PiFinder™ Menu Map ================== .. note:: This map reflects v3 and v2.5 PiFinders running software |min_software| or above. The exact items you see can vary slightly with your configuration and software version. Everything the PiFinder does is reached through its menu system. This page is a bird's-eye view of that system: a diagram of each branch, with a short note on what every option does. For how to scroll and select — and for the Quick Menu that brings common actions into easier reach — see :ref:`user_guide:the menu system`. The top level has six sections: .. mermaid:: flowchart LR PF([PiFinder]) --> Start PF --> Chart PF --> Objects PF --> SQM PF --> Settings PF --> Tools - **Start** — Get set up for the night: focus, align, and check your GPS fix. - **Chart** — A live star chart of where the scope is pointing. - **Objects** — Choose what to look at: catalogs, recent objects, search, and the filters that narrow your lists. - **SQM** — A Sky Quality Meter that estimates how dark your sky is from the camera. - **Settings** — Configure the interface, chart, camera, WiFi, and hardware. - **Tools** — Status, equipment, location and time, updates, and power. Start ----- .. mermaid:: flowchart LR Start --> Focus Start --> Align Start --> AlignDay["Align (Day)"] Start --> GPS["GPS Status"] Focus A live camera view for focusing the lens. Adjust focus until stars are as small and sharp as possible — sharp stars are what let the PiFinder solve. The Quick Menu here adjusts the camera Exposure. Align Align the PiFinder to your eyepiece. Center a known star, confirm, and your Push-To distances then account for any offset between the camera and where you're actually looking. Align (Day) Set the same eyepiece alignment in daylight by marking where a distant eyepiece-centered object appears in the camera image. GPS Status The current GPS fix: satellites in view, lock state, and the location and time the PiFinder has acquired. (Also reachable from Tools, under Place & Time.) Chart ----- Chart A star chart centered on where your telescope is pointing, redrawn as you move. Zoom with the **+** / **-** keys. Its appearance — reticle, constellation lines, deep-sky markers, and coordinate readout — is set under the Settings menu's Chart options. Objects ------- The Objects menu is where you choose what to look at. Every list here, apart from Name Search and Recent, shows only objects that meet your current :ref:`filter criteria `. See :ref:`user_guide:object list` for how the lists work. .. mermaid:: flowchart LR Objects --> AF["All Filtered"] Objects --> BC["By Catalog"] Objects --> Recent Objects --> OL["Obs Lists"] Objects --> Custom Objects --> NS["Name Search"] Objects --> SF["Set Filters"] BC --> Planets BC --> Comets BC --> NGC BC --> Messier BC --> DSO["DSO... (14 catalogs)"] BC --> Stars["Stars... (7 catalogs)"] SF --> RA["Reset All"] SF --> Cat["Catalogs"] SF --> Type SF --> Alt["Altitude"] SF --> Mag["Magnitude"] SF --> Obs["Observed"] All Filtered Every object, across all catalogs, that meets your current filters. With loose filters this can be many thousands of objects, so it's most useful once you've set strict filters. By Catalog Browse one catalog at a time (still narrowed by your filters). Common catalogs sit at the top; the rest are grouped under DSO... and Stars.... For what each catalog contains, see :doc:`catalogs`. Planets The major solar-system planets. Comets Comets currently tracked by the PiFinder. NGC The New General Catalogue. Messier The 110 Messier objects. DSO... Less-common deep-sky catalogs: Abell planetary nebulae, Arp peculiar galaxies, Barnard dark nebulae, Caldwell, Collinder open clusters, extragalactic globulars, Harris globulars, Herschel 400, IC, Lyngå open clusters, Messier, NGC, Sharpless emission nebulae, and the TAAS 200 list. Stars... Star catalogs: bright named stars, the SAC double, asterism and red-star lists, RASC and WDS doubles, and TLK's hand-picked variable stars. Recent The objects you've viewed this session, most recent first. It starts empty each session. Obs Lists Load an observing list file you've copied to the PiFinder — SkySafari, CSV, and several other formats. See :ref:`user_guide:observing lists`. Custom Enter a right ascension and declination by hand to make a one-off target you can push to. See :ref:`user_guide:custom targets`. Name Search Find objects by common name using the keypad — multi-tap or T9 text entry. See :ref:`user_guide:name search`. Set Filters Narrow which objects appear in your lists. These settings feed every list above except Name Search and Recent. See :ref:`user_guide:filters` for the full picture. Reset All Clear every filter back to its default. Choose Confirm to apply, or Cancel to back out. Catalogs Choose which catalogs feed the All Filtered list — multi-select, using the same grouping (Planets, Comets, NGC, Messier, DSO..., Stars...) as By Catalog. Type Limit by object type: galaxy, open cluster, cluster with nebulosity, globular, nebula, planetary nebula, dark nebula, star, double and triple stars, knot, asterism, planet, comet, and unknown. Multi-select. Altitude Hide objects below a minimum altitude above your horizon — None, or 0, 10, 20, 30, or 40 degrees. Magnitude Hide objects fainter than the limit you pick — None, or 6 through 15. Observed Show Any object, only those you've Observed, or only those Not Observed — handy for working through an observing project. SQM --- SQM A Sky Quality Meter that estimates how dark your sky is, reported in magnitudes per square arcsecond — higher numbers mean darker skies (roughly 21–22 at a dark site, 18–19 in the suburbs, 16–17 under city lights). The reading is a photometric measurement from a plate-solved camera frame, not a separate hardware meter, so a recent solve gives the most reliable value. Settings -------- The Settings menu holds every user-configurable item. See :ref:`user_guide:settings menu` for more. .. mermaid:: flowchart LR Settings --> UP["User Pref..."] Settings --> CH["Chart..."] Settings --> IM["Image..."] Settings --> CE["Camera Exp"] Settings --> WM["WiFi Mode"] Settings --> MT["Mount Type"] Settings --> ADV["Advanced"] Settings --> IMU["IMU Sensit."] ADV --> PFT["PiFinder Type"] ADV --> CT["Camera Type"] ADV --> GPS["GPS Settings"] GPS --> GT["GPS Type"] GPS --> GB["GPS Baud Rate"] User Pref... Day-to-day interface preferences. Key Bright Keypad backlight level, from -4 (dimmest) to +3. Sleep Time How long the PiFinder waits before power-save dims the screen — Off, or 10s up to 2m. Menu Anim Menu scrolling animation speed — Off, Fast, Medium, or Slow. Scroll Speed How fast long lines of text scroll — Off, Fast, Medium, or Slow. Search Input How Name Search reads the keypad — Multi-Tap (cycle through each key's letters) or T9 (one press per letter). Az Arrows Direction of the azimuth Push-To arrows — Default or Reverse, to match how you read them at the scope. Language Interface language: English, German, French, Spanish, or Chinese. Chart... How the Chart screen draws the sky. Coordinate Sys. Chart orientation — Horizontal, or equatorial with automatic, north-up, or south-up rotation. Reticle Brightness of the center reticle — Off, Low, Medium, or High. Constellation Brightness of constellation lines — Off, Low, Medium, or High. DSO Display Brightness of deep-sky object markers — Off, Low, Medium, or High. RA/DEC Disp. Show a coordinate readout — Off, HH:MM, or Degrees. Image... Overlays on the :ref:`object image `. NSEW Labels Mark the cardinal directions at the edge of the image — On or Off. Object Size Outline the object's cataloged size and orientation — On or Off. Camera Exp Camera exposure time — Auto (the default), or a fixed value from 0.025s to 1s. On Auto the PiFinder adjusts the exposure itself from the plate-solve results. Longer fixed exposures catch fainter stars but blur sooner as the scope moves. WiFi Mode Switch between Client Mode (join an existing network) and AP Mode (the PiFinder serves its own PiFinderAP network). See :ref:`connectivity:wifi`. Mount Type Tell the PiFinder whether your scope is Alt/Az or Equatorial. Changing this restarts the PiFinder. Advanced Hardware setup normally configured once on a DIY build; opening it shows a brief "Options for DIY PiFinders" reminder, since on a fully built unit these already match your hardware. PiFinder Type Screen orientation / build variant — Left, Right, Straight, Flat v3, Flat v2, or AS Bloom. Restarts the PiFinder. Camera Type Which camera sensor is fitted — v2 (imx477), v3 (imx296), or v3 (imx462). GPS Settings Configure the GPS receiver. GPS Type UBlox (the built-in receiver) or GPSD for a generic receiver. Restarts the PiFinder. GPS Baud Rate Serial speed for the receiver — 9600 (standard) or 115200 (UBlox-10). IMU Sensit. How readily scope motion switches pointing from a camera solve to the motion-sensor estimate — Off (ignore the sensor), Very Low, Low, Medium, or High. Changing this restarts the PiFinder. Tools ----- The Tools menu collects screens that aren't about observing but give useful information or perform actions. See :ref:`user_guide:tools`. .. mermaid:: flowchart LR Tools --> Status Tools --> Equipment Tools --> PnT["Place & Time"] Tools --> Console Tools --> SU["Software Upd"] Tools --> TM["Test Mode"] Tools --> Exp["Experimental"] Tools --> Power PnT --> G2["GPS Status"] PnT --> SL["Set Location"] PnT --> STD["Set Time/Date"] PnT --> RL["Reset Location"] PnT --> RTD["Reset Time/Date"] SL --> EC["Enter Coords"] SL --> LL["Load Location"] SL --> SV["Save Location"] Exp --> PA["Polar Align"] Exp --> DT["Dev Tools"] DT --> Tel["Telemetry"] Power --> Shutdown Power --> Restart Status The PiFinder's current state — solver status, WiFi mode and address, GPS, and more. See :ref:`user_guide:status screen`. Equipment Pick your active telescope and eyepiece and see the resulting magnification and field of view. See :doc:`equipment`. Place & Time Manage your observing location and the clock. GPS Status The current GPS fix (the same screen as Start, GPS Status). Set Location Set your observing location. Enter Coords Type your latitude and longitude by hand. Load Location Choose one of your saved locations. Save Location Save the current location to recall later. Set Time/Date Set the clock by hand when there's no GPS fix. Reset Location Discard the current location. Reset Time/Date Discard the current time and date. Console A running log of messages from the PiFinder's subsystems — useful when troubleshooting. Software Upd Download and install software updates over WiFi. See :ref:`user_guide:update software`. Test Mode A demo/debug mode that solves a saved image from disk. It blocks real use at night but lets you explore the PiFinder's features indoors. Experimental Features still under development. Polar Align For equatorial platforms: capture two or three solves while rotating the platform, then use the platform's altitude and azimuth adjusters until the displayed correction reaches zero. See :ref:`user_guide:polar alignment`. Dev Tools Developer instrumentation. Telemetry Record a session's IMU and plate-solve data — optionally including camera Images — then Load a saved recording to replay it. Intended for diagnosing and developing the PiFinder. Power Shut down or restart the PiFinder. Shutdown Cleanly power down (Confirm or Cancel). See :ref:`user_guide:shutdown`. Restart Reboot the PiFinder (Confirm or Cancel).