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  #1  
Old 4th September 2008, 06:39 PM
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Default RH Designs Process Master II

I received delivery yesterday of a Process Master II, temperature compensating process timer, from RH Designs. I got fed up with trying to read my old luminous darkroom clock in total darkness when processing sheet film in trays. My darkroom also suffers from extreme changes in temperature over time.

With careful placement of the display, and using the supplied foot switch to control the timer, I expect things to improve no end.

I let you know how I get on.
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Old 4th September 2008, 06:43 PM
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Please do Barry, I’ve just turned a shade of luminous green with envy.
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Old 5th September 2008, 08:23 AM
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Please do Barry, I’ve just turned a shade of luminous green with envy.
I hope it does not fog your film!

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Old 5th September 2008, 07:32 PM
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You'll really enjoy it Barry. I have MKI and have found it an extremely usefull addition to my darkroom. The footswitch is excellent, no more having to turn on a timer with wet hands.
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Old 6th September 2008, 10:19 AM
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Feedback will be very welcome - so far we've had virtually none which presumably means customers are happy but it would be nice to know for sure!
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Richard
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Old 8th September 2008, 05:42 PM
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Default RH Process timers

I'm another big fan of the timers, having both the original and mark II.

Barry, you can dim the readout, its not bright enough to fog tray developed film, ...but I still keep mine on the other side of the darkroom.

I tray develop film regularly and lift each side of the tray in turn every 15 seconds, for me the abilty to have a beep at 15 seconds would be useful, Richard, particularly when the time is over 10 minutes (my standard development time is 13) and the read out is to one decimal place!

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Old 8th September 2008, 06:20 PM
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Thanks for the info Tony. I agree that a 15 Sec Beep would be very useful for tray developers.
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Old 9th September 2008, 12:59 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RH Designs View Post
Feedback will be very welcome - so far we've had virtually none which presumably means customers are happy but it would be nice to know for sure!
Regards
Richard
Richard, as I have one of the first I suppose I might be able to comment

Usage


So far I've only used it for developing films as my standard kitchen timer is fine for timing a minute for both dev and fix.

Film development combinations include:

Perceptol

Temp = 24 Degrees C
Dilution = 1:3
Inversions = 4 / min
Development times for N and N-1 already known

Rodinal

Temp = 24 Degrees C
Dilution = 1:100
Inversions = 4 / 3 mins
Development times for N and N-1 already known


Microphen


Temp = 20 Degrees C
Dilutions = Stock
Inversions = 4 / min
Only used with Delta 3200 or HP5+ @ 1600 and use recommended time

When I came back from Budapest I had 28 films to develop using a variety of the above methods. I've made some general observations below:

I always poor out my chemicals at 15 Seconds from the end of the process and don't have any problems with audible countdown being for the last 10 seconds, as if I'm on the ball, I'm watching the clock and tip out at 15 seconds to go. If I'm distracted the 10 second count down spurs me into action and I'm only 5 seconds late.

Slightly different tones at the 30 second and and Minute intervals is a great feature.

The % compensation is not really relevant when you have already calculated N-1 etc, but can be very useful when you haven't and despite the hours I've put in the darkroom I still haven't done every film.

When I developed my Delta 3200 I put the time in for 20 Degrees C and then used the compensation feature to develop at room temperature. Which in the summer is invariably around 23 Degrees C. The process timer, reduced the time significantly, although I might have not known if I didn't have a stop watch timing the entire process. Let me explain... When implementing the temperature compensation the timer will lengthen or shorten the time between inversions but will still count down the required 60 seconds. In my case the countdown was significantly quicker than a minute. When I inspected the negatives afterwards everything looked fine.

The splash proof top is really useful as I've managed to incapacitate my Kitchen timer by accidentally spilling some water on it. This level of spillage would not cause a problem to the process timer II.

What I would like to see

A temperature display, I have no way of knowing whether or not the Thermometer in the Process Timer matches my other thermometers, so, a temperature display would be very useful. It would allow me to compare thermometers and also give me a spare.

A user defined beep would be useful for when I'm doing semi stand developments.


Conclusion

This is a great bit of kit that has loads of features that take a lot of effort out of developing film. It can be used as a very simple timer or can be programmed to allow for temperature fluctuations or different contrast levels. The Process Timer II will be especially useful to anyone who hasn't spent many hours finding N and N-1 development times for all their films.


Brian
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Old 16th September 2008, 07:37 PM
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Stoo Batchelor Stoo Batchelor is offline
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Brian.

Thanks for the lengthy review. Very informative and helpful. This most certainly does sound like a very handy piece of kit to have in the darkroom.

It would also be nice to hear how you got on in Budapest from a Street photographers point of view. Perhaps you could write a bit in the locations>Overseas area, as its a place I have been meaning to visit for some time now.

Best

Stoo
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Old 16th September 2008, 07:55 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stoo Batchelor View Post
Brian.

Perhaps you could write a bit in the locations>Overseas area, as its a place I have been meaning to visit for some time now.
Stoo
Funny, you should say that as I had given a brief thought However, it'll have to wait for now as I've got something else up my sleeve at the moment.


Brian
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