Another MH question

[brewercm]

I'm looking at a retro kit on ebay that contains a dual 250 watt MH system. The seller says that the ballast is probe start but for $25 more can upgrade to pulse start. I'm new to MH so my questions are, what's the difference, is pulse start better, and is it worth the extra $25.

Thanks

[matt]

I think pulse start is for certain bulbs, probe start for others. So, figure out which bulb you want to use, then decide on the start. Don't quote me on this, but basically I think it's some of the high kelvin bulbs that need the pulse start.

Or, if you really want to learn everything about lighting, take the MACO class which is about to start. Probably the $35 you'll spend on the course could save you a lot of money in lighting purchase; (or it could cause you to spend more money on higher quality lighting)

[brewercm]

Well, I'm planning on putting 2 250 watt probably 10k with 2 vho actinics. I've seen just the 20k and they look nice but I want to be able to start off and end the day with the actinics like I do now.

[Ed]

The 20K Radium bulb requires a pulse start ballast. Most others (Iwasaki 6500K, Coralife 5500K,6500K,10K, + 20K, Ushio 10K, XM 20K) run on a probe start.

HTH

Ed