Deluxe with Studiotek 130 G3 material. Lake House: Ohm F, MC 275V, C2300, MR 77, Rega P3 OnDeck: McIntosh MAC 4300v |
#9
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Just stumbled onto this. I have a Questar 3.5 as well. I bought it new in 1996 and still enjoy it. Unfortunately, light pollution is a problem in the city and limits what I can see from my backyard, but it works well for planetary observations. I bought a used Meade 8" at one point in a hope to see fainter Messier objects, and indeed it was better than the Questar for that but the little telescope still out-resolved the Meade and was better for splitting binaries and that sort of work.
Plus, the Meade didn't have a leather case! Beautiful telescope! |
#10
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I'll add that mine is a duplex so it foregoes the defining Questar feature (the star chart) but adds the ability to dismount the tube for use as a terrestrial lens. In retrospect, I could have saved some money and gotten more pleasure from the esthetics by buying a "standard" as I've used the tube as a stand alone only once, and that was just to take some test shots.
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