my first HIE!

[Jaap Los <losjb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hurray, I exposed and developed my first HIE!  I want to tell you about
my experiences.
1.  Exposure setting 50 ASA with B+W filter 092. Metering set manually. 
Bracketing  normal, +2/-2 ( 5 exposures). It was sunny weather, not
quiet bright, a bit milky sky, 2 PM.  The normal exposure was 1/60 F11. 
2.  The filter is almost black and therefore I composed the picture
without filter on the lens. Camera Nikon F801 reflex.
3.  Loading/unloading camera in the dark. Developing  with dimmed light
(TL tube). The film is clear, no fogging at all, looks beautiful.
Patterson small plastic tank.
4.  I had some problems  during bringing in the film into the spiral.
The film is very thin and at a certain moment slipped out of the spiral
and fell on the floor.! Ordinary film does not have this problem! I had
to look for it in the dark. Can you imagine the situation?  Due to this
the film catched some dust and shows some light spots. Moreover there
was a very faint thin light stripe (appr. 1 mm width) over the whole
length of the film.  Its hardly detectable and has no sharp edges. It
looks more like an irregular pattern of the grain. (its light on the
negative and thus black on the actual photo).  
5.  Can anyone advice me about a better  method of spiralling in the
film? 
6.  Can anyone solve the problem of the faint light stripe on the film?
Could it be a manufacturers fault?
7.  I developed the film in XTOL stock solution during 6 minutes at 24
degrees Celsius. Agitation during the first 30 seconds and after every
30 minutes 5 seconds agitation. 
8.  The two stops underexposure were the best?? The normal exposure
(1/60 F11) was too heavy. Next time I expose at 100 ASA and develop
during 5 minutes, 24 degrees.  Or should I only bring the time down to 5
seconds?
9.  Grain looks almost comparable with HP5 film, so not bad at all.
Maybe XTOL keeps grain down to the minimum.
10.  I would like to know how to judge an IR negative. Should the sky be
almost blank and the vegetation black and contrasty to the sky?  Some
negatives (the overexposed) look heavily covered. The sky is not clear.
Are they  no good?  Are there any standard rules or hints for the
selection of the best negatives?

I realise, that my questions are beginnerss ones.  Still I hope to get
some reactions. I enjoy reading all the questions and answers in this
newsgroup and I learn a lot from them. Many thanks!

Greetings, 
Jaap Los
Holland.
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