I spent nearly two years developing a free Push-To system for manual alt-az telescopes
Hi everyone,
I’d like to share a project I’ve been working on for nearly two years.
I developed PushToSky, a free telescope control system that uses the sensors in a smartphone to help point a manual telescope toward a selected object.
The idea was to create an affordable alternative to Go-To systems, especially for Dobsonian and other manual alt-azimuth telescopes.
It currently runs on:
- Android
- Windows
- Linux
The basic idea is simple: the phone knows its orientation, the software knows the selected astronomical object, and it guides you toward the target.
I originally developed it for my own use, but after nearly two years of development I decided to make it freely available.
The Android version is relatively easy to set up. The desktop versions require a little more installation, but they provide the same functionality.
You can see how the phone is mounted here:
https://pushtosky.com/usage.html
And here is the project:
https://pushtosky.com/index.html
I’d be very interested in hearing from people who use manual Dobsonians or other alt-az mounts.
What do you think? Would a system like this be useful for your telescope?
Clear skies!