A few days after getting my Seestar S50, another telescope joined my setup: a handmade 12″ truss-tube Dobsonian. Built for travel, originally planned for Namibia and now my new light bucket for visual deep-sky observing.
The idea of changing my visual setup had been on my mind for quite a while. Last year, a fellow astronomer showed me his ultra-light 12″ Hofheim Instruments Dobsonian, which packed down surprisingly well into just two cases. That really hit a nerve, because it addressed a problem that had been bothering me for years.
My old 6″ Celestron on the Vixen GP-E mount had become too much effort for quick observing sessions. Carrying everything outside, assembling it, observing for a while and then taking it all apart again an hour later often felt like more work than joy. Most of the time, I simply grabbed my little 3″ telescope because I could carry it in one hand and be outside within minutes.
So the idea slowly grew: keep the mount, sell the 6″, get a smart companion for imaging — and find a larger but still practical telescope for visual observing.
A friend sent me a few second-hand Dobsonians that were up for sale and with one of them, I got lucky. This handmade truss-tube Dobsonian hit exactly the sweet spot I was looking for: plenty of light-gathering power, but still compact enough to transport and break down for travel.
The telescope had originally been meant for a Namibian farm. As so many plans did, that journey fell through because of Covid. In the end, the Dobsonian was sold and ended up with me.
Later I even found out that the mirror cell came from one of the members of my astronomy club. The world really is small sometimes.
This 12″ truss-tube Dobsonian features a high-quality GSO primary mirror and is clearly built with portability in mind. That is exactly what makes it so appealing to me. It offers the kind of aperture you want for galaxies, nebulae and star clusters, without becoming a complete transport nightmare.
It also finally gives my StarSense smartphone dock a telescope where it does not look completely ridiculous.
I originally used the StarSense dock on my tiny 3″ “Tchiboscope,” which was… let’s say, a bold pairing. The dock was so oversized for that little telescope that the whole setup felt slightly offended by physics. On the 12″ Dobsonian, the StarSense dock finally feels like it belongs there. No drama, no tiny telescope being bullied by a smartphone holder, just a useful push-to helper on a telescope with enough size and stability to carry it properly.
My first impressions of the Dobsonian are very positive. The contrast looks excellent, the stars are sharp, and the light-gathering power is exactly what I had hoped for. After years of choosing the small telescope because it was easy, it feels exciting to finally have a big visual deep-sky instrument that still has a realistic chance of actually being used.
I am sure I will have more to say once I have spent more time with it under darker skies. For now, it feels like a very promising new chapter for visual observing.