WARNING! Digital/ Electronic ballasts can get you busted! The A.M. radio test!

ATL HYDRO

ATL HYDRO

Active Member
Grumpy' said:
If anyone is going to be paranoid of RF interference, then just go to your local thrift store, flea market, whatever, and get a portable am radio dirt cheap. Then it's super portable. One thing I haven't seen mentioned is that when electronics fail, even though it checked out good once, it can start to give off RF interference. So having a portable easy to use model will help. (If your paranoid)
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I have an am/fm alarm clock radio that did the trick.
 
Y

Yums

Member
I work for a cable company, we joke all the time about running into grow ops. But maybe thats just my shop. Most cable technicians are just concerned about being about to get to and fix the problem so they can move onto their next job =/. But sucks to hear man
 
gamebreaker81

gamebreaker81

Member
Loose cable connectors and shitty wiring causes that problem. If you have signal leaking out then unwanted signals get into the cable network and cause problems ranging from slow surf to on demand errors. If a problem is detected which it is fairly common cable will interrupt your services to gain access to your home to repair. You may not even know your house is leaking rf lol....The FCC requires 50 dbmv or less per house every house leaks to some extent it's the homes that are over 50dbmv. bottom line use rg6 quad shield wiring and make sure your connectors are tight..... Good luck
 
ATL HYDRO

ATL HYDRO

Active Member
gamebreaker81 said:
Loose cable connectors and shitty wiring causes that problem. If you have signal leaking out then unwanted signals get into the cable network and cause problems ranging from slow surf to on demand errors. If a problem is detected which it is fairly common cable will interrupt your services to gain access to your home to repair. You may not even know your house is leaking rf lol....The FCC requires 50 dbmv or less per house every house leaks to some extent it's the homes that are over 50dbmv. bottom line use rg6 quad shield wiring and make sure your connectors are tight..... Good luck
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Good info.
 
autobahn101

autobahn101

Member
I would never let anyone in my home without a warrant! That was a pretty close call! Remember we live in a snitch society and folks are always looking for something to report. I would not use digital lights, especially since some electric companies can pick up signals from your outlets and power lines; and really beware if you have smart meters connected to your home or apartment. You're just asking for trouble with some modern lighting equipment.
 
Jeff1022

Jeff1022

Member
I have 4 600w light set up's I am going to get exactly what they are and send them 2 you for an opinion. I have my room shut down right now as I am going to start using a hydro set up >>>I am a soil farmer LOL so to speak :~). I'll be right back
Thanks
Jeff
 
O

OldGrowAddict

Member
When looking at images from grows with magnetic ballasts I always see those vertical or horizontal "lines" all over the images. I know what that is.

That is the light switching on and off - too fast for your eye to notice, but NOT your camrea... and therefore also not your plants(?).

Does the plants notice this? Does it effect them?

Sorry for a bit off-topic, but I've asked this before. Maybe there is no answer.
 
wheezer

wheezer

Well-Known Member
Just thought I'd share withn you, that you CAN get magnetic ballasts that are switchable from HPS to MH. Ihave 4 of em right now. XTRA SUN brand. If your gonna grow weed indoors, you gotta get the good stuff, you buy cheap, you get cheap. I tried to0 tell mt little bro that, and he went and bought and cheap digi ballasts online, and they lasted 2 rounds and were broken. Sounds like the ones you bought were the cheapest miserable Chinese made crap on the market, and there's lots of it out there. Good way to burn your house down too.
 
Jeff1022

Jeff1022

Member
A Billion Thank You's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just saved this old mans ass! Now what do I do? Can I do anything to make these usable? I want no risk, even if I have to buy 1 at a time over and over. Please tell me a good 600W Ballast. I am right, all I need to do is replace the ballasts?
Thanks
Jeff
 
jondamon

jondamon

Well-Known Member
Jeff1022 said:
A Billion Thank You's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just saved this old mans ass! Now what do I do? Can I do anything to make these usable? I want no risk, even if I have to buy 1 at a time over and over. Please tell me a good 600W Ballast. I am right, all I need to do is replace the ballasts?
Thanks
Jeff
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Lumateks are a great choice.


But as another member pointed out you pay cheap you get cheap.




J
 
ATL HYDRO

ATL HYDRO

Active Member
Jeff1022 said:
A Billion Thank You's!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You just saved this old mans ass! Now what do I do? Can I do anything to make these usable? I want no risk, even if I have to buy 1 at a time over and over. Please tell me a good 600W Ballast. I am right, all I need to do is replace the ballasts?
Thanks
Jeff
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Hey Jeff, go to ebay.com and search "magnetic ballast 600 watts" and look for one that is a complete setup, not just a ballast. As for your digital ballasts, list them on ebay for buy it now $150 they will be sold in no time.
 
ATL HYDRO

ATL HYDRO

Active Member
wheezer said:
Just thought I'd share withn you, that you CAN get magnetic ballasts that are switchable from HPS to MH. Ihave 4 of em right now. XTRA SUN brand. If your gonna grow weed indoors, you gotta get the good stuff, you buy cheap, you get cheap. I tried to0 tell mt little bro that, and he went and bought and cheap digi ballasts online, and they lasted 2 rounds and were broken. Sounds like the ones you bought were the cheapest miserable Chinese made crap on the market, and there's lots of it out there. Good way to burn your house down too.
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I did some research and it seems like they make plenty of 1000w switchable ballasts that are magnetic but the 600 watters that run either mh or hps are rare.
 
gamebreaker81

gamebreaker81

Member
Man I can't say enough about htg brand ballasts they offer a really good warranty and the price is tough to beat. However lumatek is the best in my opinion no fans equals silence....
 
ATL HYDRO

ATL HYDRO

Active Member
autobahn101 said:
I would never let anyone in my home without a warrant! That was a pretty close call! Remember we live in a snitch society and folks are always looking for something to report. I would not use digital lights, especially since some electric companies can pick up signals from your outlets and power lines; and really beware if you have smart meters connected to your home or apartment. You're just asking for trouble with some modern lighting equipment.
Click to expand...
I didn't even think about digi ballasts affecting my smart meter. If your usage goes up at the same time that there is some kind of interference with your meter the Power Company could easily put 2 and 2 together.
 
SFguy

SFguy

Well-Known Member
OldGrowAddict said:
When looking at images from grows with magnetic ballasts I always see those vertical or horizontal "lines" all over the images. I know what that is.

That is the light switching on and off - too fast for your eye to notice, but NOT your camrea... and therefore also not your plants(?).

Does the plants notice this? Does it effect them?

Sorry for a bit off-topic, but I've asked this before. Maybe there is no answer.
Click to expand...
maybe it does??, it has been reported hat digital ballasts are more effiecient at putting ot lght useable by the plant, matbe it cause the light cycling on'off, now that you mention it i notice that too with a mag ballast room and my digi room, no lines in the pics from my room...wierd thank you


+rep =REP
 
stumpjumper

stumpjumper

Well-Known Member
Fuck `em, I'm legal in a legal state... I like my digi ballast.. It's a cheap one too..


However you have peaked my interest and I'll do the AM test to see what I'm putting out, I have one of those China ballasts too...


Good post though, I know a lot of us here aren't legal in a legal state... :)
 
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