ok so im sitting here and I go to walk to the store and there is a cable company van out front working on the lines. I started talking to him and he said that there is interference with our cables. He narrowed it to our house and said the interference stops at 8:25am and starts at 2:25pm witch is the time my lights turn on. Im running a 600watt MH in the basement witch is close to the side of the house where the cable comes in. This is weird and starting to freak me out. Anyone have a clue why this is happening cause its new to me
ok something WEIRD just happened (PLEASE READ)
- Thread starter fourweed
- Start date
blacksun
New Member
It's RF interference from your ballast being on.
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/570279-how-block-rf-interference-my.html
https://www.rollitup.org/indoor-growing/570279-how-block-rf-interference-my.html
sensisensai
Well-Known Member
Nothing like a short thread.
Are u legal or in a legal state? I'm not looking to breed paranoia at all. But an 18/6 pattern that consistent may raise a few brows. With 600w the power draw or heat signature are not likely to be anything they'd be able.to use.toward a warrant but I would make sure u have plenty of negative pressure and filtration keeping smells at bay. If they can't get ya on one thing they'll walk around hoping to catch a wiff. Again I'm not looking to breed paranoia just be aware of what they look for.. tho if ur medical I suppose this whole post is a bit pointless eh? Lol
Are u legal or in a legal state? I'm not looking to breed paranoia at all. But an 18/6 pattern that consistent may raise a few brows. With 600w the power draw or heat signature are not likely to be anything they'd be able.to use.toward a warrant but I would make sure u have plenty of negative pressure and filtration keeping smells at bay. If they can't get ya on one thing they'll walk around hoping to catch a wiff. Again I'm not looking to breed paranoia just be aware of what they look for.. tho if ur medical I suppose this whole post is a bit pointless eh? Lol
BUdbuddysmile
Active Member
Low Frequency Ballasts don't interfere with radio waves. Advanced makes one and I think there is one other company but I can't think of it. I run a couple of the Advanced BadAss Ballasts and they run well. I paid like 275 and it came with a 1000w HPS. I run them next to a couple of Lumiteks and a Gallaxy and they burn a bit brighter. You can visual see a difference. I don't really notice a difference in yield or growth under those lights, but all in all, I will continue to run them.
psilocybindude
Well-Known Member
Fuck man why did you have to go and make me paranoid and shit ><, your going to make me build a fucking Faraday cage.
BUdbuddysmile
Active Member
I don't know to much about waves and all that, but I know that foil holds heat. I don't know if thats a great idea
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
Tin foil will not block RFI/EMI. Copper sheet or lead sheet will. Buy copper sheet in small sizes on eBay. Digital ballasts emit RFI/EMI, EM ballasts do not in amounts that cause interference. It probably came up as a complaint that a WiFi customer had interference and poor service and they complained. Very common occurrence with digital ballasts.
Chances are 99:1 that the cable guy would even report it - if the interference stops. Trade the digital for an EM or buy copper sheeting and get busy.
Chances are 99:1 that the cable guy would even report it - if the interference stops. Trade the digital for an EM or buy copper sheeting and get busy.
Adonis
Member
Any type of transformer is capable of creating rf. When you state something like "Low Frequency Ballasts don't interfere with radio waves", you are doing nothing but misleading somebody that may be at serious risk as well as making it obvious you have no education in even the most basic of electrical theory. A transformer can not only interfere with radio waves, it creates them. ALL of the electrical appliances we use daily are capable of creating rf and do, but these days we engineer these appliances to contain the potential, which is why much older appliances always messed up our tv's, such as blow dryers. Fourweed is in a situation where the problem might get him busted and you are giving him false information so unless you have discovered some new technology but have decided to hide it from the rest of us please do fourweed a favor and hold back the urge to spray unsubstantiated and incorrect information. Yes, low frequency ballasts are LESS LIKELY to create rf in frequencies detectable by modern appliances but nevertheless, your information could be no further from the truth. Nothing personal, I just do not tolerate misinformation. And yes, I am a rocket scientist
pacificarage
Well-Known Member
Yet another occasion where magnetic ballasts are better. Use some cfls to keep your plants in sync until you can scrap the cash to buy a magnetic ballast, or an RF shielded digital ballast.
thanks im just trying to fix this before the wrong people start asking questions you know. I pay close attention to everyone and everything around me so i stay safe and under the wire. Im thinking of buying some copper sheets to block the signals. I turned my light off and put my plant under the florescent light hope it will grow good until i solve this problem.
Same thing happened to me a while back. They wanted to come into my house for an "inspection" which I told them I'd have to ask the wife 1st. LOL
I bought 2 new digital ballasts that are supposed to have an RF shield built into them, and I haven't really had a problem since. They did tell me if it continued, they would cancel my cable service cause it's disrupting the neighborhoods service. I told them "go ahead"............
I know for a fact they did replace one of the main junction boxes in the neighborhood a few times and then blamed it on that box........ remember, there's always Dish TV and the other one, which suck, but better than nothing.
I bought 2 new digital ballasts that are supposed to have an RF shield built into them, and I haven't really had a problem since. They did tell me if it continued, they would cancel my cable service cause it's disrupting the neighborhoods service. I told them "go ahead"............
I know for a fact they did replace one of the main junction boxes in the neighborhood a few times and then blamed it on that box........ remember, there's always Dish TV and the other one, which suck, but better than nothing.
Ecips
Active Member
So your good old big solid state ballasts don't put off frequency ?
My neighbor said he's having problems playing Xbox ,
he said his Internet is lagging ?
Im not running it right now (running t5s)
but in flower I will , funny thing is , when I was running the HPS nobody had Internet problems?
I am totally leagal , I am interested in this !!
Does this affect like RC cars?
Like when you are driving your rc car , the Internet gets interference ?
My Internet works fine and I got CBs goin drivin RC cars lol
My neighbor said he's having problems playing Xbox ,
he said his Internet is lagging ?
Im not running it right now (running t5s)
but in flower I will , funny thing is , when I was running the HPS nobody had Internet problems?
I am totally leagal , I am interested in this !!
Does this affect like RC cars?
Like when you are driving your rc car , the Internet gets interference ?
My Internet works fine and I got CBs goin drivin RC cars lol
Adonis
Member
Before you waste money make sure the grounding is good, just because its connected to the ground in the receptacle does NOT mean it is grounded. If you need to drive a copper grounding rod into the earth it would provide far better results than any sort of shield. Unless you know the frequency (size) of the rf waves it is difficult to know thickness, type of material, conductivity and resistance necessary for your setup. A grounding rod is only a few dollars and all you need is a hammer to drive it down like a fence stake. Grounding is essentially "absorbing" rf into a less resistant material, just as shielding. If grounding and the other options do not work, then go out and spend more on shielding, an extremely expensive and time consuming endeavor. Last time I checked copper sheeting ran about $50 for 1 sq ft. There were other more sensible solutions offered by smart people, as an electrical engineer my (free) advice would be to attempt the cheapest options first, shielding is almost always ineffective, though I'm sure a few have been lucky at times. If it were me, I'd not waste a dime on anything, nobody can enter your house because you are emitting what is found in all parts of the universe. It is not against the law to produce rf. At least not at the levels you are producing.
psilocybindude
Well-Known Member
I am running a 400 watt digital ballast and i do not believe that any of the electrical work in my house is grounded, a few months ago i installed some ceiling fans in my house and the electrical box's in the ceiling had no ground wire i also replaced an outlet not to long ago and did not see any grounding wire in there either, its pretty weird because the electrical work does not look that old, i also i find it amusing that my house has 3 lightning rods on it and my garage also has 3 lightning rods on it but not a single ground wire to be found in the electrical system. Anyways i am just wondering if i should be worried about the RF signal that could be coming from my ballast, i am not connected to cable television, i just have my phone line and DSL running to my house, should i be worried that my ballast could be interfering with other peoples cable or internet?
Adonis
Member
The universe is filled with infinite rf signals emanating from infinite natural sources. The environment dictates how electricity acts, which makes it frustrating. Grounding does not always help, but in most man-made situations it is a common factor. Ever lost the AM radio when you drive by powerlines? or heard your cell wigout when it gets too close to your PC tower? Maybe the radio in your car buzzes whenever the engine is running? Or sometimes you just cannot tune in the radio at sunset? Rf happens dude, if you have bad luck like Fourweed then you either try to deal with it or don't. THis happens so seldom, just as Dabong states, so don't go worrying about nothing. Or you could just ask the neighbor if he's had any reception problems lately......
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
Wrong, rocket scientist. I may be medical and an amateur musician but shielding damned sure does work. Copper sheet works well by your own admission but costs too much for your taste. But you offer no other remedy and then advise telling authorities to fuck off. You are stupid. Or offer a realistic solution.
Shield it or change to EM. Don't listen to this "rocket scientist" who offers no real solution other than checking grounds (which is itself good advice).