Eureka!  2 pounds of Mocha Kadir at 500 degrees.  1st crack at 11m30s, cut back to 480 -  second crack at 14m - finish roast with a nice Full City + at 15m 30 sec. - no signs of divots.  Thanks for the suggestions.  It does baffle me though.  It seems that everything I read on the subject suggested that somewhere in the process I was too hot and that was what caused the divots - some suggested too fast into 1st crack - others suggested too hot (therefore too fast) going from 1st to 2nd.  Whatever it is, this seems like a nice profile.

Thanks again Shane.
Dick

My search for "larger quantity, more control" has ended. The smallish popper batches were getting bothersome. I tried HG/DB, but the gun I had did not move enough air and my roasts were flat. But, the quantity was nice.

Given the investment in a better gun, this would be a great method. But I
went for the RK drum.  It arrived today. I quickly cleaned, prepped and rushed to the gas grill 
to "burn" some UGH! My old Charbroil 3 RPM motor is pretty clunky, but I couldn't wait. I did order Ron's motor, but it is not ready to ship. I roasted 4 test batches of 150 gr. each; Ethiopian Harrar FC+, Java Estate Prince FC+, Guatemala Huehuetanango FC+ and SM Donkey V. I wanted the
Harrar at FC, but just wasn't quick enough getting the drum off and  emptied!
Practice! Practice!
 
 I am very happy with the roast control. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to hear the cracks. Not a problem!! Now to let the coffee rest & taste!! My stash has been diminished by the simple capacity of the drum!! The drum is a work of industrial art! It is truly a pleasure to use!
 
 Cheers,
 Geary

Ron,

Wow, thanks for the amazing drum. It's so strange to
me to go from an inconsistent 1/2 pound of dog-bowl
roasted beans to 2 lbs of a consistent roast!

Since I manage a BBQ store, I was thinking I'd serve
free coffee samples on the weekends. I'm just gonna
brew a pot or 2 and put out some 4/6oz cups. I would
really like to show people that I roasted on a BBQ, so
how do you feel about supplying me with either
business cards or flyers if you have them? Or if you
just sent me a p.o.p. 4x6 or 8x11 I'll just put it in
a plexi stand!

Let me know if you need parts/supplies
traegergrills.com makes a great thermometer for people
to mount in the center of grill hood!

Brian

I've had my RK Drum for less than a month and just love it! Just
 minutes ago I also ordered the 50rpm drive motor. Silly thing just
 happened to me today. I was looking at my stash and trying to come up
 with a blend. I had completely forgotten that I have other methods of
 roasting available to me (popper..iRoast..hg/db..sc/to) and was becoming
 frustrated because I was thinking in terms of roasting pounds instead of
 ounces to make the trial blend. Duhhhhhh! I love my RK Drum. I love
 my RK Drum. I love my RK Drum.
 
 Have I mentioned..... I LOVE my RK Drum.
 
 Jerry

The coffee roasting is going good and really I've been selling quite a bit. A little tribute to how good a job that roaster can do is that when I had a friend from Ethiopia taste my Ethiopian coffee {he owns about a half acre of Mich Harrar in Ethiopia and currently runs an African cafe here in London, Ontario, were he roasts   a variety of East African coffee every morning with an electric TOPER to serve fresh to  customers} he told me that my coffee was done perfect. He asked me what type of a roaster I was using and when I told him about my drum setup he became pretty excited about the concept. -Jason