Precision push-to guidance for any telescope. POINTSTAR mounts to your scope or binoculars and pairs instantly over Bluetooth, replacing guesswork with a live, real-time compass to the stars. Align once, then let POINTSTAR's on-screen arrows guide your hand to any target - planets, galaxies, nebulae - with pinpoint accuracy. Mount-agnostic. Motor-free. Ready in seconds.
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POINTSTAR unit overview
Easily attached to telescopes and mounting facilities for binoculars. Fast and precise sensor ensures precise positioning - coupled with the FREE SkyView app gets you a planetarium for easy visual finding and goto!
POINTSTAR try the app
Below is the POINTSTAR SkyView app, use this in demo mode to see how it works. With a physical POINTSTAR the planitarum will move in sync with your telescope or binoculars. For the demo below, drag the screen to simulate the POINTSTAR motion. Align on 2 stars and then select another object to see how the goto guidance works.
How to and guides
Below are some quick start guides and show you how the process goes to start viewing.
Using the SkyView App
Below is a quick guide for connecting to your telescope via APPSTAR. Select your device platform from the buttons below...
Using the optional Phone bracket
Use the optional phone holder to put your phone directly in front of you while you move your telescope. This makes it easier to use POINTSTAR and is like having a computer control panel right where you need it! Compatible with telescopes only, and suitable for phones not tablets.
Below is a quick guide on attaching the bracket to your scope.
How to update the firmware
To keep your POINTSTAR fresh, you can update it's firmware using this web updater..
FAQ
Here are some of the frequently asked questions.
Check these as they may answer any support questions
Tripod mounted binoculars and telescopes on Alt/Az mounts (up/down/left/right) are supported for best results. You can try using it handheld but aligning will be tricky as you need to hold onto an alignment star.
Yes but with the note that motors are electronically noisy and can interfere with the bluetooth connection to the app. If you find that while slewing the app can pause, it is because the motors have interfered with the signal. Experiment moving the POINTSTAR a little further away from the motors. You can always loosen yout clutches and turn off the mount - then simply push to objects!
The SkyView app is a web app, and can be installed on all platforms. It runs on iOS (via the BleFly browser), Android (Chrome) and desktop (PC with Bluetooh 4 capability and Chrome).
Yes but you have to use the free Bluefy browser, See this guide.
To keep the unit small, lightweight and easily shipped the decision to not have this battery powered was taken. You can easily power POINTSTAR using a small USB power bank. POINTSTAR uses very little power so a powerbank can be small. If you choose to use the optional phone bracket, some Android phones support USB OTG, so you can power POINTSTAR directly from your phone. You will need to get a USBC - USBC lead that is long enough to reach each device.
Yes. Firmware updates can be installed through the ScopeBits firmware update tools available on the support website. Updating firmware ensures the latest features and compatibility improvements. Make sure you're using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on desktop. Mobile browsers and Safari are not supported for WebUSB/WebSerial updates. See this guide.
POINTSTAR gets you close enough to find your target in a low-power eyepiece or finder every time - typically within [CONFIRM: e.g. 1-2 degrees] once aligned. It isn't trying to match the pinpoint accuracy of an encoder-based GoTo system or camera plate-solving; it's designed to get you into the field of view fast, by hand, with no cables to the mount and no motors required. If you want to squeeze out extra accuracy mid-session, use "Centered in eyepiece - refine alignment" any time you land near a target and nudge it dead centre - POINTSTAR learns from that correction for every target afterwards.
A small amount of drift is normal for any sensor-based pointing system, POINTSTAR included. If your targets start landing slightly off over a long session, just pick a bright star you can see, centre it, and tap "Centered in eyepiece - refine alignment" - this takes a couple of seconds and immediately sharpens accuracy for every target you go to next. There's no need to redo a full 2/3/4-star alignment from scratch unless you've moved or remounted the unit.
No. Unlike some push-to aids that rely on a built-in compass, POINTSTAR tracks orientation using a gyroscope-based sensor with no magnetometer in the loop. That means motors, steel tube rings, camera gear, and other metal on or near your mount won't throw off your alignment the way they can with compass-based systems. Your reference direction comes entirely from the stars you align on, not from magnetic north.
POINTSTAR is mount-agnostic - It works on Dobsonians, alt-az mounts, and tripod mounted binoculars. Because it doesn't drive any motors, there's no motorised-mount requirement at all: POINTSTAR simply mounts on the optical tube itself and guides you by hand, so it works with almost any manually-operated telescope you already own.
No - POINTSTAR is a push-to system, not a GoTo system. It doesn't contain any motors and it can't slew your scope on its own. Instead, once aligned, it shows you a live arrow and degrees-off readout telling you exactly which way to nudge the scope by hand until you're on target. This means it works with any telescope you can move manually, with no motorised mount required and nothing to install on the mount itself. ScopeBits has soloutions for motorised mounts with this goto feature, select your platform from the main options to check compatibility.
No app, no account, and no purchase beyond the POINTSTAR unit itself. POINTSTAR runs entirely in your web browser - connect over Bluetooth and you're aligning within seconds. There's nothing to download from an app store and no separate subscription for the push-to features.
Yes - POINTSTAR isn't permanently wired into your mount, so it can be moved between telescopes. Just remember that alignment is specific to exactly where and how it's currently mounted, so you'll need to run a fresh alignment (2, 3, or 4 stars, your choice) any time you move it to a different scope or remount it on the same one.
Yes. POINTSTAR's alignment is based on exactly where it's sitting relative to your telescope's optical axis at the moment you align, so removing and remounting it - even back in roughly the same spot - means the old alignment no longer applies. Run a fresh alignment (it only takes a couple of stars) any time the unit has been taken off and put back on.
POINTSTAR is not waterproof and should be removed when not in use if the telescope is stored outside.
You choose: a quick 2-star alignment, a recommended 3-star alignment, or a 4-star alignment for the best accuracy. More align stars, spread across different parts of the sky, generally means better accuracy for targets far from where you aligned - POINTSTAR shows you a suggested area to aim for on each remaining star so your alignment points end up well spread out rather than all clustered together.
POINTSTAR's built-in sky catalog covers stars, the Moon and planets, and deep-sky objects like galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. If you're not sure what to look at, the "Best Now" panel shows you the brightest, best-placed objects currently up in your sky, automatically updating through the night - no need to already know what's overhead.
Plate-solving systems take a photo of the sky and match it against a star database to work out where you're pointed - which needs a clear view of enough stars to solve against, and takes a few seconds each time. POINTSTAR guides you using motion sensing instead, so it works instantly with no exposure or solving delay, and keeps working even under conditions that can trip up plate solving, like a bright moon, light-polluted skies, or thin cloud. The trade-off is accuracy: plate solving can be pinpoint-precise, while POINTSTAR gets you into the eyepiece field of view rather than dead-centre every time.
Yes. Firmware updates can be installed through the ScopeBits firmware update tools available on the support website. Updating firmware ensures the latest features and compatibility improvements. Make sure you're using Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge on desktop. Mobile browsers and Safari are not supported for WebUSB/WebSerial updates. See this guide.
Customer reviews
Here are some reviews from customers about their POINTSTAR.
Also check out the gallery to see customer images of ScopeBits gear in action.
