I recently bought this off of ebay. Does anyone by chance know what it is? I thought it was an enlarger timer, but maybe a light meter...not sure. If so, could someone possibly upload a manual. Otherwise, I'll just buy one.
I recently bought this off of ebay. Does anyone by chance know what it is? I thought it was an enlarger timer, but maybe a light meter...not sure. If so, could someone possibly upload a manual. Otherwise, I'll just buy one.
It was also sold under the Philips label -- so who knows who made it. Like other enlarging meters, it has a probe that you put under the enlarging light, and by adjusting the aperture, it tells you how dense the negative is, the density range of the negative, and/or what exposure time to use. If it has a socket for the enlarger, then it might possibly could act as a timer, as well. Something tells me it lacks that, but you can figure that out -- hopefully without starting a fire.
Maybe there's a manual available at butkus.org...
Looks like its a simple comparator, with a resistor bridge. Using a reference light level you tweak the dial till the needle centers. Then later you can set it at that setting and tune the aperture to get the same level. In use get a good reference print and record the settings for the dark and light tones so you can set it for the next print. A new set of setting records for each exposure time. You can also use it to determine contrast by the difference between the darkest and lightest parts of the negative. Takes a bit of trial and error to get zeroed in but once done it gets you into the ballpark with way less waste.
Phillips manufactured a number of timers and analyzers. I have a System 2000 timer/B&W analyzer. Look for a product name and google that.
What ever you do, don't let the magic smoke get out.
I had one made by Patterson. I used it a few times and found out that it was easier and more accurate to just make test strips.
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