[Boatanchors] CFLs made in Hungary - Biax base - going Green and RF HASH

[sdaitch at kuw.ibb.gov]

Steve,

thanks for the information on the Biax base CFLs.

I guess I've lead either a sheltered or cheap life,
since I've not had any CFLs of this type.

73
Sheldon

----- Original Message -----
From: Steve Belcher <wa1zuf at juno.com>
Date: Saturday, February 26, 2011 6:32 pm
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] CFLs made in Hungary - Biax base - going Green	and RF HASH

> Sheldon,
> 
> The Biax base is common for non-ballasted (ballast built into 
> fixture) 
> lamps. It is with great interest I watch these threads come and go 
> on our 
> amateur radio boards.
> 
> When I built (rebuilt) my home in 1998 I decided to utilize the 
> knowledge I 
> had gained over the previous 15 year with a friends home in Maine 
> that was 
> off the grid. I opted to use CFL though out my home the exception 
> being the 
> outside lamps where I went with halogen.
> 
> To date, I have never experience any RF noise from one of my 
> fixtures or 
> self-ballasted lamps. I do have one PIA Green piece of technology, 
> the low 
> energy washer is AWFUL! I can here that on 75 meters 300+ feet 
> done the 
> road!
> 
> I have only recently started replacing lamps in the bathroom 
> fixtures and my 
> kitchen lights after 12+ years.
> 
> Most of the Biax Base CFL's in my home are liner ballasts. I have 
> run into 
> some issues (not at home) with European T-8 lamps being dumped on 
> the US 
> market and proceeding to fail all most out of the box to to be 
> incompatible 
> with the Non-Linier Ballasted that were just being promoted by the 
> utilities. I suspect that this may also contribute to reports of 
> RF hash 
> when the wrong lamps are being fired by the wrong ballast..  This 
> brings us 
> back to the Self-Ballasted CFLs making noise.
> 
> There is a difference with Lamps made for liner and non-liner 
> ballasted. I 
> can see the CHI-COM manufacturers in an effort to build these 
> thing for less 
> and less using (producing)  lamps not matched to the correct type 
> ballast. 
> It's going to take complaints to the QC departments of the major 
> re-labelers - If the lamps are not counterfeit already)
> 
> Bottom Line, I got lucky, I have no doubt that if I was building 
> my home 
> today, I wouldn't have FRO issues.  My unity also offer a 
> comparison of my 
> home energy use to those in my area, I am always in the lower 25th 
> -30th 
> percentile.  Pretty good for a 2000 SF home with an In-law apartment
> 
> Steve - W1TAV