Meade 12" LightBridge Dobsonian #1205-05-02. Not
just a big scope, a big telescope that goes anywhere. The LightBridge
Deluxe Truss-Tube Dobsonians go together and can be taken apart in just a
couple minutes so you can set it up at your home or take it to your
favorite dark sky location with ease. Superior quality Meade optics,
premium components, and great portability - all for about the same price
as an ordinary solid tube Dobsonian.
The 12" Lightbridge is a very large telescope, with a light grasp and
image brightness 2.25 times as great as an 8" telescope used at the
same magnification and 40% brighter than a 10”. View deep sky objects
in terrific detail, especially when used from a dark location.
The 12" LightBridge Deluxe Truss-Tube Dobsonian features a superior
Meade quality multi-coated, diffraction limited 12" primary mirror,
focal length 1524mm (f/5). The optics of this style of telescope are
only as good as their mounting, which is why Meade engineers gave the
LightBridge primary mirror a top of the line, fully adjustable, high
strength but light weight aluminum stress free floating multi-point cell
with built in cooling fan. The included battery pack for the fan takes 8
(user supplied) AA batteries and is used to speed the cool down process
of the primary mirror, improving image quality.
Standard equipment includes a high quality, precision machined 2"
Crayford style focuser with 1.25" adapter so you can use either 1.25" or
2" barrel eyepieces. Includes a 2" diameter Meade Series 4000 26mm QX
Wide Angle Eyepiece for stunning wide angle views. The viewfinder is an
easy to use red dot unit with four user selectable reticle pattern
options and seven step brightness control. Also includes bonus Meade
AutoStar Suite Astronomer Edition Software for checking star charts and
planet locations.
The open truss design of the LightBridge Dobsonians means portability
of the telescope is dramatically improved over a solid tube design.
Taking only moments to set up and take apart for travel, the extremely
rigid truss frame design ensures a no-compromises view through the
telescope.
Hand driven Dobsonian style telescopes by their nature need good mounts
with smooth and stable movement to be enjoyable, and here again the
LightBridge excels. The sturdy laminated finish wooden Dobsonian mount
includes premium features such as roller bearings on the azimuth (side
to side) axis and large diameter aluminum altitude (vertical axis)
bearings with a hand adjustable variable tension brake for smooth and
stable movement.
Fully assembled weight of the optical tube is 47 pounds, mount weight
is 33 pounds.
Ships in 2 boxes with weights of 55 and 39 pounds.
Product carries full one year Meade limited factory warranty.