Digital Ballasts: best vs cheap, is there a good middle ground?

[RedBeardy5]

Yeah I have always switched bulbs out to meet the correct wattage. You should do this to get the full spectrum from the bulb

 

[Ttystikk]

I started looking around at better lamps and found that newer technology ceramic metal halide lamps are gaining popularity with growers because of their drastically better spectrum response in plant active bands in red and violet compared to HPS.

The strange thing is that many of these, especially bigger wattage, only run on thousand watt magnetic ballasts that strike MH bulbs. So here I am with a bunch of old school switchable thousand watt magnetic ballasts, thinking about how much it will cost to upgrade them all... only to discover that I don't have to!

Specs on the Philips CDM 860W BT37 lamp protected vertical mount only here;

http://advancedtechlighting.com/cdmea860.htm

 

[Ttystikk]

Ickis, not sure about any other brands newer models but I have a Galaxy 1000W dimmable. With it you can run 1000w bulbs and dim to 600 and 400, you can run a 600w bulb and dim to 400 or run a 400w bulb at 400. I've done all these scenarios with no problems.

This is interesting to me. I've read over and over about how one is NOT supposed to put a 600W lamp in a thouie ballast that's turned down to 600W.

What happens if you crank that six hundie up to 750W?

 

[Red Fang]

Well I don't know why it took me so long to do it, but checked the ballast and appears it does cause interference! I saw a strange unmarked white van on the road with a ladder or something on top (aren't cable guys normally marked?). I saw him pulling out a a neighbors drive then stop and sit down the road a ways. I went and shut off the digital ballast. I went back out, he was gone. May have been just talking on the phone and would have been gone anyway, I don't know. I come in, put on the AM radio for the first time in like 30 years or close to it, and find a station that comes in, one of only about 4 total that did (crappy old clock radio). Same radio (and same place) that I seem to remember getting many more stations on in the 80's. I go turn on the ballast (will lights out for like 10 minutes hurt the cycle any?) and could still here the station but with a whistly/buzzing interference. Damn! The light itself works great and I love that it emits more light and results seem noticably better. I guess I will have to go back in the thread here and look for a practical solution to the problem. How far is this interference noticeable from? I will have to see if I can ride in a vehicle with a functionable AM radio and see I guess.

 

[Red Fang]

well all is ok so far but still pondering solutions.