[Euphoriaholic]

I got several Quantum 600w electronic ballast when I made the switch to digital.

The RFI from the new digital ballast disabled the AM/FM radio and the TV (rabbit ears).

The RFI from the new digital ballast made me realized that it might also be affecting the neighbors wireless modem.

I went back to using the magnetic ballast to avoid any potential problems.

It sucks I wasted almost $500 on a ballasts I can not use. Better to be safe than sorry.

[philcollins]

I used the used one of the hydrofarm phantom ballasts...a high end 250 watt digital. It was advertised as having no rf interference. AM radio didn't work at a 30 feet away..Also...the cable guy stopped by and asked to come inside to determine the source of the interference.

[FlowerFarmer]

All electronic ballasts (regardless of brand) have this problem. Expect further FCC investigations and mandatory compliance in the months/years to come. This isnt going away.

I'm not so certain it's the ballasts themselves emitting the bulk of the interference, but rather the 15' cord to the antenna (your reflector) that you attach to the thing. What good does some shielding do if you hook a 15' line and antenna to it?

The National Association for Amateur Radio got their hands on a Lumatek and it failed miserably across all of their tests. This has brought attention not only to the non compliant lumatek, but all brands amongst this industry.

See Here - https://www.arrl.org/files/media/News...%20Rev%20D.pdf

(**I dont like to click direct links for security concerns so I'd suggest copy and pasting this link into a new browser window if you value your privacy. The website admin of the arrl.org could certainly see the IP address of those who click the above link if they so desired)(right click and copy link location - paste into new window to directly access this PDF file as opposed to accessing FROM icmag.com)

*nothing against Lumatek. I've ran several for years with otherwise no issue. I don't believe this to be specific to Lumatek. All electronic HID ballasts of this nature likely would fail the same tests. Lumatek is just the 1st to be singled out by the NAAR. I expect all electronic ballasts will soon require FCC compliance.

I'd assume this cost will be passed to the consumer so expect the price of ballasts to go up soon in some way shape or form.