Abstract: A series ballast circuit for operating a gas discharge tube from a constant current alternating voltage source having a fundamental frequency is disclosed. The primary feature of the ballast circuit comprises a ballast transformer having a magnetic core and at least a primary coil and at least a secondary coil. The ballast transformer has parameters that are selected in accordance with the operational conditions, that is, the extinguished and non-extinguished states of the gas discharge lamp. The primary coil and the area of the core have parameters selected in accordance with the extinguished state of the gas discharge tube. The primary and secondary coils have a selected turn ratio so as to produce a current level sufficient to maintain the ionization condition of the gas discharge tube in its non-extinguished state.

Abstract: Remote control of street lights utilizes a programmable computer which generates wavelike control signals at fundamental frequencies in the voice range and having half periods corresponding in time-duration to the pulses used for binary digits in logic circuits. The signals are transmitted by phone line to a shared paging transmitter which broadcasts them over the city. The signals are received by radio receives contained in local controller boxes from which the power lines to luminaires start out. The output of the receiver is driven to a saturating level in order to square off the received signals for a microcomputer programmed to decode the signals when they are legitimate and properly addressed to it. The microcomputer can turn the 230 v 60 Hz AC power line to the luminaires off or on, and can also turn on a local oscillator to inject an RF carrier signal onto the AC power line for energizing a dimming circuit in the luminaires.