Vixen MyStar GR200SS

[MartinJames]

I have the opportunity to buy a Vixen MyStar 200ss which appears to date from the 1980s. It is in mint condition, in its original box, complete with instructions (all in Japanese of course). The optics are flawless to my eyes. It comes with a fully motorised Vixen SP mount on a Vixen pillar, with polar scope (southern hemisphere) and Sky Sensor 3, all in perfect working order. Before I pull the trigger I wondered how highly regarded these scopes are? Were they good quality optics in their day? The chap is asking £550 which I thought very reasonable. I enjoy visual astronomy but would like to dabble in basic astrophotography in the future. I have googled 'Vixen MyStar GR200ss' but there is little information out there.

 

[Alien_Photons]

Its an old telescope. It should be considered in the same way as a classic car that needs care, attention and be appriciated for what it is.

If you want to try astrophotography there are well trodden paths. If your looking for adventure with a vintage telescope then its an option.

Good luck.

[angusb1]

It's basically a Vixen R200SS on a Super Polaris. I have one myself which is probably a bit newer. Very good telescope for DSO astrophotography as it is fast at f4 but that also makes it difficult to collimate due to the small sweet spot so from my own experience not ideal as a first telescope for astrophotography. You would be better to get an ed80 if that is what you want to do as you will get good results much more easily. If you want to use it for astrophotography you ought to get a bigger mount, an HEQ5 or Vixen GP-DX would be big enough and would fit on the pillar. The skysensor 3 is old and does not support autoguiding from what I remember so not much good for astrophotography of DSOs and if you want to use it for photography of lunar and planetary objects you would be better off with a longer focal length telescope that is easier to collimate or does not require any collimation like a refractor or mak/SCT. The optics will be very well figured and could be as good as 1/10th PV, and the silvering is applied using a vacuum technique that makes it highly reflective and long lasting, similar to Orion Optics hilux. £500 is roughly what the OTA without mount is worth and the pillar is very nice to have so a fair price.