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Update and Upgrade ‘OUT OF AFRICA’
Hello all,
Have recently got a stable Internet connection and have Updated my knowledge base on your good boards.
UPDATE;
8 months back took delivery,and self installed a new Roland SP540i Print and Cutter and Versaworks RIP. This was the best buy for a start up Sign business.
It has been working non stop since installation, and is the success of my business, thanks for the advice on the boards on on getting a reliable well known model.UPGRADE;
To support my new customers and a Presidential election coming up later in the year, I needed a print only back-up solution for the overworked 540i.
A friend who visited FESPA Hamburg 2011 mailed me there was an Eastern built 160cm Eco Solvent printer with a DX5 print head, as close as you can get to a jv33.UP TO NOW;
I bought it, and new Eastern machine arrived in Lusaka a week ago, it looked well manufactured and had excellant English installation manual. I have dilligently assembled the machine an all seems well, but..
Unfortunately no RIP software !!!ADVICE FROM SIGNBOARDS PEASE;
As the nearest WFP technicians are a few thousand kilometers away, I try and avoid any costly mistakes.
I need to get the machine printing with a provisional software solution, New RIP software will set me back almost as much as the initial cost of the machine.Am only intending using it for basic Poster and banner work, just pretty pictures, no exact Pantone requirements, don’t want to over extend the Roland.
Any good advice will be welcome, I use Corel/Photoshop/AI for design,
Is there a plug-in or could I use a universal type Print Driver before making an expensive decision?Regards to all, Nobby
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15 Replies
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Nobby… you maybe able to download the windows drivers for this machine from the manufactures website (assuming you use windows) then you should be able to print from most applications.
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is this printer known as the Prettiss ?
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Hello Andrew, Yes I’m using Windows XP, and will try jv33 drivers from the website. Want to firstly try and establish what firmware is on the machine.
Lucky I’m not desperate at moment. and will try and get some feedback about the machine, it sells very well as the TWINJET SJ-1608 in Poland and Russia, and under another name in Florida, USA.
With persistence, time and a little luck, I look forward to informing the boards to getting it printing successfully.Thanks….Nobby
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this must be it… from China
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Hello Andrew, Its a TWINJET SJ-1608 and I had some insider info that its well made !!! I can send PDF manual if you need ?.
Im not familiar with board rules and dont want to upset any Eastern built skeptics, though if it works well doesnt matter what it is, Im hoping that I can give it some positive credit soon.Regards……Nobby
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Hello Dave, thats it, you must tick the 1608 model for the proper model, though mine looks like a slightly updated version.
Maybe with some tech. advice from the Bwana Fundi’s from the UKSignboards we’ll get it going in the middle of Africa.
Regards……..Nobby
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LOL, the Bwana Fundi’s are likely to tell you you should have bought a big brand printer :lol1:
I saw on the link that Dave posted there is a spot to download drivers, ICC profiles etc.? Check if yours is listed? Or mail their support guys, and ask them whot to do??
A few guys in Windhoek also installed Chinese printers. They have endless problems with them due to doing silly things like neglecting maintenance etc. The largest sign shop in Namibia actually runs one of those. They had a machine minder (guy is actually from Botswana) who did a good job repairing and maintaining those chinese machines. He now lives in Swakopmund. I’ll ask him what your best course of action would be. He’s coming round on Thursday to collect a job I printed for him, so you will have to wait a week or so for his answer.
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Hello Gert,
I took the Bwana’s advice firstly and got the Roland 540i it is my pride and joy. Needed the Chinese model to decorate Lusaka with potraits for the coming election!.
If you send your or your man’s cell phone number Ill make a quick call, or text.Regards…….Nobby
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Nobert,
I dont know if board rules will allow it?? Let me speak to Fayaz first, and see what he says.
By the way, the SP540i is an indestructible machine. Mine has done about 2500 hrs by the time it had it’s last service a few months ago. Still on original heads, original scan- and feed motors etc. (Normally these last 1500 hrs or so, so I’m very lucky!!) Only consumables like wipers replaced so far. I have said so a dozen times on this forum, but if a printer is kept busy every day, I believe it gives far fewer problems than an occasionally used machine.
I had the same issues you had, needing a faster print only machine. I also looked at the chinese machines, but in the end got a RS 640. It was actually about 25% cheaper than the SP540, and 3x as fast……
That printer you bought looks nice, though. Once you get it going, keep us posted on costs, etc. See if it is Africa proof…….
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Sometimes the Digital Age makes us forget how big (small??) the world is……
As a result of this post, Norbert from Lusaka in Zambia, myself from Swakopmund in Namibia, and Bob from Germany had a conference call going this evening, trying to find ways of making our lives easier (and more profitable)
You could swear we were only a few kilos apart………
I dont think many of the members on the UKSB realise exactly what we have to go through to to get and keep a "first world" type operation running in a low/middle income 3rd world country with, in many cases, a very limited market. Apart from usual industry knowledge, we have to be far more resourceful to produce products our clients see on the internet, but we have no access to……like the pylon sign I just finished. Complete in-house design and manufacture, using only basic raw materials. We are far removed from tech help. Ditto for materials and consumables……
Forums like this helps a lot. And the Internet is my friend!! What I find strange, is that we seem to be far better developed and equipped to handle just about any job than many UK / European SME sign companies. We seem more ready to embrace technology which costs the price of a basic house. And we are far less reliant on outsourcing.
I think my job would be much more mundane if I had ready access to subcontractors, the latest modular systems etc.
Maybe we should get a Europe/Africa "mentor program" going. I recently had a girl from Germany working here for a few weeks. She was amazed by what we could do (She was a Graphic Design student.) I think in our trade, the lessons could go both ways….
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Hello Gert,
Yes we got a network going in our isolated region.
The Twinjet – we made contact with a Russian tech (good english as well) that has installed 8 in the last 2 months in Moscow and is giving us backup over Skype this Saturday morning when we kickstart the machine.If we can get a few more members from this region we can use your home town Walvis Bay to bring well priced consumables from Europe. At the moment were paying top prices for consumables to flyout from Europe to the Southern tip of Africa then by truck thousands of kilometers north to our destinations- resulting in mineral rich countries like ours remaining undeveloped due to paying top prices to a series of middlemen.
Ill contact Bob in Germany to maybe pressure the big suppliers for some good discounts for bulk.Gert, heres a foto of a sign job that you may have come across in your Northern regions, Im pleased that there still room for these true artists in our region.
Direct to Substrate, corrections with whitewash on site, this is real art!!!Regards Nobby,
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I am importing direct from China these days at prices from 1/2 to a 1/4 of local prices and quality that is as good or exceeds local. The service I get from the Chinese co’s is way better than local and even their tech support (I recently bought 2 big lasers) is superb.
I have basically stopped supporting local suppliers. I actually went to china for 3 weeks to visit suppliers and factorys..it was an eye opener. As to resourcefulness , well the old SA motto "’n boer maak ‘n plan" holds good (translation is – a farmer makes a plan) -
Yes, you are right Rodney.
Based on another post here regarding DiBond, I did a bit of a search. The price in China is less than what we pay for chromadek……with transport and duties I could land it at a third of the price I pay locally.
I got the contact details from the protective plastic on the sheets. My supplier also imports from China in any event…. 🙄 – via South Africa.
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That’s brilliant Nobert. Love the treatment. 😀
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HELP FROM M on problem with connecting new Twinjet.in Lusaka
Very fortunate to make contact with a brilliant printer technician in Moscow called Maxim, he has installed 8 of these machines and says theyre good.
Last Sunday he took over my computer here in Lusaka with a shaky 56 kbit/s internet connection, got me to install the program-Teamviewer and with Skype
till after midnight fixed corrupt Firmware, added Drivers, and got me going on the RIP Prinshop. What a relief!!!Though my first print I tried on Monday was dirty I will try and sort it out with profiles myself, not wanting to disturb Maxim in Moscow.
What type of Thank You Gift can I send to Moscow?Regards… Nobby …. Ive also updated my profile pic, should be appearin soon.
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