Meade 12-Inch LightBridge (f/5) Truss-Tube Dobsonian

by Meade

Product Details

• Item Weight: 100.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 100.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000E9ZQ8I
• Item model number: 1205-05-02
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #18,813 in Camera & Photo (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo)
  • #79 in Camera & Photo > Binoculars, Telescopes & Optics > Telescopes > Reflectors
• Date first available at Amazon.com: February 4, 2006

Product Description

Aperture: 12-Inch. Focal Length: 1524mm. Focal Ratio: f/5. It’s not just a big telescope. It’s a big telescope that goes anywhere. New LightBridge truss-Dobs from Meade take down and set up quickly. So you can take one of these massive windows on the universe out to your favorite dark sky locations with ease. LightBridge Dobs give you high quality Meade optics, premium components, and ultra portability — all for about the same price as an ordinary tube Dob. So get a LightBridge truss-Dob. And prepare to cross the universe. FEATURES: Diffraction Limited Optics Meade optics consistently outperform telescopes of similar and larger aperture. Consumers know that “Meade Optics Inside” means that what they see through our telescopes will be views that are detailed, crisp and full of contrast. 2-Inch Crayford-Style Machined Aluminum Focuser With 1.25-Inch Adapter Smooth precise focusing is achieved with this classic design. A unique focus tension knob and focus lock design gives complete control over focus. Built-In Primary Mirror Cooling Fan Bring the telescope into thermal equilibrium quickly and efficiently with the battery powered cooling fan. The fan is mounted to the rear of the “vented” primary mirror cell for fast cool down.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars If the warrenty is up, or you dammage it your out of luck!!!, November 16, 2008

By 

J. Griffiths - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Meade 12-Inch LightBridge (f/5) Truss-Tube Dobsonian (Electronics)

This isn't so much a review as it's a warning to potential buyers of Meade products. This is a $1,000.00+ telescope after shipping, but Meade considers it to be disposable. I called Meade to get a replacement part for it and I was told that they don't stock any replacement parts and don't repair this line of telescopes. If the problem is warranty related they said they will replace the whole telescope but other then that they don't offer any support. They wouldn't even suggest any recourse.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good, solid instrument, with minor flaws, December 14, 2007

By 

Chris Lloyd (Hebron, KY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Meade 12-Inch LightBridge (f/5) Truss-Tube Dobsonian (Electronics)

As someone with a renewed interest in Astronomy, I wanted a telescope with good light gathering power (better than what I had as a child, both a 50mm refractor and a 6 inch reflector). I also wanted something I could easily take with me in a standard passenger car to a deep sky site.

I was happy to see that these "truss dob" telescopes are now available on the market. As I'm not someone who is naturally good at "do it yourself" projects, I wanted a commercial product that could be assembled easily enough by me, and also portable. This 12" Meade Lightbridge does this rather nicely.

I received the telescope in 2 boxes. One thing that Meade still needs to work on is designing a mirror cover that actually stays on the mirror during shipping. Mine was off, and rattling around loose in the "light bucket". Fortunately, it somehow never came in contact with the mirror, or if it did, it didn't rub against it very hard. I could see no obvious scratches.

Assembly of the telescope was relatively straightforward, although a couple of the diagrams were a little confusing to interpret. After studying them and using some common sense, I was able to figure out the assembly.

Performance of the telescope is very good, even with my moderately light polluted sky (northern Kentucky, about 15 miles from Cincinnati, OH). I have been able to easily pick out individual stars in several Messier catalog globular clusters, and can easily resolve the 4 stars of the trapezium in the Orion nebula. I haven't been able to "split" some double stars, but that could be just because I was using low power at the time. Most notably, I observed the recent flare-up of Comet Holmes in late October/early November 2007, which was quite impressive in the wide view of the included 27mm eyepiece.

I do have a few minor complaints about the telescope. I don't know why this is, but the focusing assembly simply will not move out far enough to bring objects into focus with the included 27mm eyepiece. This isn't a show stopper, as I can loosen the gripping ring, move the eyepiece out a bit, and retighten the ring. Still, I'm surprised that this was the case, given I was using the included eyepiece. I recently acquired a 9mm eyepiece, and it does not have this issue.

Also, the reticle that shipped with the telescope could not be calibrated. I think something was jammed inside, because one of the adjustment screws would have little to no effect when I turned it. I called Meade, and they shipped another one. They didn't ask for a credit card or anything as collateral, nor did they include instructions on shipping the old one back. I'm guessing that these are a "dime a dozen". The good news here is the replacement sighting worked correctly, and I am able to find several deep sky objects now without too much trouble.

Another small annoyance: the bottom of the "light bucket" rubs against the tension knob of the base when tilting the telescope about 60 degrees. It isn't a huge problem, but sometimes getting an object centered in the eyepiece requires more effort.

If you are interested in buying this telescope, I would highly recommend purchasing the laser collimator as well. Like the previous reviewer said, this telescope has more of a tendency to "slip alignment" since it can be disassembled, so having a laser collimator makes things MUCH easier.

So, overall, I would recommend this telescope to anyone who wants to make a "step up" from a previous, smaller rig they own. It isn't perfect, but still a good quality, solid instrument. With its ample light gathering power and its ease of transport, I think it is a good choice. I'm now looking forward to a moonless night in a dark sky area to really appreciate its potential.

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great scope for the money, January 6, 2007

By 

Doug Rice (Twin Falls, ID USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Meade 12-Inch LightBridge (f/5) Truss-Tube Dobsonian (Electronics)

John Dobson's simple and portable design made large telescopes available to the average amateur astronomer. But the bulky tubes limited the portability of really big sizes.

The breakthrough came with Ivar Hamburg's truss tube models, which allowed enormous scopes to break down into easily portable sections. But this was always a premium feature, unavailable to observers on a tight budget, unless they built their own.

Now Meade has produced a good quality large truss-tube scope that is competitive in price with the old solid-tube design.

Optics are good. Setup, takedown, and transport are easy. The mirror box is, of course, pretty heavy but manageable for an able-bodied person. I find that, contrary to claims, I have to collimate (align) the optics every time I set up, but I've always accepted this as a given with any scope that dismantles.

I have been weirded out by some of Meade's odd designs like the Schmidt-Newtonian, but I find their truss-tube Dob a winner. It brings great views, easy transport, and affordable price together as they have never been before. Buy it, you'll like it.

For a more in-depth view on buying telescopes, see my encyclopedic guide on Amazon, "So you'd like to buy a telescope."