Questar Telescopes (Maksutov-Cassegrain) have been built in New Hope, Pennsylvania since 1950.  Questar has chosen Brandon eyepieces for many years, which are also made in the USA. https://www.questar-corp.com/ 

     Brandon eyepieces are optimized for telescopes with a focal ratio of f/7 or greater.   https://043a19c.netsolhost.com/

     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, as well as most all of their higher-end telescopes in Irvine, California.     

     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 on double stars on a night with good to excellent seeing. 

     Dawes Limit:  4.56/A (A is aperture in inches) for two equal stars of about 6th magnitude.   

https://www.astronomics.com/info-library/astronomical-terms/dawes-limit/                                                                                                                                                                                                

     However, when considering fit, finish, cosmetics and ease of use, the ETX cannot compare to the “much” more expensive and precision Questar.  

     The 3.5-inch Questar continues to have its place in astronomy, despite most amateurs of today wanting larger and larger telescopes, but how many telescope companies do you know that have been in business since 1950?

      And from their longtime advertisement in “S&T” the following was said:   “Questar, The World’s Finest, Most Versatile Telescope”

     This must be true, to have survived in the ever-changing world of amateur astronomy equipment for 72 years.  (1950 – 2022)  

https://rogerivester.com/2012/02/02/questar-a-high-precision-3-5-inch-telescope/

     Since late summer 2019, my wife and I have had regular business in Matthews, North Carolina, which is a town on the outskirts of Charlotte.  Our Dachshund needed eye surgery, and we take her for regular visits to the Animal Eye Clinic even to this day. (July 2025)   

     Matthews has some excellent and very attractive, full cut-off lighting fixtures.  Lighting should be “fully-shielded” and directed downward to avoid glare and excessive light pollution, as the following photos show.  However, I can’t be for sure of the temperature….hopefully 3,000k or less?  

     No one wants, or should want a bright “unnatural” daytime appearing light, which is that of a 4,000k LED light.  Unfortunately, most all of the new LED lights installed these days are 4,000k or even brighter, which is damaging to human health, wildlife and the natural world.  Unfortunately this light has now become the standard for lighting not only cities, but also for rural and even quiet residential streets. 

     Back to the lighting in Matthews:  Many of the lights have back-shields which eliminate unnecessary light shining into house windows.  This is a great feature.  Proper outdoor lighting should direct light where it’s needed only, downward and with a shield to avoid excess glare.     

     The lights in Matthews, which I’m discussing are in a “seemingly” newer business and residential area.  An example below:   

      Currently, the trend is to light residential areas and sidewalks in cities are the “short pole” colonial style fixture with 360º of 100 watt and 4,000k LED’s.

     No, I’m not suggesting that lighting is bad, but lighting should be of “intelligent” design, and used only where necessary.   And that would be using lighting of an “acceptable” wattage and with a temperature of (3,000k or less) and with “full shielding” to prevent glare and unnecessary and “excessive” light pollution!   You may try, but seems that few cities are willing to go less than 3,000K for city streets.  

     High-intensity LED lighting and all other “excessive” light pollution is proven to damage or injure wildlife, insects, and also increases the risk of cancer (especially) hormonal cancer(s) in both men and women, being prostate and breast cancer.  

Exposure to Artificial Light at Night Can Harm Your Health!

     Humans evolved to the rhythms of the natural light-dark cycle of day and night. The spread of artificial lighting means most of us no longer experience truly dark nights.

     Research suggests that artificial light at night can negatively affect human health, increasing risks for obesity, depression, sleep disorders, diabetes, breast cancer, and more.

     Like most life on Earth, humans adhere to a circadian rhythm — our biological clock — a sleep-wake pattern governed by the day-night cycle.  Artificial light at night can disrupt that cycle.

     Our bodies produce the hormone melatonin in response to circadian rhythm.  Melatonin helps keep us healthy.  It has antioxidant properties, induces sleep, boosts the immune system, lowers cholesterol, and helps the functioning of the thyroid, pancreas, ovaries, testes, and adrenal glands. Nighttime exposure to artificial light suppresses melatonin production.

     An expressed concern about exposure to blue light from outdoor lighting and recommends shielding all light fixtures and only using lighting with 2700K color temperature and below.   

Some more excellent examples of proper lighting fixtures….  

This article or post is featured on my site:  www.rogerivester.com  and listed under the title of “light pollution issues.”  

A report worthy to read, which I took from Dr. Mario Motta’s diverse site https://www.mariomottamd.com/ which includes light pollution issues as related to human health problems.  Rather than inserting a link, I chose to just copy and paste for easy reading…as following.   Dr. Motta is world renowned for his work, and dedication to the importance of proper lighting.   RI 

REPORT 4 OF THE COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND PUBLIC HEALTH (A-12) Light Pollution: Adverse Health Effects of Nighttime Lighting Authors: David Blask, PhD, MD (Tulane University School of Medicine); George Brainard, PhD (Jefferson Medical College); Ronald Gibbons, PhD (Virginia Tech); Steven Lockley, PhD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School); Richard Stevens, PhD (University Connecticut Health Center); and Mario Motta, MD (CSAPH, Tufts Medical School).

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Objective. To evaluate the impact of artificial lighting on human health, primarily through disruption of circadian biological rhythms or sleep, as well as the impact of headlamps, nighttime lighting schemes, and glare on driving safety. Concerns related to energy cost, effects on wildlife and vegetation, and esthetics also are briefly noted. Methods. English-language reports in humans were selected from a PubMed search of the literature from 1995 to March 2012 using the MeSH terms “circadian/biological clocks/rhythm,” “chronobiology/disorders,” “photoperiod,” “light/lighting” “sleep,” “work schedule,” or “adaptation,” combined with the terms “physiology,” “melatonin,” “adverse effects/toxicity,” “pathophysiology,” “neoplasm,” “epidemiology/etiology,” “mental disorders,” “energy metabolism,” and “gene expression.”

Additional articles were identified by manual review of the references cited in these publications; others were supplied by experts in the field who contributed to this report (see Acknowledgement). Results. Biological adaptation to the sun has evolved over billions of years. The power to artificially override the natural cycle of light and dark is a recent event and represents a man-made self-experiment on the effects of exposure to increasingly bright light during the night as human societies acquire technology and expand industry.

In addition to resetting the circadian pacemaker, light also stimulates additional neuroendocrine and neurobehavioral responses including suppression of melatonin release from the pineal gland improving alertness and performance. Low levels of illuminance in the blue or white fluorescent spectrum disrupt melatonin secretion.

The primary human concerns with nighttime lighting include disability glare (which affects driving and pedestrian safety) and various health effects. Among the latter are potential carcinogenic effects related to melatonin suppression, especially breast cancer. Other diseases that may be exacerbated by circadian disruption include obesity, diabetes, depression and mood disorders, and reproductive problems. Conclusion. The natural 24-hour cycle of light and dark helps maintain precise alignment of circadian biological rhythms, the general activation of the central nervous system and various biological and cellular processes, and entrainment of melatonin release from the pineal gland.

Pervasive use of nighttime lighting disrupts these endogenous processes and creates potentially harmful health effects and/or hazardous situations with varying degrees of harm. The latter includes the generation of glare from roadway, property, and other artificial lighting sources that can create unsafe driving conditions, especially for older drivers. More direct health effects of nighttime lighting may be attributable to disruption of the sleep-wake cycle and suppression of melatonin release.

Even low intensity nighttime light has the capability of suppressing melatonin release. In various laboratory models of cancer, melatonin serves as a circulating anticancer signal and suppresses tumor growth.

Limited epidemiological studies support the hypothesis that nighttime lighting and/or repetitive disruption of circadian rhythms increases cancer risk; most attention in this arena has been devoted to breast cancer. Further information is required to CSAPH Rep. 4-A-12 — page 2 of 25 evaluate the relative role of sleep versus the period of darkness in certain diseases or on mediators of certain chronic diseases or conditions including obesity.

Due to the nearly ubiquitous exposure to light at inappropriate times relative to endogenous circadian rhythms, a need exists for further multidisciplinary research on occupational and environmental exposure to light-at-night, the risk of cancer, and effects on various chronic disease

Date:  November 1964  

     My five older brothers built something similar or akin to what might be called a “Rat Rod” today.  The origin was a 1951 Studebaker…using the frame, which had been shortened by three feet, the original engine and transmission.  

       In the following photos are my brother Jimmy, who was driving, I’m in the middle with the “cool” cowboy hat, and my brother, Phillip.

     My older brothers, Richard, Jimmy, Ronny, Donnie and Phillip, worked on fabricating “The Bug” as it was called.   I was a bit too young, and mostly just enjoyed watching.  Sometimes I would assist by handing them wrenches or anything else they might need.   

     Improvements were made over the next year with the installation of a mid-50’s Chrysler Hemi engine, which had much more horsepower than the Studebaker.     

     The sad looking tires, especially the front white-walls would eventually be changed out with some better looking wheels.  Additions would also be made to the body, however, still constructed of wood panels.  With a larger budget, many improvements could have been made, but….

     My brother, Donnie, being in high school drove the school bus in the background, which was an early 1950’s model Chevrolet.  

An astronomical telescope purchase in 1963:    

     It was my brother Jimmy, who had already purchased (at the time of the photo) a 60mm f/15 equatorially mounted refractor from Sears, at a cost of $100.  This would be the equivalent of $835 in 2019.  An expensive telescope for sure.

     Two years later, I would begin using this telescope to observe deep-sky objects (galaxies, nebulae and star clusters) and a lifelong interest in astronomy would follow, even to this day.

Roger Ivester   

 Improved budget, greater skills and abilities, my brother Phillip would become a race car and engine builder.  He would also go on to win an incredible 164 drag racing events. with multiple drag cars.    

The following photo was made in September 2019: