[Lowfer] Government Mandated Noise ???

[Richard Goodman]

I've had my hamshack illuminated for the last 22 years with five fluorescent
grid light fixtures, each fixture has two 48 watts lamps, no different in
noise level on any frequency from 10 KHz through 30 MHz with them on or off.
I've just replaced all the incandescent bulbs in my house with the new
fluorescent screw in ones and have found no increase in noise level at all.
I started by installing just one in the hamshack. When I noticed no noise
increase, I went around and replaced all the other bulbs. It took about 30
lamps to do the job. I found of the 30 lamps, 3 were DOA out of the box, and
one failed a couple of days later. Lowes replaced them all for free.  I
really like the light given off by them, a very pleasing color balance. I
was under the impression that they wouldn't start if it was cold, but I have
one in my unheated garage and it starts fine even with the temperature in
the garage in the low 30's. It gives off the light of a 150 watt bulb but
only consumes 27 watts.

If they last only half as long as their claimed 7 year life, they are a
deal. Best thing is they take about 20% of the energy that a incandescent
bulb of the same brightness would use. Several years ago, I built a lighting
fixture for our living room that runs along the top of a bookcase that
extends all the way across the back of the living room. I used eight, 60
watt bulbs in it. It provides nice indirect lighting and illuminates the
room very pleasantly. If we sat on the sofa to read however, we still needed
to turn on a bit of additional lighting. Replacing the 60 watt bulbs with
fluorescents, the power draw went from 480 watts to 104 watts ... and it's
noticeably brighter. We can read fine by just them alone.

I bet a good portion of our electrical power consumption is taken  by
incandescent lighting. If everyone replaced them, I bet you could see a
substantial difference on the meters monitoring the grid. Back to the bottom
line however, I notice absolutely no additional RF noise them ... and I've
listened & visually looked for it with my SDR-IQ.

I wonder if you just got some bad ones. I have heard that they have a high
failure rate out of the box (which I have experienced).There are several
manufacrurers making them, I wonder if some are better then others. I'd try
dirrerent ones. One thing I was thinking about however. In the Winter, the
incandescents probably help with your heating somewhat .... when you switch,
your oil or gas bill will probably go up a little.

73
Dick, WA3USG


-----Original Message-----
From: lowfer-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:lowfer-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Andy Bell
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 4:18 PM
To: lowfer at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Lowfer] Government Mandated Noise ???


Have you ever tried to listen to your reciever with a
flourescent light turned on nearby? Most of us know
the noise that's generated by the " Energy Conserving
" flourescent bulbs. Now imagine what it would be like
trying to listen if every bulb in your home, and your
neighbors home were flourescent; It could turn out to
be a radio noise nightmare. This is a definite
possibility now; due to the energy bill that was
enacted in Dec. 2007, which will phase out all
consumer incandescent light bulbs , in favor of the
more energy efficient bulbs such as the flourescent,
by the year 2014. The noise that will be generated by
these soon to be ( overseas ) mass produced, as cheap
as possible, cut all corners devices, may well become
the low band radio operators nightmare. Of course
there will be alternatives to flourescent lights, but
in general, whatever is the cheapest, is what the
average consumer will buy. What type of noise filter
will we have to build next ???
Jumpin down off the soapbox now::::
73 to all: Andy - KU4XR


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