Hi Assaf,
that depends on how much automatisation you really want.
If you just want some of the hassle taken away, you can get a simple Jobo CPE/CPA/CPP (the same machine, only in different sizes). This is basically just a motor which lets the drum rotate in a water bath of a specified temperature. There were two series (designated CPE and CPE-2 etc.), the newer one is usually preferable. If you want a little more comfort, there is a lift attachment which will allow you to pour chemicals in through a funnel and out through a hose (otherwise you have to take the drum out of the bath for every change of baths). These machines will not take care of changing baths for you, so timing is still your own problem. Another interesting, if expensive, device in this category is the Heiland
TAS processor; instead of rotating in a bath, it inverts the drum regularly just as you would do manually, and it has a timer to warn you when the process ends. Changing chemicals is still your own duty, but the process itself is taken care of.
If you want fully automatic operation, it can get surprisingly tricky and the machines get rather complicated. After all, you need at least some sort of computer to control the process, and several different chemical storage tanks with their own temperature control. The most popular machines in this field are the Jobo ATLs. Some of these are simply CPAs or CPEs with a little more electronics, some of these are fully-blown professional development machines. They differ considerably in features, prices, and also in requirements; for example, some simple ATLs require a hot water supply as well as a cold water supply for temperature control. Entry-level models are, for example, the ATL-1, which is an oversized CPP, or the ATL-1000/1500, which is a very compact and easy-to-use machine, but may need a tempered water supply for washing the film. (Not that getting warm water out of a cold-water tap is a problem in Israel.) I would try looking for an ATL-1000 or ATL-1500 for your scenario. You can get an impression of what they do by reading the
manuals. However, there are some other fully-automatic processors as well. I used a Mafina V-50 for a while, which was a washing-machine-sized apparatus where somebody had attached a laptop for process control. Not bad; a bit big though. Instead of spooling films on spools and developing them in a drum, you spooled them on the outside of a huge drum which rotated in a light-tight chamber with the bath at the bottom. The original machine with this setup was the Colenta, I think.
Automatisation does make you a little lazy, though, and it can be wasteful on chemicals (especially fixer). Many machines don't collect the chemicals separately, so you either have the discipline to put a different bucket under the outflow after every bath, or you end up using one-shot chemicals a lot.
Philipp
