That must have been Richard Knoppow. He is a gentleman.

Rex:

It is evident that you did not even attempt to read the instructions or
follow the recommendations of the manufacturer.

I helped more than you deserved.

    Rex, what books do you have available on elementary photograpy?  I
wonder partly because your misunderstanding about temperature is not
rare. Another subject that seems to be a frequent source of puzzlement
is the importance of contrast and how to control it. It isn't necessary
to understand this in a highly technical way for it to be useful.
   It seems to me that B&W photography requires a better understanding
of the way the photographic process works than color, despite the more
complex nature of color. I think the reason for this is the nearly
complete standardization of color processing.  There are really only
two color processes for film and two for paper, one each for
negative/positive, and a second set for reversal work. The only other
variation of C-41 and E-6 is that some  sets of processes have some of
the steps combined. All films are developed the same way in the same
solutions with almost no variation. The same for printing (with the
addition of Ciba/Ilfochrome processing which is different from other
reversal processes). In color printing one is concerned mainly with
adjusting the color filters to get a satisfactory result but the actual
processing is nearly automatic even when done with simple equipment.
OTHO, B&W can be done with a large variety of developers and many
variations in processing are possible. This leads to a lot of pitfalls
because some of the factors may not be obvious.  I have been doing
darkroom work for more than fifty years (giving away my age here) and
still make mistakes.
  One key to good B&W work in my never humble opinion, is to apply
some of the standardization of color work. To obtain predictable
negatives they must be developed the same each time. That means paying
attention to time, temperature, and agitation. Printing is easier
because you can always make a new print, but still, if one works from
good negatives good prints are a lot easier to make. What is a good
negative? Easy, its one that prints easily.
  As far as the way biginners are treated here: IMO, one of the main
functions of news groups is to help beginners. Of course, it is also a
forum for those who are knowledgible to trade experiences with each
other but education is an important function. Remember, this is part of
the   -recreation-  hierarchy of news groups, not a professional, sci
or similar group.
 Stick around...

Richard Knoppow
dickburk@ix.netcom.com_