Thanks to those who have responded. In practice I used Fomapan T200, exposed at 200 ASA and T800, exposed at 800 ASA, heavy agaition in the first bath for 4 mins @ 220C and no agaition in the second bath. The T200 was way off its 200 ASA, as there was nothing in Zone 1 AND 2! Dmax at the leader was around 1.8 (so 1.5 above base). On the T800 was almost nothing at all. Next test T200 but this time 5 mins with agaition in second bath, looks better with Dmax around 2.1 (so 1.8 above base), but still slow film speed.(posted 8779 days ago)Since increased agaition in second bath only gave a slight improvment in film speed, it seems that the absorbed amount of developer is the limiting factor. The first bath contains 1.75g Metol and 6g Hydrochinone per litre. The next test will be on old style emulsions (Forte 400 and HP5+) trying to estimate their speed. If their speed is also too slow, I might increase the concentration of developing agents by 100%.
The best way would be a rather strong first bath, so that contrast could be controlled by time in the second bath.
Regards,
Wolfram