Lumatek or Galaxy

Skeksis said:

I would NEVER buy from Monster cables as long as I live. Everything they sell is a complete rip off and can be bought for half the price or less in another brand, and perform just as well.

Click to expand...

True. I have been into high-end home theater for years, since a 30" Plasma cost $65,000. Monster Cable is a brand that produces the same equipment as the next guy and kicks the price up. They make their money off of all those people who have stuck in their heads that more expensive means better quality.

I guess some people might feel better paying more for a fancier looking rubber connector with a cool logo on it...lol

/s

Skeksis said:

I guess some people might feel better paying more for a fancier looking rubber connector with a cool logo on it...lol

/s

Click to expand...

LOL. Until the shitty logo falls off like on the connector on the right with these cables I have. They are old. I stopped buying overpriced crap from Monster Cable.

Skeksis said:

You actually fell for that? I understand the reason for using a power conditioner with sensitive electronic equipment, but I would NEVER buy from Monster cables as long as I live. Everything they sell is a complete rip off and can be bought for half the price or less in another brand, and perform just as well. Just Google how their "premium" $50 audio cables perform on par with a wire coat hanger with connectors soldered on the ends. LOL.

http://consumerist.com/362926/do-coat-hangers-sound-as-good-monster-cables

Nothing personal bro, I'm just saying that anything from Monster cables is a rip-off, and it's all in the marketing. They don't do anything special that another brand of cable/powerstrip/power cleaner can do, except you get to pay 4x the price. And as a matter of fact, the "power cleaner" that they try to sell most people in the big box stores (BB) is nothing more than a surge protector.

Peace
J

Click to expand...

I didn't take it as personal-I just wanted to post info on ways to correct certain problems that growers run into----but whether it's Monster Cable or a ultra-low cost alternative----Power Cleaners are completely different than surge protectors.------------LOL.

DR. VonDankenstine said:

Power Cleaners are completely different than surge protectors.------------LOL.

Click to expand...

Yes they do clean up noise a little bit but we're not dealing with a home theater system. A power cleaner is no better than a power strip in a grow room

Give it time---with everything going digital---you might just see power conditioners in the grow room built and sold by hydroponic companies.

As far as these cool blue ballast being made in Canada or vancouver island... That is complete bull. They are in fact made in China. Also people are saying they putout a frequency the cops can read.

DR. VonDankenstine said:

Give it time---with everything going digital---you might just see power conditioners in the grow room built and sold by hydroponic companies.

Click to expand...

The idea of a power cleaner is to regulate voltages so there are no spikes or too much ripple. I can see this helping out with more sensitive equipment, but I thought the whole idea of a digital ballast is that it regulates voltages on it's own to take care of that since it has a microprocessor. I could be wrong, but I would think a grow room would benefit alot more from an Uninterruptable Power Supply, which might even function as a power cleaner/voltage regulator as well.

heavychonger said:

As far as these cool blue ballast being made in Canada or vancouver island... That is complete bull. They are in fact made in China. Also people are saying they putout a frequency the cops can read.

Click to expand...

There is a nice thought to feed paranoia

heavychonger said:

As far as these cool blue ballast being made in Canada or vancouver island... That is complete bull. They are in fact made in China. Also people are saying they putout a frequency the cops can read.

Click to expand...

i hate when people just pull shit out of their asses and fuel our already paranoid minds..

please explain why any company would make their lights put out a frequency, and then give the secret code to police... do you have any idea how many different kinds of lights there are? and you think that one light made by one manufacturer is going to have a freakin built in homing beacon to fuck growers?

give me a fucking break im getting so tired of this bullshit

FLoJo said:

i hate when people just pull shit out of their asses and fuel our already paranoid minds..

please explain why any company would make their lights put out a frequency, and then give the secret code to police... do you have any idea how many different kinds of lights there are? and you think that one light made by one manufacturer is going to have a freakin built in homing beacon to fuck growers?

give me a fucking break im getting so tired of this bullshit

Click to expand...

I agree, obviously it seems that coolblue has upset the applecart by going direct to the consumer with wholesale prices.

Looks like the beginning of the smear campaign from some upset company that has an inferior product if you ask me....

Any ballast that could send out, or mess with Radio Frequencies wouldnt be to difficult to receive with some rudamentary RF knowledge and gear. The paranoid guy has a point with that. That was the first thought I had after researching digi ballasts for 4 hours one night. And the high wattages wouldnt have any problem extending that signal a couple blocks. A WiFi signal makes a 300 foot radius footprint @ 500ma. Who the fuck knows for sure what the goddamned government is really up to. My friend has one and says he cant have it next to any TV boxes or else it makes rolling lines on his screen. He also says he cannot get a cell phone signal since he got the digi................But oooh that extra 15% lumen output...... That Goddamn 15%!!!! Why did they have to make it so enticing???? GAAaahhhhhhh!!!

I still want one, BTW.
20% brighter? fires both lighting formats? almost silent operation? "Intellivolt" voltage sensors? Who wouldnt want one?

Is it true that you only receive the increased lighting benefit at 240 though? That would kill my digi hard-on quick. After visiting enough local shops and reading the bs people post on the net, it is safe to say that I am totally confused on how to spend my money. When the fuck did these digi ballasts come out anyway, 2008? Is this gonna be the same shit as the LED fiasco? Will we be growing our tasteless pot with LED's and digital police ballasts in 2009?.......

.....Jesus Christ, right now there is a Hippy out there laughing his stoned balls off at all us retards wasting our time with this shit. He puts a seed in some dirt, plays his guitar and sings to his plant, and has no stress in his life at all. We've come a long way from the stress free pothead lifestyle. But I still want a digital ballast.

I love my 2 dual 600w lumateks, they run cool, silent and 2 ballasts for 4 lamps equals one happy customer! I have them on 220v and read that you need to have your power with 2 hots and a ground versus 2 hots and neutral, most failures are probably due to wiring not the ballast. with 2400 watts I still run on the cool side, lucky to hit 80 degrees! Lumatek gets my vote.

notyourkind said:

I still want one, BTW.
20% brighter? fires both lighting formats? almost silent operation? "Intellivolt" voltage sensors? Who wouldnt want one?

Is it true that you only receive the increased lighting benefit at 240 though? That would kill my digi hard-on quick. After visiting enough local shops and reading the bs people post on the net, it is safe to say that I am totally confused on how to spend my money. When the fuck did these digi ballasts come out anyway, 2008? Is this gonna be the same shit as the LED fiasco? Will we be growing our tasteless pot with LED's and digital police ballasts in 2009?.......

.....Jesus Christ, right now there is a Hippy out there laughing his stoned balls off at all us retards wasting our time with this shit. He puts a seed in some dirt, plays his guitar and sings to his plant, and has no stress in his life at all. We've come a long way from the stress free pothead lifestyle. But I still want a digital ballast.

Click to expand...

Check out this very comprehensive explanation done in a "mythbusting" fashion. They conducted experiments with a few brands, even did experiments on RF interference. Here it is:

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/static/articles/0506_digiballasts.asp

very good useful info, but it's outdated..but will still use for a general reference....ok, here's my question??....(because i'm still confused..) I pretty much have my mind made up and will probably go with the 1000hps/mh lumatek...if i get the 240v, will it be only able to plug in a dryer type socket?? or can it plug into any wall socket? (U.S.) I also read that the 120v, (1000) has problems with MH bulbs and reccommends that u use only HPS blubs..does anyone know about this?? and what are the best HPS/MH bulbs to use with these ballast? (as far as lumens output goes, not price) thanks in advance..

As far as I'm concerned the best thing digital ballasts have going is the ability
to run both MH and HPS on the same ballast. That, and the silent operation. But
other than that I'm not convinced that they're reliable enough yet to buy into the
hype. Maybe next year.

I recently got a Lumatek 250 and first used it to finish a crop with a HPS bulb with no problems. After that harvest I switched to a MH bulb and after about of week of use the bulb would not ignite, it would kinda flicker and not come on. I've talked with the grow shop and he said he's seen this problem alot in the 250 and 400 watt lumateks. I've used 600 and 1000 with no problem whatsoeva, so I am a little dissapointed. I think I'm gonna switch to galaxy at least for my lower wattage stuff.

I trust the Hydrofarm line of products which owns Lumatek I believe. They just seem to be very high quality products, especially the hydrofarm reflector hoods which match up perfectly with the Lumateks. Plus the Lumateks have RF shielding. This allows the grower to use a CO2 sensor near the ballast without interference that some digital ballasts create.