Explore Scientific 12" Dobsonian

This is Explore Scientific UltraLight II 12" truss tube dobsonian.

12" size is widely regarded as sweet spot between performance and overall telescope size. The biggest advantage of this telescope over its solid tube siblings is shown on the picture - it collapses into 3 separate pieces: upper cage, mirror box and the base. Ultimately no tools are required to either break it or put it together for use. Even skywatcher flextubes aren't as easy since their bases are more involved to dismantle and re-build. And you still need to carry around full weight of the OTA.

This IS a mobile telescope. And there's nothing better then having it with you under dark skies. When you are back home it is also easy to store if this is an issue.

Other benefits of open tube construction are in reduced mirror cooling time and non-existent tube currents - at this aperture it is a thing. Built in fans are not only further reducing cool time before observing but also remove boundary layer from the mirror's surface while observing, thus providing for even sharper views.

Over the time I made some improvements, monorail crayford dual-speed focuser was most impactful as now collimation holds throughout the session, even after many swaps of the eyepieces. Old focuser will be yours, if only to appreciate how much of a difference this replacement made. I've also added flocking to the mirror box and a nice dust cover - it's great i.e. when you are already setup in the field/backgarden and want to shade the scope to help it cool faster. Or protect from the birds. Together with added cloth shroud you have nicely protected mirror.
I've also added mirror clips. This was done recently and I'm yet to paint these black. I wanted to put this OTA on the GEM for some astrophotography as it would be "waste" to keep such great optics just for the eyeballs mark I. The original construction of the mirror cell is of the free float design so not great for swinging around on the GEM, hence this addition. I found these clips to be handy for mproved collimation holding even in the altaz visual use. But if new owners will wish so I will restore the original state, it's easy as it is a non-destructve addition.

There's also original, basic red dot finder. Never used it but it works.

Another potential addon to the OTA is the 32mm 68 degrees eyepiece. This comes included only if sale is completed within 2 weeks from publication of this add.

The reason for sale is upgrade to dobsonian in 14"-16" or 18" size so if you have one and are thinking of something more manageable or just simple downsizing - we should talk.
Otherwise I would keep using this telescope for as long as I'm around as it has grest optics and is very easy to use.

Attached astrophotos were shot with this telescope in the GEM configuration.