Using a PC/laptop in the darkroom?

hoffy · Nov 12, 2010

I have been contemplating my naval a bit tonight (my darkroom session was off before it began....sigh). I am wondering whether anyone has used their PC or Laptop as an enlarger timer?

An old hobby of mine is slotcar racing (BTW, does anyone want to buy a 4 lane routed slotcar track..... ). There is plenty free software out there that does race timing, including switching of relays, ect. The biggest hassle we have is the best hardware interface is the good old parallel port, which is unfortunately a rarity in modern systems

Surely, someone out there has designed some software that could be used to switch an enlarger on and off.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Cheers

Steve Roberts · Nov 12, 2010

hoffy said:
Surely, someone out there has designed some software that could be used to switch an enlarger on and off.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

Cheers

Good pun!

Isn't that a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut, though?

Steve

tkamiya · Nov 12, 2010

How would you deal with the light coming out from the LCD panel? I thought about the same thing, but had to discard the idea because of the display issue.

WetMogwai · Nov 12, 2010

I've thought about doing something similar with a phone. The trick is to get the screen to be a safe color. I haven't figured that part out yet using software. If you can keep it secure, a gel might make the screen safe. Make sure you turn the backlight down.

If you want a timer and you don't want to buy something already made, you might look at the Arduino. Put an RTC on it and a relay to control AC, write a bit of code, and you have a timer. You could also put a dimly backlit LCD on with a gel or use something like the LOL Shield behind an ND for output so you can control it using a dial, allowing you to use it without having a PC hooked up or having to reprogram it every time you want to use it.

MattKing · Nov 12, 2010

Until recently there was an advertiser on APUG who offered just this.

IIRC there is a thread or two about their software and/or the relay unit they sold that controlled the enlarger.

Now if I could only remember their name...

NormanV · Nov 12, 2010

Would it be possible to set the screen to a safelight colour? Then it would serve two purposes.
Norman

24x30 · Nov 12, 2010

NormanV said:
Would it be possible to set the screen to a safelight colour?

Somebody tried this. Which color settings will do it?

rudi

BetterSense · Nov 12, 2010

They have these new things called microcontrollers. They are like small controllers. I bet you could even control an enlarger with one.

Seriously, if it was me I would get a mechanical relay for about $8 and use an Arduino.

hoffy · Nov 12, 2010

Steve Roberts said:
Good pun!

Isn't that a bit of a sledgehammer to crack a nut, though?

Steve

The advantage is you can record all of your times in a database while you are working.

In relation to the light, I was thinking of an enclosure, with either a door or a filter.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 12, 2010

tkamiya said:
How would you deal with the light coming out from the LCD panel? I thought about the same thing, but had to discard the idea because of the display issue.

I haven't done this, and I see no realistic use for it either, but accepting the technical challenge for a moment, I would create myself an icc profile in which the blue and green channels are completely turned off.

holmburgers · Nov 12, 2010

I wonder if the remaining red channel would really be "safe" though. Only a test would tell of course.

A sheet of ruby-lith would look cool over a laptop screen

mitch brown · Nov 12, 2010

darkroom laptop

i use curt palms software program ito develop film in my darkroom . i put ruby lith over the screen, cut the briteness settings down and it works like a charm.

Sirius Glass · Nov 12, 2010

When I am in the darkroom, I am getting away from computers. Why would I spoil the ambiance?

Steve

phaedrus · Nov 12, 2010

There are safelight films to attach to laptops screen, or you could use Rubylith.

tkamiya · Nov 12, 2010

RalphLambrecht said:
I haven't done this, and I see no realistic use for it either, but accepting the technical challenge for a moment, I would create myself an icc profile in which the blue and green channels are completely turned off.

I tried this with my Dell laptop...

I can set my desktop to be completely black and no icons, then the back-lighting to be as low as it can get. Even at this setting, there is enough light coming out of typical laptop LCD display to dimly illuminate the darkroom.

I just don't think this is practical....

RalphLambrecht · Nov 12, 2010

tkamiya said:
I tried this with my Dell laptop...

I can set my desktop to be completely black and no icons, then the back-lighting to be as low as it can get. Even at this setting, there is enough light coming out of typical laptop LCD display to dimly illuminate the darkroom.

I just don't think this is practical....

You might be right. I can't even find an icc editor to work for this.

tkamiya · Nov 12, 2010

Being an IT guy and having half dozen old laptops, this was one of the first things I tried.... A simple relay driven by either USB or parallel port. I even thought about using a photo diode of some kind (at multiple locations in frame) and come up with automated exposure "thingy" with auto-cutoff for the enlarger. Then I came to my senses..... WHAT AM I DOING!! Hehe...

I just remembered attraction of traditional darkroom work for me was to get AWAY from computers....

BetterSense · Nov 12, 2010

You could probably use the sound card, if USB or serial was difficult. Just hook an electromechanical relay to the sound card output and dump /dev/random to /dev/dsp.

hoffy · Nov 12, 2010

Thanks for the input.

TBH, the reason behind the question is that I had been thinking of a project to get my programming skills up to scratch. I have a nice little timer that does exactly what I want, I was just curious to see whether people were willing to have a lappy in their darkroom.

I still may think of the project. You never know.

Cheers

23mjm · Nov 12, 2010

Sirius Glass said:
When I am in the darkroom, I am getting away from computers. Why would I spoil the ambiance?

Steve

Amen Brother

dehk · Nov 13, 2010

I think I did snug my laptop in to the darkroom once or twice. mainly because of itunes, haha.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 13, 2010

tkamiya said:
Being an IT guy and having half dozen old laptops, this was one of the first things I tried.... A simple relay driven by either USB or parallel port. I even thought about using a photo diode of some kind (at multiple locations in frame) and come up with automated exposure "thingy" with auto-cutoff for the enlarger. Then I came to my senses..... WHAT AM I DOING!! Hehe...

I just remembered attraction of traditional darkroom work for me was to get AWAY from computers....

Wise decision!

IloveTLRs · Nov 13, 2010

I use my iPhone in the darkroom all the time, to listen to music. I turn the brightness all the way down, and have it facing me not the paper. I also make sure there's no paper around just in case. No problems so far.

michaelbsc · Nov 14, 2010

BetterSense said:
You could probably use the sound card, if USB or serial was difficult. Just hook an electromechanical relay to the sound card output and dump /dev/random to /dev/dsp.

Sorry. Most folks use windows. There's no /dev/anything.

Tragedy, but reality.

RalphLambrecht · Nov 14, 2010

michaelbsc said:
Sorry. Most folks use windows. There's no /dev/anything.

Tragedy, but reality.

Sorry and tragic indeed, but don't worry, Steve is working on it!

Using a PC/laptop in the darkroom?

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