Digital BW, The Print

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, Bill Morse
<whm.lists@v...> wrote:
>
> Koloshor:  (Is that your name?)

Hi Bill. Joseph is my name. Koloshor is a title, something to do with
saving the universe a while back.

> What are the 2 bulb ballasts and other 100% ballast factor ballasts
that you
> know of?

Tridonic makes a wonderful $70 2 bulb ballast (can't remember the
number, and the Tridonic website is a mess) that are programmable, so
you can view your work under a variety of conditions. They were a
really great ballast, performance wise, but I got rid of mine because
they jammed half the remote control devices in the house. 

Advance makes a good $40 ballast. If you're an international traveler,
their Centium ballasts run on anything from 110-277v, 50-400Hz.

RCN-3P32-SC drives a pair of 32W T8 to 102%
RCN-4P32-SC drives three 32W T8 to 100%

ICN-3P32-SC and ICN-4P32-SC can do the same trick, but are dimmable.
About $7 per ballast.

Howard Industries (availaible in single units at bulbs.com)has
several, and they're actually quite reasonable, about $20 for a 3 bulb
ballast.

The high drive ballasts are their EH series. You probably don't want
those, they are 114% ballast factor, and your bulbs will definitely be
off color and CRI.

It's probably better to use the standard ballasts, with less bulbs.
Use a single bulb on an E2 two bulb ballast, two bulbs on an E3 three
bulb ballast, etc. Howard specs them to work that way.

E2/32IS-120 will drive a single 32 watt T8 to 102%.
E3/32IS-120 will drive two 32 watt T8 to 103%.
E4/32IS-120 will drive three 32 watt T8 to 98%.

The Howards have to be bought in either a 110 or 220 version, you
can't just jump from country to country with them. On the other hand,
they are current regulated, they will also drive shorter or longer T-8
bulbs, from 2 foot 17 watt to 5 foot 40 watt.