The Questar 3.5-Inch Maksutov Telescope Story: Sadly The Company Closed Its Doors On May 4th 2026
Questar was founded in 1950 by Lawrence Braymer, who set up Questar to develop and market Maksutov telescopes and other optical devices for the consumer, industrial, and government customers. The Questar Standard telescope has been in production since 1954.
Questar closed its doors for business on May 4 2026 and the three long-time employees were terminated. Very sad!
The following are some photographs of a friends 3.5-inch Duplex.
During the early 50’s, Cave Optical in Long Beach, California, manufactured the 3.5-inch mirrors.
Questar graced the back of the front cover of “Sky & Telescope Magazine” for decades!
A challenge to Questar?
In 1996, Meade Instruments Corporation, introduced the Meade ETX 90mm astro. This telescope was designed to be an economy Questar, mostly constructed of plastic, but with all the emphasis on the optics.
At that time, Meade was manufacturing the ETX, and all their higher-end telescopes in Irvine, California. This included all facets of manufacturing of their many models of Schmidt-Cassegrains, apochromatic refractors and even a 7-inch Maksutov.
I purchased an ETX 90 the following year (1997) for use as a very portable telescope, to observe deep-sky objects within its grasp. It served that purpose well. The telescope had very good optics and would easily exceed “Dawes’ Limit” with good to excellent seeing.
Dawes Limit: 4.56/A (A is aperture in inches) for two equal stars of about 6th magnitude.
However, when considering fit, finish, cosmetics and ease of use, the ETX cannot compare to the “much more” expensive and precision Questar.
rogerivester.com 