Need a dedicated timer!

[wgerrard]

Come to think of it, I'd be interested in a voice-actuated thingie so I could just yell out something like "8 minutes, 30 seconds." That would be pretty handy.

[tlitody]

Originally Posted by wgerrard

Come to think of it, I'd be interested in a voice-actuated thingie so I could just yell out something like "8 minutes, 30 seconds." That would be pretty handy.

You should get yourself a respirator to save yourself the trouble of having to use your chest muscles to breath.

[wgerrard]

Originally Posted by tlitody

You should get yourself a respirator to save yourself the trouble of having to use your chest muscles to breath.

It's not a matter of being lazy or lacking basic motor skills. Or having "a problem." A voice-actuated timer like I described would be safe, convenient, and more accurate than any device requiring preliminary setup or manual manipulation.

Tools are meant to be used and to make our lives easier. There is no virtue in unnecessarily limiting ourselves.

[tlitody]

Originally Posted by wgerrard

It's not a matter of being lazy or lacking basic motor skills. Or having "a problem." A voice-actuated timer like I described would be safe, convenient, and more accurate than any device requiring preliminary setup or manual manipulation.

You better get a voice activated camera too cos pressing the shutter release must so limiting for you. And of course it will have to have fully automatic exposure and film wind on because having to do that manually would be so limiting. Manual operation? That's for plebs.

Tools are meant to be used and to make our lives easier. There is no virtue in unnecessarily limiting ourselves.

I really find pressing the stop clock start button on my watch so limiting. It's depressing. If only I had one which I could just shout at "Start you bast**d", life would be so much easier. Brain the size of a planet and I'm expected to press buttons. I think I'll go and stick my head in a bucket of water.

[wgerrard]

I imagine you beating your clothes on rocks in a stream.

[MartinP]

For film I use FotoTimer on a Palm PDA, which bleeps for agitation too, plus it chains together dev + stop + fixer. As a backup to that I always use a kitchen timer, and as a backup to that I always start the processing at a known time on my wrist-watch (and write down the correct stop time before starting). Not that I worry about these things . . .

Paper is done with a ColTim backed up by a wall-clock with a large second-hand, near the safelight.

It is surprisingly handy to have something that gives a bleep on your chosen agitation interval, especially with longer times. In the old-old days working in a darkroom I just used the big timer on the wall, and a smaller one on the bench as backup.

EDIT: Oops, and I forgot to suggest the possibility of recording your own mp3 with agitation intervals, tips, music etc. - could be useful and fun too.

[DNG]

For Film,
I use an Android App, "Darkroom Timer".
It is similar to the FotoTimer for the PDA.
You program the intervals for each step, with any agitation needed,, it then puts them all together as one start to finish timer, with a 2sec lead on agitation timers.

FREE

It can be used for wet printing too.

[tom.w.bn]

Originally Posted by MartinP

EDIT: Oops, and I forgot to suggest the possibility of recording your own mp3 with agitation intervals, tips, music etc. - could be useful and fun too.

That sounds like a good idea for a small project to learn something new.

[Roger Hicks]

For hand-line E6, I voice-recorded the processing sequence.There's nothing like it for working in the dark (which I have to for the first bath and wash).

"Film IN . . . TEN seconds . . . TWENTY seconds . . . ___ . . . ONE minute ..... Obe minute TEB . . . One minute TWENTY . . . ____ . . . film OUT . . . "

Time consuming to record but incredibly easy and useful thereafter.

Cheers,

R.

[Tom A]

When it comes to timers - the only one I use for processing are Gralab 300 ( have several). The are the proverbial pick-up truck of darkroom equipment. Unbreakable, reliable and easy to "read" in the gloomy light.
I ran two of them for processing, one for developing and one for fixing film. I usually do batches of 5-15 rolls and this way I dont have to remember to re-set them. The buzzer can be turned off - as it would cause a riot in a graveyard! It is LOUD

[ampguy]

I just sold a Gralab 171 that will turn things on and off and buzz at a variable level. I had it in the classifieds a few times, sold on ebay for under $20 or so though.