[SFDXA] ARRL to FCC: "Grow Light" Ballast Causes HF Interference, Violates Rules - More

[Bill]

 From Norm W4QN:

On 3/15/2014 5:16 PM, W4QN wrote:
> Bill,
>
> The ham that has really gotten this issue exposed, and before the 
> ARRL, and consequently forwarded to the FCC, is a friend of mine and a 
> 'victim' of the problem.  He has been pursuing this interference issue 
> for sometime with local efforts. Although this is happening in a rural 
> 'farm' area in the North East, it is far from a 'local' issue.  As he 
> probed ways to get attention to the problem he did get some clear 
> messages to be very careful, as the "Product" was finding its way into 
> New York's, Harlem (for medicinal purposes of course) and that the 
> distributors might not take kindly to anyone poking around the 'farms' 
> business.
>
> Continued effort with ARRL, and more interference reports from others 
> has gotten some action.  There are sets of measurement data that I 
> have seen showing the radiation levels within the popular ham bands 
> (80M for one)to exceed the FCC specs by wide margins.  Clearly in 
> violation.
>
> Norm
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Bill <bmarx at bellsouth.net> <mailto:bmarx at bellsouth.net>
> *To:* aSFDXA <SFDXA at mailman.qth.net> <mailto:SFDXA at mailman.qth.net>; 
> "qcWA69 at mailman.qth.net" <mailto:qcWA69 at mailman.qth.net> 
> <qcWA69 at mailman.qth.net> <mailto:qcWA69 at mailman.qth.net>
> *Sent:* Saturday, March 15, 2014 1:59 PM
> *Subject:* [SFDXA] ARRL to FCC: "Grow Light" Ballast Causes HF 
> Interference, Violates Rules
>
> From Chuck W4ROA:
>
>
>   ARRL to FCC: “Grow Light” Ballast Causes HF Interference, Violates Rules
>
>   The ARRL has formally*complained*
>   
> <http://www.arrl.org/files/media/News/Complaint%20Letter%20re%20Lumatek%20RF%20Lighting%20Device.pdf>to
>   the FCC, contending that a “grow light” ballast being widely
>   marketed and sold is responsible for severe interference to the MF
>   and HF bands. The League urged Commission action to halt sales of
>   the Lumatek LK-100 electronic ballast and to recall devices already
>   on store shelves or in the hands of consumers. In a March 12 letter
>   to the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau and its Office of Engineering
>   and Technology, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, said the
>   ARRL’s own laboratory testing revealed that the Lumatek device
>   exhibited excessive conducted emissions, in violation of the FCC’s
>   rules.
>
>   “ARRL has received numerous complaints from Amateur Radio operators
>   of significant noise in the medium and high frequency bands between
>   1.8 MHz and 30 MHz from ‘grow lights’ and other RF lighting devices
>   generally,” Imlay told the Commission. “The level of conducted
>   emissions from this device is so high that, as a practical matter,
>   one RF ballast operated in a residential environment would create
>   preclusive interference to Amateur Radio HF communications
>   throughout entire neighborhoods.” An extensive*/Conducted Emissions
>   Test Report/*
>   
> <http://www.arrl.org/files/media/News/Lumatek%20Cond%20Emissions%20Test%20Report%20Pt18b%20Rev%20D.pdf>detailing
>   the ARRL Lab’s test results was attached to the League’s correspondence.
>
>   “[T]he/Report/concludes from the conducted emissions tests that the
>   six highest emissions from the device in the HF band vastly exceed
>   the quasi-peak limit specified in Section 18.307(c) of the Rules,”
>   Imlay related. The ARRL further pointed out that, while a FCC
>   sticker has been affixed to the device, it lacked FCC compliance
>   information. FCC Part 18 rules require RF lighting devices to
>   provide an advisory statement with the device, notifying users that
>   it could interfere with radio equipment operating between 0.45 MHz
>   and 30 MHz.
>
>   The League noted that the device is imported into the US and
>   marketed and sold by Sears, where ARRL purchased its test sample, as
>   well as by Amazon.com and other retail outlets. The ARRL also called
>   on the FCC to consider enforcement proceedings against the importer,
>   Hydrofarm Horticultural Products of Petaluma, California.
>
>   “ARRL respectfully requests that your office take the appropriate
>   action with respect to this device without delay,” Imlay’s letter
>   concluded. Copies of the correspondence were sent to the importer.
>
>   In separate correspondence to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, seeking his
>   review of the complaint, Imlay said the Lumatek unit was “typical in
>   terms of its performance, and many other types of ‘grow lights’ are
>   being imported, marketed, sold and deployed now.” One of Pai’s main
>   interests is the revitalization of the AM Broadcast Band, where
>   noise can be an impediment to reception. “It is not at all an
>   exaggeration that even one of these electronic ballasts operated in
>   a residential neighborhood makes any AM Broadcast reception
>   impossible,” Imlay asserted. The League included a copy of its test
>   report with the letter to Commissioner Pai.
>
>   “Marked increases in the noise floor at MF and HF, year-over-year,
>   are well-known to active Amateur Radio licensees, and it is devices
>   such as the Lumatek LK-1000 and its progeny that are major
>   contributors to this noise pollution,” Imlay added.
>
>
>
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