Telescope Reviews: Questar Opinion

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Equipment Discussions >> Classic Telescopes

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strdst
Post Laureate

Reged: 03/23/08

Loc: Oregon Territory

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: Copernicus1473]
#5685838 - 02/17/13 07:53 PM

Quote:

Any comments on the vintage 1963 Questar Standard 3.5 Telescope posted on e-bay? I have never looked through one but I have been told the optics are superb. [/qutote]

Hijack!

Remember Jack? The OP? Another fine mess you've gotten us into! Good work.

Seems like you got a resounding CAUTION/WARNING on the eBay scope. I wonder how much the chatter here will depress the final bid of the Q or raise future bids on those Celestron and Meade scopes that optically compare well ... Or don't

Having never looked through or even at any of the scopes being discussed here I have absolutely no opinion. I do know you are looking for an awesome classic scope and I'll chime in that this isn't it. Besides who really wants a telescope that looks like a 1# Folger's can standing on chopstick legs?
And BTW my Apo is more expensive than at least this Questar.

Post Extras:

mustgobigger
Post Laureate

Reged: 06/12/07

Loc: Michigan

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: Ducky62]
#5685843 - 02/17/13 07:55 PM

I'm no expert and have
looked through both.
quester I thought was better
Optic wise but not a whole lot.
but man oh man those are a work
Of art.
I bet they have 2,000 in hand labor
Easy.
then u have the case.
That is why I would own one.
Just a beautiful piece of craftmanship.
then u have a production ext 90
Cheap ...but good optics for a 200
Dollar goto on the used market.
I have owned 3 and a good deal
If you buy used.
Nice little goto trainer for newbie
Astronomers ....just have to treat
them easy so you don't break
Them.
Anyway that's where I think the
Big price difference is.

Post Extras:

CHASLX200
Post Laureate

Reged: 09/29/07

Loc: Tampa area Florida

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: mustgobigger]
#5685859 - 02/17/13 08:04 PM

The Q3.5 is a pretty scope, built like a fine watch, but just too small and pricey in my book. A good 80mm APO will do better for myself.

Chas

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bremms
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 08/31/12

Loc: SC

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: mustgobigger]
#5685863 - 02/17/13 08:08 PM

Yes, the Questar is what to get if you like superb craftsmanship. Hand built in the USA with diffraction limited optics. Not bang for the buck but worth the price. I don't own one, like to have one, but $2500 for a good example will buy a lot of other things telescope or not. My 4" Jaegers lens home brew is very nicely made, gives images maybe a little better than a Q and cost less than $300 to put together. Not portable. It's all what you want.

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sgorton99
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/30/08

Loc: Wisconsin, Madison

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: bremms]
#5685875 - 02/17/13 08:11 PM

Quote:

Yes, the Questar is what to get if you like superb craftsmanship. Hand built in the USA with diffraction limited optics. Not bang for the buck but worth the price. I don't own one, like to have one, but $2500 for a good example will buy a lot of other things telescope or not. My 4" Jaegers lens home brew is very nicely made, gives images maybe a little better than a Q and cost less than $300 to put together. Not portable. It's all what you want.

I agree, for less than that $2,500 I bought my 4" Unitron. Doesn't mean I wouldn't like to own a Questar someday, though

Post Extras:

starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: sgorton99]
#5685896 - 02/17/13 08:25 PM Attachment (8 downloads)

Now I wonder what scopes I have to make a comparison and decide which I like best. Forgot where I hid the C5 or that would be in the picture also. Looking for the C90 also

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kansas skies
sage

Reged: 12/02/12

Loc: Kansas, USA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: starman876]
#5685931 - 02/17/13 08:46 PM

I really would love to own a Questar, but then again, I still love my little C90, screwy focuser and all...

No apologies either way...

Bill

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: kansas skies]
#5685939 - 02/17/13 08:52 PM

Oh I love the focuser on the C90. That is in a world of its own. I think that started its life as a telephoto lens for cameras and got promoted along the way to astro telescope. I have had a few C90's and each time my frieds asked me why did I buy one. The same reason I have bought all my scopes. Curiousity. There have been times I have been pleasently surprised by a bargain mass produced scope. However, I have never found a quality high end telescope that has dissappointed me.

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terraclarke
Pooh-Bah

Reged: 05/29/12

Loc: Over the river and thru the wo...

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: mustgobigger]
#5685985 - 02/17/13 09:20 PM

Kinda like the old Rolling Stones song Brian:

You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you might find
You get what you need

There's a scope out there for every person, and the best one is the one that suits our needs, serves our purposes, and that we can afford. And as others and myself have also said, even some of these very nice toys that we could afford to pay for, we pass up because our money is put to better use elsewhere, and that's a good thing.

Terra

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sgorton99
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/30/08

Loc: Wisconsin, Madison

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: terraclarke]
#5686004 - 02/17/13 09:30 PM Attachment (9 downloads)

Quote:

There's a scope out there for every person, and the best one is the one that suits our needs, serves our purposes, and that we can afford. And as others and myself have also said, even some of these very nice toys that we could afford to pay for, we pass up because our money is put to better use elsewhere, and that's a good thing.

Terra

Yep

Post Extras:

azure1961p
Postmaster

Reged: 01/17/09

Loc: USA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: starman876]
#5686008 - 02/17/13 09:33 PM

Star man the more you post the less you seem to know. The Schmidt Cassegrains that show uneven focus across the field of view are not defects caused by a poor optician but the design itself. To answer that Celestron came out with the HD line that is infact sharp across the field of view. Truth be told the Mak isn't perfect as you suggest and infact has its own field curvature too. Infact did you know that spherical aberration is a property of a proper Maksutov system. The greater the aperture the more it becomes obtrusive until an aspheric element needed to correct it.

You really need to put down the hype and do a little reading - and not in a Questar flyer.

Pete

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Atl
sage

Reged: 04/13/12

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: terraclarke]
#5686016 - 02/17/13 09:36 PM

Quote:

Vindicated again
And the C90 has one of the worst reputations of any small scope.

Vindication involves facts...not opinion. If I think looking through a toilet paper tube is better than a Questar then it is for me. As for me less than an 6" scope of any brand or sort is basically a waste of time.

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: azure1961p]
#5686023 - 02/17/13 09:41 PM

Oh wow. what do you say after something like that

let me go eat some humble pie.

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ColoHank
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 06/07/07

Loc: western Colorado

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: azure1961p]
#5686028 - 02/17/13 09:43 PM

Quote:

Infact did you know that spherical aberration is a property of a proper Maksutov system. The greater the aperture the more it becomes obtrusive until an aspheric element needed to correct it.

Uh, Questar optics are aspherized precisely for that reason.

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: ColoHank]
#5686044 - 02/17/13 09:50 PM

Questar components test individually and typically at one-twentieth (1/20th) or better wave, in order to
produce one-eighth (1/8th) wave front system .

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Glen A W
sage

Reged: 07/04/08

Loc: WEST VIRGINIA USA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: ColoHank]
#5686051 - 02/17/13 09:53 PM

I never imagined anybody would claim the ETX optics to be comparable to the Questar. This is news to me because nobody I've known who has the ETX would rate it above a C. I did not know this was a debate.

I use an old-style C90 quite often and it is a pretty big dog too. These scopes are all for the birds now. When the Questar was first made, 60mm refractors were still respectable. They all seem like novelty items, now. But the Questar's a real pretty one!

Seems the Questar is at 720 with just minutes to go. I notice a bit of blurriness in the corrector. Scary scope. GW

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sgorton99
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/30/08

Loc: Wisconsin, Madison

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: Glen A W]
#5686071 - 02/17/13 10:05 PM

$825 plus $45 shipping. Send it back to Questar for a refurb and it will probably cost more than a new one~!

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starman876
Carpal Tunnel

Reged: 04/28/08

Loc: VA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: sgorton99]
#5686125 - 02/17/13 10:46 PM

I bet this thing was in a flood or something like that. Even the mirror had wrinkles.

I bet one of these guys in this thread that keeps us telling how over rated the questar is bought it

Post Extras:

Ducky62
professor emeritus

Reged: 10/31/10

Loc: The ATL

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: sgorton99]
#5686126 - 02/17/13 10:47 PM

Questar service is $500 and UP! That ebay scope is going to need a whole lot of up

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RodgerHouTex
scholastic sledgehammer

Reged: 06/02/09

Loc: Houston, Texas, USA

Re: Questar Opinion new

[Re: sgorton99]
#5686138 - 02/17/13 10:54 PM

Actually a new Questar goes for about $5000 without the mount. (You really aren't going to spend that much and use it on a rickety picnic table are you?). And if you want the 50th Anniversary Edition, well that's $7200. Adding the Tri-stand will set you back another $1400.

All for a scope that will show you nice views of Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, Mars at opposition, some widely spaced double stars, but no DSOs to speak of. I could afford one, but I want more from a scope that costs $6400.

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