[Lowfer] Government Mandated Noise ???

[Ed Phillips]

Andy Bell wrote:

>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
>
    Stay on your soap box.  Unfortunately those of us interested in LF 
listening are just a few small voices crying in the wilderness.  These 
things will make light dimmers look good by comparison!  Most of the 
claims of benefits I've read in the press are lies, at least based on my 
experience here.  Less power to be true but usually quite a bit light 
than promised, won't fit in many fixtures, relatively short life and 
potential safety problems, etc.  With all that said we're probably going 
to get stuck with them so stock up on incandescent replacements now.

Ed

Of course, we have "broad band" in our futures too!