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Hi Trevor,
Couple of facts here that you need to consider in all this;
1) I am 205cm or 6' foot 9" tall and can lift most things quite easily due to my leverage and strength.
2) I am 38 and in good shape.
3) I have a Skywatcher 12" collapsible Dobsonian (around 40kgs assembled)
4) Its not the weight of the scope, but the MASS and the sheer size of the assembled tube and base board
5) The Base of the mount is 64cm in diameter which means I have to pretty much arm curl the whole thing so it rests on my thigh while I carry it or walk like a duck with it suspended between my legs and this is quite difficult.
6) The tube with the slide bars measures around 45cm in diameter.
7) Disassembling the scope into two parts makes it much easier, but its still quite bulky.
8) Fitting it into the car ( a Ute with a HIGH roof canopy in the tray) means I still have to split it in two to get it in.
9) The collapsed height is 3 foot 9 or around 106cm.
10) The extended height is 5 foot tall or 153cm.
Now my son who is 6 foot 2 and 14 years old has pretty much no chance of carrying the assembled scope for more than 1-2 steps and he is no slouch either.
If you are seriously considering buying the 12" collapsible, I would suggest you think again, its not going to be easy and if its not much fun to get it out to use it, you will start regretting the decision to go for the maximum sized one.
An unused scope is pretty much useless.
My suggestion is: Buy the collapsible 10", the difference should only be minimal and the portability factor is much better.
The money you save (around $600-$700) would buy some seriously nice eyepieces or other accessories.
I hope this helps, I know its tempting to buy the biggest and best when you are 13, but trust me, I am strong and tall and can carry a lot! but sometimes even I struggle and you dont want to injure yourself or even drop the scope.
Regards
Chris
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