Advanced Imaging Conference October 22-24, 2010 Santa Clara ...

Steve WaltersAuthorCCDNavigatorwww.ccdware.com/products/ccdnavigatorImage Planning and Automation using CCDNavigator andCCDAutopilotThe sky is crystal clear and the Sun is setting. But when darkness falls,imagers everywhere are in a race against time! Because clear skies areprecious, we don't want to waste a second. And even on a mediocrenight, we still want rapid and precise acquisition. In this talk, John Smithand Steve Walters, authors of CCDAutopilot and CCDNavigator, will discussand demonstrate your best weapons in the race against time, completeplanning and automated execution.Steve Walters, author of CCDNavigator, has been imaging the night sky since 1980. He concluded a successful careerin telecommunications research during 2002 and has devoted his time and technical abilities to astronomical imagingever since. Steve ’s images have appeared in Astronomy magazine, Keystone Outdoors magazine, Anacortes Image ofthe Day and various web portals. He is a member of the Cherry Springs State Park (CSSP) Dark Sky Advisory Committeeand can normally be found at CSSP during new Moon. He currently operates three systems: a 14-inch Meade SCThoused in a dome used for visual observing, an Epsilon 180 wide-field astrograph with an STL11000 camera and AstroPhysics 1200 mount, and a 16-inch RCOS Ritchey-Chretien with an STL6303E plus Adaptive Optics (AO-L) on a ParamountME. The 16-inch system is housed in an Astrohaven 12 clamshell and can be operated remotely through the Internet.Steve taught Astronomy at Brookdale Community College in NJ.Steve is the author of CCDNavigator, a session planning tool for imagers, which is marketed by CCDWare. He representsCCDWare software products at the Advanced Imaging Conference in San Jose CA, the North East AstronomicalImaging Conference (NEAIC) and the North East Astronomy Forum (NEAF). He has given many presentations on sessionplanning for imagers and CCDNavigator at astronomy clubs and other events across the United States includingthe 2009 ALCON Convention.Helix Nebula, NGC7293 / Steve WaltersSTL11000XM, RCOS 12" f/9, and AP1200GTOLRGB= 180:60:60:60 minutes taken from Cherry Springs, PASteve holds PhD, MSEE andBEE degrees in Electrical Engineeringand worked for BellLabs and Telcordia for 25years as a researcher andmanager. He was named aTelcordia Fellow in 1993 andwas also elected a Fellow ofthe Institute of Electrical andElectronic Engineers (IEEE).He has published numeroustechnical papers, holds elevenpatents and has receivedmany awards for technicalinnovation and leadership. Hisbook, The New Telephony,chronicles the impact of theInternet on telecommunications.Since retirement in2002, Steve works occasionallyas an expert witness intelecom patent litigations. Beforeattending college, heserved for six years in theUnited States Air Force, receivedthe Air Force CommendationMedal and is a VietnamVeteran.Advanced Imaging Conference October 22-24, 2010 Santa Clara, California http://www.aicccd.com Page 30