Awesome's! thanks for helping me with this, +Rep for both of you!hi yes if you buy a contractor you can use a normal timer, plug the cantactor into the timer then the light into the contactor, if it has two plugs on the contactor 1 is for the timer and the other plugs straight into the socket, it should tell you which is which also the link above is perfect for you if only useing 1 light, you wont need to buy the contactor as its built in.
I''ll buy the one from ebay then as I'm only using 1 400w hps (sunmaster dual spec) i've also got 2 x 300w equivilant cfl's for side lighting but they work fine with a £4 mechanical timer.
again thanks for the help guys, this site kicks ass, am finding some great tips and advice on here!