1992 Heidelberg Speedmaster 102 saving job question

i just purchased a 92 speedmaster sm 102.it has cptronics not sure what version it is (1.02 or 1.03)Right now it does not have the cassete for saving jobs it has a mini card system but they told me it was not working.are there any options of saving jobs to a standalone computer.i had this set up on an older mitsubishi and it worked great.any other options for saving jobs would be great.thanks for the help.

 

when Heidelberg first came out with cpc way back in the early 80s i believe, the only way to save jobs was to overlay a strip of clear acetate on top of the ink fountain zone diodes. With a marking pen you would copy to the clear acetate the exact position of each diode and then mark down the ink sweep setting. This would have to be done for each color!!!!. When it came time to rerun a job you could just copy the profiles from the acetate overlay into the press console in real time. It was pretty primitive but functional. My feeling is that unless the press rollers are kept in tip top condition and that your ink fountains are all calibrated correctly youd be better off just shooting from the hip, and with a little time spent on the press you will be able to get just about as close as the overlays by just winging it.

 

Wow Tom... I forgot about those overlays, they were just ahead of my time with Heidelberg. I came onboard with the tape drives.

Typically, on the card readers the cards themselves are what went bad the reader/writer worked fine. The cards just did not hold up well to the pressroom environment and being constantly rewritten over. I worked in the parts department at the time and I can tell you we sold alot of the cards. At the time recording to the cards was the best option available. (Jump Drives would have been nice back then, but then again so would have Inpress and Image control)

I imagine with some degree of creativity you may be able to come up with a solution to use the ribbon cable that attaches to the card reader / writer and hook it up to a hard drive. The ribbon cable which the card connects to is 64 pins. The trick is knowing what the format of the card is and if the reader can be tricked into using a hard drive as a card.

But by the time you figured all of that out you could have used the acetate overlay...

 

now youve got me feeling like a dinosaur paul!!!

 

Good day Rotorhead
I have a solution to your problem
It's a PC connected to the Mini card reader cable (instead of it) that has the capabillity to save jobs but also send yoir CIP fuls to the pres , so you can revive some modern life in to your old press.
I have done it in more then one press and it works very well - will suit your 92 HD with no problem.
No it is not cheap , yet cheaper then the HD solution - the one thast goes wrong all the time till you stop using it....
Give me a call - will be happy to pass the details to you
Meny +447924232341

 

thanks for the info guys.i do remember those acetate strips.finished the press up and ran 1st job with it.i have not had tiime to look at the card reader in detail yet.does anyone know where i could get a card for the reader? thanks and i will be calling you meny once i get settled down here

 

The card system was a flop from the start , not only on HD presses but on all - it is not a system suitable for the dusty printshop area.
If you buy a card , you will buy another very quick - it is dumping your money for old technology.
I can help you obtain a good solution for years , that will give you way more then the card ans last for you to enjoy your investment...and it is not as expensive as the HD solutions (yet works better)
Good luck

 

Good day all,

Are these machines effective in book printing? What are the + and - of these machines? need to make a choice between SM 102-4 (1990 years) and SM 74-4 2000 years.

 

The 102 will allow you to print twice the amount of pages per form than the 74 but will require biger plates which cost more money, bigger blankets which cost more money, more consumables which cost more money but will be roughly twice as productive.

 

Hello,

thanks!
Considering size profit as you said we will save time. Just want to know any specific or chronical problems.

 

One issue you will encounter printing on the smaller format press will be availability of paper that will allow you to run paper grain long. Not sure of the standard sizes outside of the United States but over here a 19" x 25" sheet will often be cut in half from a 25"x38" sheet. Same issue with a 17.5"x23" sheet. In this case the paper grain orientation would not be optimum. In order to be able to run optimum grain orientation you will need to purchase paper (usually in cartons) sized to 19"x25", or 17.5"x23" Here in the States I believe you will pay a premium for paper sized that way. The only other option for keeping paper costs in check would be to purchase paper in the 38"x50" configuration and quarter it to get you to 19"x25" with the grain running long or purchase it sized to 35"x46" and quarter it. This would require a cutter able to handle them larger dimensions!!!

 

I would suggest that if you have the means to "figure it out", then that would be preferable to the acetate overlay. You only would have to figure it out one time!!!