I am in love with an explore scientific 12" dobsonion telescope! - Explore Scientific 12in/305mm Truss Tube Dobsonian Telescope

No eyepieces included. So, I happily get 2 choose my own selections with this baby beast telescope. What fun!! I had no idea of eyepiece prices until I picked up astronomy again, moving up a notch. Some eyepieces contain multiple lenses & weigh as much as a pound r more! Some inexpensive pieces have surprisingly nice optics thanks 2 modern technology & humble but dignified love & labor. My present eyepiece collection: Set of 3 aspheric type 1.25" (5mm 10mm & 23mm); a 2" TPO Superview 50mm Wide View; a 1.25" Orion Edge On Planetary 5mm; a 1.25" Celestron Luminous 10mm; & a 1.25" Celestron Omni Barlow lens. I am pleased with all & will acquire others n time. The Orion Nebula looks fantastic using this awesome telescope & my Celestron Luminous eyepiece with it's huge 86 degree viewing field! The great nebula fully occupies the field as a whispy, lovely mares tail with it's star groups contained. The moon is an awesome sight thru it's phases, endless, everchanging countless features, craters within craters, rays, protruding mountains, vast smooth lava fields, shadowed valleys, cracks & fissures. If it only rotated! The moon will nearly blind U using this scope. A variable adjustment filter is best for viewing the moon because U can dial the level of brightness 2 perfection. A Barlow lens doubles r more the power of each eyepiece. I unscrew the lens from my Barlow tube & screw it directly N2 any 1.25" eyepiece thus increasing the power by maybe 25 or 30% giving extra varied & pleasing magnifications. Here is an easy collimation method: Position the telescope vertically. Remove any eyepiece. This allows U 2 C your eye reflected n the primary mirror through the secondary mirror. Place your eye near the hole. Center the primary mirror within the secondary mirror using the secondary's 3 adjustment screws. With the long tubular wrench included with the scope, adjust the primary mirror until U C your eye perfectly centered n the center marker of the primary mirror. The center marker looks like a half inch white O. Slowly back away from the eyepiece hole while watching your eye's reflection 2 a distance of about 4 feet. When U get the primary mirror's center mark centered from this distance & your eye fills the hole viewed from about 4 ft., collimation is complete. Ideally, all U will C from about 4 & 1/2 ft. is the primary mirror center mark 'O' perfectly centered n the eyepiece hole surrounded by the magnified reflection of your eye pupil. I note that the scope holds alignment progressively better after each collimation effort obviously due 2 mechanical & structural settling. Keep your structural connections secure but DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN! I built a rolling transportion platform topped with a black rubber car mat with tiny black knobs. This cushions against shock & prevents the scope from sliding while rolling it from inside the house out 2 my back yard viewing spots. Even with the minor bumps & grinds the scope is holding good collimation! One night the laser dot finder scope snagged on my back door as I was pulling the scope out N 2 the yard. The rocker box was pulled out of the primary mirror box toppling the scope 2 the ground. The only damage was the broken plastic arm of the laser dot finder scope! I located a piece of quality 1/4 inch thick veneer wood & cut a piece 2 & 1/2 inches long with a 2 inch base for the telescope mount & a 1 inch top with a center notch that attached perfectly 2 the finder scope. I painted the fix flat black. It looks & works as well as the original part. The red dot finder scope is precision. Adjusted correctly, it is not difficult 2 spot planets even using a 5mm eyepiece, 305x magnification! I can do a lot of minor, sometimes major fixes & have found that a roll of professional quality duct tape can enable some genius repairs. As an astronomer, never forget the sky is the limit, but as an adage, all limits R made 2 B broken. I enjoy this telescope like fine chocolate r candy! And it's not 2 big for a little space junkie like me 2 manage. No fancy computer drive 2 complicate things. Just a 12 inch monster eye 2 scan the cosmos at will!