[RFI] Fluorescent Light RFI

[Eric - VE3GSI]

Tony,
I just this week bought 7 fluorescent fixtures from Lowe's, labeled 
'performance shop light plus'. These are the plug in domestic type fixture 
and I found them to be RF quiet. They appear to be by a company called 
American Fluorescent (made in China). At forty bucks a fixture they are 
cheaper then most replacement ballast.

But as Mike - KM0T has mentioned,  be very much aware of the comercial broad 
voltage range ballast, i.e. types like Sylvinia and Triad (and I am sure 
others). I tried the commercial lights with these type of ballast and they 
were so noisy the 'damn' things actually wiped out all but the very strong 
local FM stations on my shop radio. Interesting, I did not find them to 
cause any problems on my HF gear, but my Ham antennas are located away from 
the shop.

One thing about the big box stores like Lowe's and Home Depot, they take 
items back if you find they are not what you want.  In fact, I simply bought 
several different fixtures to try and took back the ones not suited for the 
job and as the case of the commercial units unfit for use around a radio. 
Mike has detailed a post on commercial fixtures, in short, I echo his views 
and like him found most sellers could care less.  I did have one person tell 
me to buy a better radio... no I did not hit him, I did come close though.

Eric - VE3GSI.

PS.
I did have an electrician offer me all the magnetic ballast I want just for 
the asking (no fixtures).  The ballast are the ones removed from commercial 
sites where they are upgrading customers with the electronic ballast to 
lower electric costs. I can see in places where there are several hundred 
fixtures, or more,  it definitely would lower electrical costs.  In any 
case, for those interested, try your local commercial electrician to see 
what they are tossing in the garbage bin.
er.


----- Original Message ----- 
Sent: Thursday, October 25, 2012 12:05 AM
Subject: [RFI] Fluorescent Light RFI


> All:
>
> The XYL says I've been procrastinating long enough about installing a 48" 
> fluorescent light in the garage. First thing that came to mind is RFI. Are 
> there any brands that are known to cause interference? Local stores carry 
> Metalux, Utilitech and Portfolio.
>
> Tony
>