Telescope Reviews: Inside Questar

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Equipment Discussions >> Cats & Casses

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Masvingo
sage

Reged: 01/10/12

Loc: Ayrshire, Scotland

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: stevew]
#5550750 - 12/02/12 05:47 PM

Yup, this is the 3.5" (90mm) Questar.

James

Post Extras:

Darren Drake
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/09/02

Loc: Chicagoland

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Masvingo]
#5550804 - 12/02/12 06:30 PM

I was not able to find a serial number but I'm also not sure where to look.

Post Extras:

Billydee
professor emeritus

Reged: 01/23/08

Loc: Winter Haven, FL

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5551003 - 12/02/12 08:40 PM

Darren,

Nice Post. If it has a serial number it is on the bottom base plate. Pick the Lady up and turn her over and it will be on that plate. In the early ones (before the mid-1990s) it was just put on by hand and not stamped.

Thanks for the Post, Bill

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greedyshark
sage

Reged: 10/31/05

Loc: 3rd Rock

Re: Inside Quester new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5551030 - 12/02/12 08:58 PM

Nice! Thanks for posting!

Charles

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Jaimo!
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 10/11/07

Loc: Exit 135 / 40° North

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: stevew]
#5551062 - 12/02/12 09:13 PM

Thanks!

Jaimo!

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jouster
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 11/27/05

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Jaimo!]
#5551270 - 12/02/12 11:24 PM

Can it split doubles?

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Larry Geary
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 09/24/06

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: jouster]
#5552803 - 12/03/12 08:51 PM

The spring inside the baffle tube serves as a series of baffle rings. (On my Questar, the inside of the baffle tube and the spring are blackened, as well as the outside of the end of the baffle tube.) It works very well. Pointing the scope directly at a light bulb and looking through the baffle tube from the back, there are no stray reflections.

Post Extras:

Darren Bly
sage

Reged: 07/24/06

Loc: Bakersfield, Ca

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: jouster]
#5552820 - 12/03/12 09:02 PM

Quote:

Can it split doubles?

Sure but you only get to see one of them!

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GeneT
Ely Kid

Reged: 11/07/08

Loc: South Texas

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5552882 - 12/03/12 09:29 PM

Cool--really cool! Brought back memories of long ago.

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DoctorNoodle
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 07/14/07

Loc: Lawn Guyland, NY

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: GeneT]
#5554533 - 12/04/12 07:47 PM

Beautiful!!! Thanks for posting those pics.

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blave
member

Reged: 08/11/09

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: DoctorNoodle]
#5554955 - 12/05/12 01:01 AM

Your efforts in taking these pictures are very much appreciated. I received from my parents (at my request) a copy of The Telescope Handbook and Sky Atlas on my 21st birthday -- in 1980. It had that wonderful cutaway view of the Q3.5, and I've wanted one ever since (quite a lot!). So, for my 50th birthday, I bought a 1972 model with 2004 optics for myself... I'll never let it go!

Dave B.
San Jose, CA

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Tanveer Gani
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 11/02/06

Loc: Washington State

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Larry Geary]
#5555681 - 12/05/12 01:26 PM

Quote:

The spring inside the baffle tube serves as a series of baffle rings. (On my Questar, the inside of the baffle tube and the spring are blackened, as well as the outside of the end of the baffle tube.) It works very well. Pointing the scope directly at a light bulb and looking through the baffle tube from the back, there are no stray reflections.

I would've guessed that the act of cutting in half released the spring from its original position but the truth is even more interesting. The spring is there obviously to eliminate mirror shift but its dual use as a baffle is ingenious. Celestron and Meade could pick up this trick.

Tanveer.

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Tanveer Gani
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 11/02/06

Loc: Washington State

Re: Inside Quester new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5555684 - 12/05/12 01:27 PM

Quote:

and inside the Brandon eyepiece....

It's a 2-1-2! I thought Brandons were all 2-2.

Thanks for taking the pictures, Darren.

Tanveer.

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Tanveer Gani
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 11/02/06

Loc: Washington State

Re: Inside Quester new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5555687 - 12/05/12 01:28 PM

Quote:

another view....

I understand the prism diagnonal and the eyepiece above. What's the tube directly opposite the eyepiece for?

Tanveer.

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Darren Drake
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/09/02

Loc: Chicagoland

Re: Inside Quester new

[Re: Tanveer Gani]
#5555695 - 12/05/12 01:34 PM

That tube below the eyepiece is the finder with the lenses built in which is reflecting at 90 degrees from a small mirror below it.

Edited by Darren Drake (12/05/12 01:53 PM)

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Tanveer Gani
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 11/02/06

Loc: Washington State

Re: Inside Quester new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5555712 - 12/05/12 01:47 PM

Quote:

That tube below the eyepiece is the finder with the lenses built which is reflecting at 90 degrees from a small mirror below it.

Makes sense, thanks.

Tanveer.

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ColoHank
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/07/07

Loc: western Colorado

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Tanveer Gani]
#5557277 - 12/06/12 10:55 AM

Quote:

The spring is there obviously to eliminate mirror shift but its dual use as a baffle is ingenious. Celestron and Meade could pick up this trick.

The small coil-spring inside the baffle tube assembly doesn't exert any force on the mirror and therefore doesn't regulate mirror shift. It serves as a baffle only. The large coil-spring at the rear of the scope does bear against the back of the mirror and helps reduce shift. So also do the carefully fitted spacers (now teflon pads) which are situated to take up any slack between the fixed inner and sliding outer baffle tubes.

Edited by ColoHank (12/06/12 10:57 AM)

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Howie Glatter
Vendor

Reged: 07/04/06

Re: Inside Questar new

[Re: Darren Drake]
#5557418 - 12/06/12 12:16 PM

I'm guessing that Yuri Petrunin of TEC must have seen the ads with the cut-away Questar, because he brought a cut-away version of his own Mac (I think it was a 150mm)to the Winter Star Party about ten years ago.

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Darren Drake
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 10/09/02

Loc: Chicagoland

Re: Inside Questar new