PiFinder™ Menu Map
Note
This map reflects v3 and v2.5 PiFinders running software 2.2.0 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 The Menu System.
The top level has six sections:
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, and search.
Filter — Narrow which objects appear in your lists.
Settings — Configure the interface, chart, camera, WiFi, and hardware.
Tools — Status, equipment, location and time, updates, and power.
Start
- 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.
- 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 filter criteria. See Object List for how the lists work.
- 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 PiFinder™ 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.
- Custom
Enter a right ascension and declination by hand to make a one-off target you can push to. See Custom Targets.
- Name Search
Find objects by common name using T9-style text entry. See Name Search.
Filter
The Filter menu limits which objects appear in your lists. See 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.
Settings
The Settings menu holds every user-configurable item. See Settings Menu for more.
- 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.
- T9 Search
Turn T9 predictive text in Name Search on or off.
- 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.
- Camera Exp
Camera exposure time — Auto, or a fixed value from 0.025s to 1s. Longer 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 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 Tools.
- Status
The PiFinder’s current state — solver status, WiFi mode and address, GPS, and more. See Status Screen.
- Equipment
Pick your active telescope and eyepiece and see the resulting magnification and field of view. See 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 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.
- SQM
A Sky Quality Meter that estimates sky brightness from the camera.
- AE Algo
How auto-exposure recovers when no stars are detected — Sweep, Exponential, Reset to 0.4s, or Histogram.
- Power
Shut down or restart the PiFinder.
- Shutdown
Cleanly power down (Confirm or Cancel). See Shutdown.
- Restart
Reboot the PiFinder (Confirm or Cancel).