question for the euros: timer with footswitch?

[phritz phantom]

there seems to be not one single timer with a footswitch available in europe. and i desperately need one. i don't have enough arms anymore for all that burning, dodging etc.
there's one place in paris which has the lpl, but i can't order from them because he only takes visa, which i don't have. also there's never anything on ebay. i'd consider ordering from the u.s. but i don't think it would work with the difference in electricity.
so, do any of european folks here have such a timer and where did you get it? if you could tell me a place which sells one of those, preferably within the euro-currancy-zone (ordering from uk is almost impossible), it would be extremely helpful.

thanks

 

[phritz phantom]

ah and one more thing:
i know about the heiland stopclock. but it is a bit too expenisive for my taste. also i'm not that interested in f-stop printing. the only thing i need is a footswitch, a permenent light option and eventually one of those things that beep once a second for dodging.

 

[Denis P.]

ah and one more thing:
i know about the heiland stopclock. but it is a bit too expenisive for my taste. also i'm not that interested in f-stop printing. the only thing i need is a footswitch, a permenent light option and eventually one of those things that beep once a second for dodging.

I you really can't find a suitable footswitch that would fit, having one custom-made isn't that difficult. If you're not good with electricity and soldering, you can always find someone to make it for you.

I've posted a link to my solution several times already, and I'm probably becoming a nuisance, but what I did is to hook up a Palm Pilot to a relay which turns the enlarger and safelight on and off. Total cost was about 50 EUR (I got the Palm Pilot secondhand, you need an older model with serial cradle). I added the footswitch as an aftertought, hooked it up in about half an hour of work, and used the cheapest guitar footpedal that I found (bought new at a music store for about 12 EUR) - it works like a charm.

In short, if it sounds interesting, check out my page:

http://www.hrtranslations.com/photo/Palm-enlarger.html

The only downside is that the Palm Pilot software that I use can be adjusted down to 1 second only (so, not too precise for very fine timing adjustments) - but I never found it to be a problem.

You can also tweak this solution to actually use your existing timer, if you already have one, and if it has provision for a footswitch - you'll need a wiring diagram for the signal pins/contacts on your timer. In this case you probably don't even need a relay, since the footswitch only has to provide "on" contact to start the timer, and the timer itself does the rest.

HTH,

Denis

 

[phritz phantom]

hey! now this sounds interesting. especially because i have all the needed parts lying around: old palm and guitar pedals.

and about custom building a footswitch for my timer: i'm using a hauck trialux right now (although i never meter anything with it) and this thing has a lot of functions and so, so i don't think it's possible or i'm technically skilled enough to do such a thing.

 

[Dave Miller]

Richard sell foots switches.

http://www.rhdesigns.co.uk/darkroom/html/accessories.html

 

[Akki14]

Ah here i've been operating the touchpad timer on my enlarger with my toes/feet all the time....

 

[John Kasaian]

Use one made for an electric lamp. Any good hardware store should have them in stock.

 

[phritz phantom]

i think i found a (temporary) solution.
i will use this (sorry, for the amazon link, i couldn't find a neutral one)
http://www.amazon.de/28700-Proxxon-Fu%C3%9Fschalter-FS/dp/B000S6EKFC
and a metronome.
so this goes without all modern technology. i wonder how often i will miscount...