Questar 3.5" Standard Telescope Model - Mint Condition!

Wow!  These beauties don't come up for sale very often, and there's good reason for that.  Made proudly in America, this amazing telescope is considered one of the best in the world for both its design and performance.  The Questar 3.5" has been desired and longed for by a huge number of amateur astronomers based on ads in Sky & Telescope magazine since the early 60's.  Snap this up if you can...it is a piece of American innovation history, and in fact, a cutaway model was displayed (and is still retained) by the Smithsonian Museum of Technology.  

This used 3.5" Questar Standard is a Vintage  1985 model with Pyrex mirrors and regular coatings.  And, so far, it has had only one owner (we verified this with Questar Corporation).  As you can see from the photos, it is in beautiful condition (mint) and comes with the eyepieces, case, manuals and lens cap.  

Here is some information from Questar about their standard model, complete with specs and options.  Remember, this model has Pyrex mirrors and standard coatings.

"The Questar Standard 3.5 has long been regarded as the finest personal telescope in the world. In addition to the telescope's legendary resolution, flatness of field and contrast, the Standard has integrated features that are unavailable with other telescopes.

The control box has two (2) viewing ports with flick knob selection. It provides three power changes per eyepiece, an internal finder and two telescopic powers.The barrel rotates for viewing height adjustment and is silk-screened with a functional Moon Map. The removable dewcap is a Star Chart.

The equatorial fork mount is brushed cast aluminum, aircraft polyurethane painted, with friction drive alt-azimuth controls. It includes an AC powered synchronous clock drive motor and declination clamp. The setting circle for Right Ascension and Declination is fully functional. The RA circle is universal for northern and southern hemispheres.

The Standard stores in a carrying case that has pockets for the included tabletop legs, extra eyepiece, solar filter and AC adapter cord, as well as a pocket for the optional Powerguide Controller."

• Type:  Maksutov-Cassegrain Catadioptric. No coma, astigmatism or spherical aberrations.

• Clear Aperture:  3.5 inches, 89mm (Center Obscuration, 27.9mm)

• Focal Length:  Basic Visual 50.5 inches, f/14.4, 1300mm

• Focal Length:  Camera close, 56 inches, f/16, 1400 mm

• Focal Length:  Camera with Ext. Tubes, 64 inches, f/18, 1600mm

• Finder Lens:  4" Fl., 4x and 8x, Field 12° and 8°

• Powers:  Powers are eyepiece dependent and can range from 40x to 270x with Questar Brandon eyepieces

• Powers Limit:  Resolves 1 sec. Arc at 50feet EFL

• Field of View:  Photographic model, 1°30min, visual field of view 1.1 to .16 degrees

• Lens:  BK7, MgFl2 coated, passes UV to 3300 A, IR to 1 micron, parfocal

• Mirror:  F2, Pyrex®, Zerodur® or Quartz. AlSiO coated 3.800" dia. (All Questars for UV or IR on special order) On special order, broad-band dielectric coating applied to the mirror, which increases its reflectivity. To both sides of front lens, a very low reflection coating is then applied which reduces the light loss at each surface to less than 1/10 of 1%. It transmits all frequencies of the visible spectrum and improves total light grasp by approximately 22%

• Eyepieces:  24 mm Brandon, 45° ap. Field; 16 mm 4 lens Brandon, 45°Ap. Field

• Ampifying/Barlow Lens: Minus 43.9 mm FL

• Erecting System: Star Diagonal type, 90-degrees BK7, MgFL2 coated

• Barrel Assembly: Forged aluminum, machined full length

• Lens Cell: Aluminum 24S-T4 black anodized

• Rear Closure Plate: Stainless steel central tube - precision machining and alignment after assembly

• Dewcap: Internally black-flocked Synthane seamless tube 1/32" thick, to which is bonded a pre-rolled aluminum sheet

• Focusing Mechanism: Mirror thimble, stainless steel sliding tube. Slides on stainless, fixed, light baffle tube, with front end insert tube of .010" wall thickness. Conical ss spring-loaded. Focus rod ss 303, ground shaft, 56 T.P.I. precision ground threads

• Knobs: Aluminum 24S-T4, corrosion resistant, hand-turned on turret lathe, stainless steel shafts and levers

• Equatorial Mount: Aluminum sand casting, virgin alloy 356-T6 heat treated. Toolroom hand-turned and polished. Highly corrosion-resistant. Jig-bored and precision threaded for legs. Bottom flange 7" o.d. Fits tripods with -20 threads

• Turntable or Lower Fork Base: Sand casting same alloy, toolroom turned, jig-bored and precision-reamed, aircraft polyurethane painted

• Legs: Aluminum 61 S-T3, centerless-ground and threaded, anodized. C enter leg adjustable. Butyl rubber tips

• Synchronous Drive Motor: RPM 110V. 60 cycles, other cycles, voltages and direction of rotation available. Sealed, lubricated gear train. 2.7 watts.

• Right Ascension Gear: Bronze, 4" diameter teflon-facing bearing surfaces

• Side Arms, Inner Fork Brackets, Control Box: Die castings of corrosion-resistant aluminum alloy 13, toolroom turned, milled, jig-bored, tapped and reamed. Special painted aluminum and clear urethane protected

• Finder Mirror Cage: Stainless steel, brushed satin finish

• Altitude or Dec Circle: 3-15/16" diameter, 301 ss, cemented and riveted to bracket ring assembly, 1-degree divisions with etched and filled markings

• Clamp: Bakelite padded ss stud clamps, dec circle to side arm

• Azimuth or RA Circle: 6" diameter, anodized aluminum, silk-screened, graduated to 1-degree and 4 min of time. May be set as celestial clock. Manual slow-motion independent of time

• Slow Motions: Continuous 360 rotation, safety clutch held. Permits control to a few seconds of arc. Absolutely free of backlash, lag, or play. Ratio 31 to 1

• Dimensions: Height, upright, 14". With barrel horizontal, 11" high and long. Weight is 6.7 pounds.