1202 replies to this topic

[brickbots]

I wrote 95947 and got nothing. Reseted all settings as if i accidentally disabling the double star. still nothing. Was hoping auto suggestion full HIP which would be HIP 95947 A. Wrote albireo and the double star was shown to my surprise.

 

The more you use it, the worse it gets because its a must to have little gadget, yet its quite bad during night. During daytime with "test mode" on its quite good, but at night, when its dark, and buttons almost invisible and small and you are in relaxed mindset, the ergonomics quite distract, and if something you wish to see and cannot find then its really is disturbing viewing session.

 

At least im used to it, but the other folk i borrowing this occasionally - they just need my babysitting. I know i sound bit negative, but i rarely am vocal about it, mostly out of passion for it to become better.

Hi!

 

Thank you for this great feedback.  The PiFinder does not currently have the full HIP catalog, but we're always looking for suggestions on which catalogs and features to spend time on, so it's very useful to know when it does not hit someone's expectations.

 

It sounds like you've used the PiFinder quite a bit and might have some useful feedback.  When you say the buttons are almost invisible, is this the actual physical buttons or the legends below them?  We've added some partial boxes in recent version to help associate the two, but I'm keen to hear other ideas.  Shine-through rubber buttons, like the Nexus, have been suggested and it's something I may look into.  With gloves, I found the buttons on the Nexus a bit tricky sometimes, but maybe it's something that can be improved with wider spacing and a bit more tactile feel.

 

Aside from the button visibility and not having all the objects you are looking for, are there any other rough edges that distract you from your observing?

[eyeoftexas]

… we're always looking for suggestions on which catalogs and features to spend time on, so it's very useful to know when it does not hit someone's expectations.

 

The catalogs presently in the PiFinder are pretty good.  Here are some suggestions for more

 

Hickson Galaxy Groups (have it target the center point or brightest of the group)

Abell Galaxy Clusters (same as Hickson)

Melotte clusters

Ruprecht clusters

King clusters

Berkeley clusters

O’Mera’s books (Hidden Gems, etc.)

Alvin Huey’s guides:

     Small galaxy groups, Flat galaxies, Galaxy Trios, Local Group, VV catalog

Webb Deep Sky Galaxy of the Month (volumes 1 and 2 available on Webb Deep Sky website)

[Bearcub]

Hi!

 

1) When you say the buttons are almost invisible, is this the actual physical buttons or the legends below them?

 

2) Aside from the button visibility and not having all the objects you are looking for, are there any other rough edges that distract you from your observing?

1) When i say invisible i mean, even when i see button i feel i dont understand which one to press, due to simply them being so many in such small space. Its simply because i view at night and slightly sleepy and relaxed. Thats.. probably cannot be solved, just the nature of the hobby! I know what button to press but it takes time to wake me up in "whats going on.. oh i need to do this and that.."

 

2a) Needing to use stellarium visually to "double check" what i want to find in pifinder "oh i want M22, not M23..." or... "oh right...grafts cluster is not ngc, its IC catalog" and then remembering the codename so i can find it in pifinder..

 

2b) and almost always i even remember altitude, azimuth so i can point telescope in aproximate direction and only then finding that object in pifinder screen, otherwise it is impossible to find because many other objects are filling the screen.

 

For example if i put telescope in milky way patch of the sky then 100% i wont find what i want in pifinder - i go to computer stellarium, find where it is, and then point telescope because milky way patch just fills up with 50 or 100 objects. If i reduce then i may accidentaly remove the object i wish to view in filtering. (happened many times, because im sleepy and its night and my brain is resting, or maybe because i am dumb)..

 

3) If i view the sky with others, i see they really dont want to use search function either. They just copy how i view, by going to stellarium manually with their mobile phone(website stellarium) or going to computer.

Still, there is nothing better so pifinder takes top spot on telescope (pun intended)