QTR-Quadtone RIP

Hi All,

After a long relationship with Imageprint, I find myself now looking for other solutions to make BW prints on my Epson 4000 with papers that are unprofiled for IP (and they are NOT getting one thin dime more from me!).  Having arrived at QTR, I've spent some time working through the process, and I have some questions...

Rather than simply following the curve/linearization steps with a new paper and calling it good, I've spent some time trying to duplicate the existing/known good profile installed with QTR for Moab Entrada Natural paper; that is, I've tried to build, from scratch, following the information that's out there for QTR, a paper curve/profile (what should I call this, exactly?) that is at least as good as the one that comes with QTR.  

I'm profiling with a scanner (Epson 3170), which of course is likely to be suboptimal, but it's what I have.  I do not currently have the resources for a true densitometer, or access to one that I can use (it's a VERY small town...).  Anyway, I've gotten to the point where if I had never found this test image:  http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/article_pages/black_and_white_test.html  I'd probably be pretty happy.  However, my profile produces banding in the circular gradient at the top of the page, where the QTR profile does not.  I've searched the group and have not found an answer to this, and am open to suggestions.  The remainder of the profile looks pretty good, and considering my low-budget measuring approach, I'm actually quite pleased.  Anyone have any suggestions for smoothing out the gradient through profiling?  Is this just a "benefit" of profiling with a scanner rather than the real deal?

My next question has to do with the gray curve shadow and highlight settings.  I've read several sources which suggest that these settings should be worked out before linearization; maybe I'm thinking too much (happens...) but if you adjust these settings before linearization, won't that adjustment then be neutralized by the linearizing process?  If I want to, say, pull down the highlights just a little, is this even the place to be doing it?

Thanks for all the help you've given me without knowing it; I've been working my way back through the archive and have picked up some serious pearls here and there.  I apologize if these issues have in fact been addressed previously, but I've had little luck with searching on these issues.  

I am somewhat unexpectedly really enjoying the measure/test/repeat process inherent in fine-tuning this approach—it's taken me right back to plotting gamma curves, etc in the film days!

Steve