Yep i bought something (give myself a high five). Just a cheapie 400w HPS + white wing shade and ballast. $41. Not too foul, if i get some use out of it before one bit or another dies then it'll be worth more than the many crappy 50's i've been done over with over the years.

And that is going to be a point of this blog. I want to document MY version of a value for money build, as opposed to doing it cheap. Sometimes these 2 concepts can overlap to a degree, but sometimes they are chalk and cheese.

Value for money for me is sometimes paying a little more at the start, but in doing that, it outlasts something you get cos it had a low price tag. A good analogy is lcd/plasma tv's. I worked in a repair shop that done warranty work for some big brands (one that starts with an S and ends in G) as well as doing insurance work. Some of the tv's we worked on were just garbage. And some were good. And as a very general rule, you get what you pay for. Dirty little secret here so keep it to yourself.

The vast majority of the panels you see in plasmas and LCD tele's are made in 2 factories. Doesn't matter if it's a Sony or Samsung or a Panasonic, don't be surprised if the panel itself comes from the same place. The difference is what they have controlling them. That is what makes up a lot of the price difference. The real cheapies usually have 1 big circuit board inside and that does everything; sound, picture, tuner, the lot. Besides the name, the main difference is how many boards they have in the guts. So even if it's a small problem in the cheapie, more than likely the whole board is gonna be trashed and a new one put in.

So, my point is when i'm getting stuff, i'm looking for value for money, not just a cheap price. When you are on a limited income, why get something cheap if it'll only last 1 or 2 grows when you can spend a little more and it lasts 3,4 or more times over. Some people may know this concept a 'false economy'. We all do it on occasions, since we are human, but sometimes with a little thought, and gathering opinions and experiences from others you won't get sucked into that false economy thought process.

So, with the lights came the 1st decision. It's a HPS globe, and as some wise person pointed out when i enquired about it, they made the good point that i should look at getting another globe. Well, i didn't think , or know for that matter that the lamps lose their power/luminosity/strength over time i thought they worked one minute, then bang out they go. WRONG!

Lesson 1: If you go 2nd hand, work on the assumption that you will need to replace bits sooner than later. Budget for a globe or 2 as well.

Lesson 2: You will have to think a little ahead of time as to what you're going to grow. In this case i'm well prepared to be corrected, but my way of thinking is at the moment, to get 2 different types of globes. Metal Halide for veg, HPS for flower. I know that you can go CFL, and that may be an option later but not now. Lucky for me (I think) I can swap between globes for different stages. Yep i know you can get them combo globes that has the blue spectrum in it, but I'm looking at an Auto strain to start with. So I think the HPS is more suited for the autos, and depending on what strains i get when i get seeds, then the MH lamp will be useful.

As for what brand lamp, the favourite at the moment looks to be the Philips Son-t series. But if the price is good i may see about getting a PowerPlant globe if the $ deities look upon that favourably, as that is the ballast type, and they look good too.

Just to finish this post, another part of this blog is going to be recording my trips around Sydney and surrounds for my shopping trips. This is cos my oldies are retired (so they're at home a lot but they have a routine that i can work around) and thus getting stuff delivered may cause questions that even i can't bluff out of. And if i can avoid that stress there, there will be plenty of other situations that will make up for it.

The other thing is that cos i have a 1/2 price concession card, i can get around Sydney for $2.50 on public transport. And just there alone i can see a lot of money being save on couriers, even if i have to wait a little bit longer. But there will be situations where this will stuff me around, as some places are realistically only reachable by car. Which i can't borrow off the oldies for reasons mentioned in the last paragraph. And since i've been pretty successful in getting rid of 'friends' that may have had transport, it'll be fun. But I'd rather be in this situation than rely on these 'friends' and then get done over by them as others on here have been.

Some of the stuff i need is gonna be fun to lug about (tents? Coco mix, Pots). But that will be problems to worry about later.

So off i'll go and look at lights. Thanks for your time reading this, love any constructive comments/ideas

So until next time,

OldSkoolKlein.