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anyone heard of this happening?

S

stgermain

Member
a friend called me the other day, said he answered the door at 7.30 in the evening to 5 official looking guys standing outside with what he described as a piece of equipment looking like a gieger counter. The bloke told him he was from ofcom, pointed it at his workshop and asked what equipment he had that came on at 6 in the evening and went off at 6 in the morning. knowing full well what it was he made his excuses and asked them to make an appointment.
i asked if he had any radio hams near him and indeed a guy that lives about 100yds away has the big aerials outside his house. So all i can assume is maybe him or some little old granny getting interference on long wave or medium wave has phoned ofcom to ask what is going on....which has lead them to his rf emitting digital ballasts...

anyone else experienced anything similar?
 
schwilly

schwilly

Member
Never heard anything like that. Had no idea that the digitals put out that kind of interference. I guess that's just one more reason to stick with magnetic.

I don't know much about rf interference. I wonder if he could build a shielded, vented box for his ballasts?

Scary shit they have that kind of tech. You guys in the UK got it rough for growing.
 
C

cheesey

stgermain said:
a friend called me the other day, said he answered the door at 7.30 in the evening to 5 official looking guys standing outside with what he described as a piece of equipment looking like a gieger counter. The bloke told him he was from ofcom, pointed it at his workshop and asked what equipment he had that came on at 6 in the evening and went off at 6 in the morning. knowing full well what it was he made his excuses and asked them to make an appointment.
i asked if he had any radio hams near him and indeed a guy that lives about 100yds away has the big aerials outside his house. So all i can assume is maybe him or some little old granny getting interference on long wave or medium wave has phoned ofcom to ask what is going on....which has lead them to his rf emitting digital ballasts...

anyone else experienced anything similar?
Click to expand...

dont sound good . be safe

 
Last edited:
Snow Crash

Snow Crash

Active member
Veteran
Tell him to pick up some chicken wire and some ESD bags from the local computer store. Take the ESD bags and cover the chicken wire. Then place this structure over the Digital Ballast. It should still allow for adequate air flow while cutting the RF transmission by a margin.

Might be enough to reduce attention.

I'd tell them to piss off though. That I was working on some secret project that I don't have a patent on and that I cannot let them come inside without first signing a non-disclosure agreement, or without a warrant for some kind of electrical noise disturbance (is there a law against that?). NDA templates can be found online and allow you to sue the shit out of them if they blab. Not the best choice in the world... but better than nothing.
 
S

stgermain

Member
...i havent asked the guy which ballast he has and thinking about it he may have it plugged into a reflector which has a cable without it being shielded, this would cause a big interference. All modern ballast themselves are rf sheilded so in themselves they wouldnt cause a problem...as i said i suspect he may be using unshielded reflectors......
 
Cloneman

Cloneman

Well-known member
Veteran
The cable from the digi ballast to the light has to be a RF cable which is grounded/earthed like a TV ariel cable. Also that copper shielding in the cable should be earthed on the mogul of the light and of course in the ballast. My Lumateks came with this cable, just make sure you earth it on the light mogul, hopefully stopping interference from the cable/light/refector.
 
Dr. D

Dr. D

Active member
Veteran
Cloneman said:
The cable from the digi ballast to the light has to be a RF cable which is grounded/earthed like a TV ariel cable. Also that copper shielding in the cable should be earthed on the mogul of the light and of course in the ballast. My Lumateks came with this cable, just make sure you earth it on the light mogul, hopefully stopping interference from the cable/light/refector.
Click to expand...

My Lumateks came with no such thing, should they?
Does this mean my digi is letting off RF interference? Im using mine with a reflector from an older ballast.
Is there really any advantage to a digi ballast, because i really see no difference between my digi and an 8 year old magnetic it doesn't even run cooler like they say it does it gets just as hot as my magnetic...Peace
 
H

Hazyfontazy

the story dont ring true ,,some old lady wouldn't know who ofcom were and the bloke with hams would've been able to pinpoint where the inteference was coming from and gone and knocked the blokes door .an ya mate would not of opened his door if he had a garge full ,:comfort:

moral ,dont believe everything u hear an buy magnetic ballasts if u worried that the digi might get ya busted
 
S

stgermain

Member
Hazyfontazy said:
the story dont ring true ,,some old lady wouldn't know who ofcom were and the bloke with hams would've been able to pinpoint where the inteference was coming from and gone and knocked the blokes door .an ya mate would not of opened his door if he had a garge full ,:comfort:

moral ,dont believe everything u hear an buy magnetic ballasts if u worried that the digi might get ya busted
Click to expand...

how strange....your telling me im lying???........its fact, the guy took a system full of chillies from me to put in its place....
 
S

Steven HashKing

New member
I have to wonder what the chances are of the new gear making more interference than the older technology. doesn't make much sense. was gettin one this week but I'll look into it before spending the lolly.
 
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