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

mc130p said:

Has anyone tried building a "Faraday Cage" around their grow room? I think a pretty effective one could be made with some sort of metal mesh like chicken wire or maybe a little smaller to enclose the grow volume and shield any incoming or outgoing RF waves.

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Works better with copper, best with nickel. You have to line the whole floor, walls, and ceiling. Then run a line from cage to outside to a metal stake in the ground. No frequencies will get through. Not even a cell phone signal. Gold or gold wiring is the most susceptable to frequency interference.

That's how we've built them in recording studios.

This has been a problem since digitals have been out,I thought everyone knew this,If you buy a fairly new lumiteck or quantum these companys have fixed the RF problem so no worry if you dont go with cheap digitals

I have never heard about interference from a digital ballast that could affect a shielded cable wire. That's why the cables have a shield (the braided silver wire under the outer jacket). I think it had to be one of the problems he found inside. I'm an electrician and have never heard off it.

I wonder if the "tech" was an undercover cop lol.. looking for a reason to bust down your door with a reasonable warrant... but i have a question i have a hps with built in ballast... the buddies are always around my neighborhood because its semi good and a block up is a busy street... can they detect that? i also live by a garden and dispensary.. I'm legal though via CARD I Just dont want trouble or attention

ATL HYDRO said:

I didn't just go cfl, I put in the equivalent of 2000 watts and i'm now running half the power I was before. Really?!?! That's all you have to say about my post?

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You should be aware that "equivalent" Watts is not even close to the real Wattage. You're probably running closer to

ATL HYDRO said:

When I ran the A.M. radio test from about 12 feet away from my grow room (where the closest cable line is), it made the radio crackle just as loud as it did from inside my grow room. Something about my ballasts were giving off way too much frequency.

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The better ballasts have shielding.

TruenoAE86coupe said:

Good read, good info +rep. Now only if i had a radio i could take down there..... I would have never let the ass hole in the house though, not without a warrant, and since hes not a cop thats gonna be tough. Always remember that it is your home and you can decide when someone can come in. Just .02 though. As far as the cfl grow, pics or it didn't happen, i want to see a 2000 watt cfl grow (in action prefferably)

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If you read the contract for your cable services, you'll find you already gave them permission to enter your home. The Devil is in the fine print.

Feelinit said:

ok I have a nextgen if anyone cares

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Nextgen aren't cheap, at that price level they should have shielding.

ATL HYDRO said:

PJ, That is some good info I had no idea I would be losing so much light by going cfl.... They seem just as bright or brighter than the mh and hps. I am going to do one grow with them anyways and see what I get. In all I have 2-200 watt cfls, 4-85 watt cfls. I may order magnetic ballasts in the future, but my funds are kind of tapped out over here with all the upgrades I've been making to my room.

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At least the magnetic ballasts will be cheaper than the digital.

gamebreaker81 said:

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....

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I bought Lumateks cheaper than anything HTG was selling. Wish I could remember where.

i have two galaxy digitals. one is a 600. one a switchable 1000. i have had no problems. including paranoia. lol.

ATL HYDRO said:

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.

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Ballasts, both digital and magnetic, generate an identifiable load signature that can be detected by some smart meters.

dapio said:

I turned on my F.M radio it was clear I turned on my A.M radio and I could almost hear my digital ballast being emitted out of it its a small alarm clock by my bed and the grow is very near but when I took it to a whole different room the interference was worse honestly however it's only a 150W HPS I used to run a 400w and never had this problem and cable was in the 400Ws room at the time. Very eye opening though but radio interference with a cable company seems to be more of a civil problem not a criminal problem obviously no one wants law enforcement in their homes invading privacy but I highly doubt any judge would sign a warrant based off RF interference.

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No warrent is needed. The agreement you signed with the cable co. gives them the right to enter your home. Practically, you can refuse and all they will do is cut off service.

Im running 14 lumitex that are 4 yrs. old and have had no issues.

omar924 said:

anyone have this problem with the newer lumatek dimmable ballasts???? cuz i just ordered one then read this thread lol

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I have two Lumateks about a year old and no problems. It says "Internal RF shielded- the best in the industry" right on the front of the box. I could probably throw the box away now.

Sir.Ganga said:

Im running 14 lumitex that are 4 yrs. old and have had no issues.

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There are no issues if you have no neighbors or at least no neighbors that listen to AM radio. I can picture some old geezer complaining to all his neighbors that his radio works fine all day until 8 pm everyday like clockwork. Then at 8 am it works fine again, every day, hmmm. It all depends on how OCD and/or nosy your neighbors are.

It's threads like this that make me appreciate being medically compliant.
My Lumatek will continue as normal.

I MADE A MISTAKE! I had previous replied to this thread saying that this couldn't happen with shielded cable. I was half right. My cable guy said RFI can be picked up by cheap cable. A major cause also is loose connections and as he called it "anything from radio shack". Any shiny splitters or connectors should be replaced he said. He also said it could knock out more than one house, but they will trace it back to you. I found that amazing. The good news is they cannot enter your house without your consent, and you just tell them to come back later, now is not a good time. They will disconnect you so you are off the grid, and he said they really don't care how long it takes to fix it. Also he said that 99% of the techs wouldn't care, their job is just to fix it.

If you run RF noisy anything near ham radio operators, they'll come and find you too.

I won't say how i know, but trust me that I do know.

and that if you study for a ham license you'll know too.

But don't be paranoid as there are ALL sorts of devices creating unwanted RF noise. Blame it on a new light fixture or a new TV or anything, just don't let anybody in your house WITHOUT A FUCKING WARRANT! (if they has warrant, they don't ask).

In this country, we have constitutional rights that must be EXERCISED now and then, as in "No Sir, you can't come in and look around, my cousin is an electrician and I'll have him check it out tonight after work". or whatever you choose to say. Don't let anybody in, ever. Any 14 year old (who has RDF experience(radio direction finding)) can use a hand held radio and go straight to your noise source...learn how to do that yourself and eliminate the potential problem.



cheers.

CPmass said:

It's threads like this that make me appreciate being medically compliant.
My Lumatek will continue as normal.

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you won't if it gets on ham freqs. there is no right to RFI. and i wish you great success!.