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Clive Gibbons
Mostly Harmless
Reged: 05/26/05
Posts: 13421
Loc: Oort Cloud
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The sky cleared unexpectedly at around 10pm, so rather than set up a bigger scope and wait for it to acclimatize, I grabbed the ancient Questar and walked it out to the patio.
First off, tried for Epsilon Lyrae with Brandon 24mm ocular.
This resulted in 45x. The two pairs could be seen clearly in orientation, but the power wasn't high enough to cleanly split the Airy disks. Still, not a bad result.
Next, it was onwards to Pi Aquilae. This double needed more magnification. I tried my UO "Professional Series" 10.2mm Ortho and discovered it focused well with the finder. Eureka! It was even parfocal with the Brandon 24mm.
Looking at Pi with the 10.2mm and flicking the Barlow into place, resulted in 202x. The star was dim, but the components could be discerned. This encouraged me to swing the Q up to Delta Cygni. At 202x, the faint companion was spotted without too much difficulty. This was the first time I'd tried for Delta with the Q and considering it's small aperture and central obstruction, seeing it split was quite satisfying.
This scope is a blast to use and can't be faulted, optically or mechanically. 
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A few telescopes of dubious value.
Understanding wife, two curious cats and one sadly departed.
"Semper ubi sub ubi"
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SATMAN
sage
Reged: 12/02/07
Posts: 276
Loc: NJ 39.7 lat., -74.3 long
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Clive,
I took my Q out last night also, The sky for the first time in weeks was transparent at the zenith, I observed Jupiter
with the 16mm Brandon 81x and barlowed at 122x In moments of good seeing I could see Many dark knots on the main equatorial belts and many belts in the other parts of the disc of the planet, I didn't try to use a filter at this time it was a short Observing session due to many Mosquitoes.I then swung to the south into Sagittarius One of my favorite regions. Due to the light dome to the south (Atlantic City) It is rather difficult to see faint objects when the humidity is high, Last night was one of those nights where it is better than most , M23 was striking one star towards the center of the cluster is orange in color thats really stands out agaist the blue white stars in the cluster. The Questar 3.5 standard that I have (2007 model with power guide II) is mounted on a tristand which in my optinion is an excellant combination for practical use, Everthing is at hand , It is easly to polar align, and can be picked up at a moments notice and moved easily and with the power guide option no power coards to trip over! I am always impressed with its flawless optics, When doing rough polar alignment I always check polaris at high power to see if I can see its 9th magnitude companion It is a good indicater of sky conditions if clearly visible. last night is the first time I have seen diffraction rings around a focused star image polaris and I have been doing this for over 30+ years. I have come to like the Barlow option so much that most of the time the 16mm Brandon just sits in the eyepiece holder most of the time , Just flipping a lever to change magnification is a really convenient option in a rather superb optical system
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CELESTRON/VIXEN C102 GP REFRACTOR
CELESTRON SUPER C8 PLUS
VIXEN 90 CUSTOM REFRACTOR ALTAZ. MOUNT
QUESTAR 3.5 STANDARD POWER GUIDE II ON TRISTAND
CORONADO PST DOUBLE STACKED
BRANDON 94mm f/7 ON VIXEN POLARIS MOUNT
VIXEN PORTA MOUNT, QUARTER HALF HITCH MOUNT
BRANDON EYEPIECE SET (circa 1986) 8,12,16,24,32, 2.4X DAKIN BARLOW
VARIOUS NAGLERS 3-6 ZOOM,7,9,11,13,16,24PANOPTIC
ETHOS 6mm, 10mm
ZEISS 10X40B/GA T*P* BINOCULARS
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Erik Bakker
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/10/06
Posts: 528
Loc: Haren, The Netherlands, Europe
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Quote:
This scope is a blast to use and can't be faulted, optically or mechanically.
No better way to put it. Nothing even comes close. I know, sounds biased. TRUE, but by experience. Man is it a great scope, or should say observing experience? At times I get a bit emotional when observing with my Q. Sounds familiar anybody?
Clear skies to all members of the great Questar family!
Erik
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Visual astronomer, main instruments:
Fully mounted Questar 7 P-BB
Celestron C 102F f/8.8 fluorite
Vixen FL 70S f/8 fluorite
Celestron C 55F f/8 fluorite
Sets of Zeiss, TeleVue and Brandon eyepieces
Zeiss 7x50 Marine B/GA
Zeiss TM german equatorial
Gitzo 224 with Manfrotto 501 fluid head
Unitron alt-az mount
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Erik Bakker
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/10/06
Posts: 528
Loc: Haren, The Netherlands, Europe
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Quote:
The Questar 3.5 standard that I have (2007 model with power guide II) is mounted on a tristand which in my optinion is an excellant combination for practical use, Everthing is at hand , It is easly to polar align, and can be picked up at a moments notice and moved easily and with the power guide option no power coards to trip over! I am always impressed with its flawless optics, When doing rough polar alignment I always check polaris at high power to see if I can see its 9th magnitude companion It is a good indicater of sky conditions if clearly visible. last night is the first time I have seen diffraction rings around a focused star image polaris and I have been doing this for over 30+ years. I have come to like the Barlow option so much that most of the time the 16mm Brandon just sits in the eyepiece holder most of the time , Just flipping a lever to change magnification is a really convenient option in a rather superb optical system
Well said Satman 
The flawless optics, the handy barlow, observing for a whole night with just one eyepiece (24mm Brandon), the superb focussing, the super stable and smooth mount. It is beyond any scope I ever had or have. 
Clear and stable skies,
Erik
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Visual astronomer, main instruments:
Fully mounted Questar 7 P-BB
Celestron C 102F f/8.8 fluorite
Vixen FL 70S f/8 fluorite
Celestron C 55F f/8 fluorite
Sets of Zeiss, TeleVue and Brandon eyepieces
Zeiss 7x50 Marine B/GA
Zeiss TM german equatorial
Gitzo 224 with Manfrotto 501 fluid head
Unitron alt-az mount
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Erik Bakker
professor emeritus
Reged: 08/10/06
Posts: 528
Loc: Haren, The Netherlands, Europe
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Quote:
This scope is a blast to use and can't be faulted, optically or mechanically.
No better way to put. Nothing even comes close. I know, sounds biased. TRUE, but by experience. Man is it a great scope, or should say observing experience? At times I get a bit emotional when observing with my Q. Sounds familiar Clive?
Clear skies!
Erik
--------------------
Visual astronomer, main instruments:
Fully mounted Questar 7 P-BB
Celestron C 102F f/8.8 fluorite
Vixen FL 70S f/8 fluorite
Celestron C 55F f/8 fluorite
Sets of Zeiss, TeleVue and Brandon eyepieces
Zeiss 7x50 Marine B/GA
Zeiss TM german equatorial
Gitzo 224 with Manfrotto 501 fluid head
Unitron alt-az mount
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