I agree all were excellent, but my impression is that they seemed to get even better every year right up to the end.  Whereas other factories began to focus on cost-saving with consequent cost reductions, Osram shut down its production before the others were dragged into that downward spiral.

@suzukir122, I often rely on part numbers myself such as “FC8T9/CW” when I want a halophosphate 22W T9 circline fluorescent lamp.

Yes, the "suggested" lamps are there because the sellers paid to boost the listings.

As for insane prices, tell me: how much does a carbon filament lamp cost? They haven't been produced since the '40s or '50s and they have been banned for a couple years now.

It comes down to simple economics, my friend: supply is low, but demand is also low, the price will remain low. The price would only skyrocket if everyone suddenly decided they
wanted to transition back to MV and such, in which case they would probably start producing them again.

Ah that makes sense, are these the same ballasts that sometimes actually break the ends on lamps at EOL?

That's good, I'm pretty sure manual start can be softer on the cathodes too compared to starters!

I’d say every one since inception 😎, I don’t think any bad lamps came out of Duke Mill👍

I have two F15T8 lamps that are Hungarian GE, made in about 2009 or 2010 and have had roughly a couple of hours every morning plus roughly dusk to midnight service since early 2011. Both are on choke ballasts with FS-2 starters. There is noticeable end bands, but they are still going strong. The package also indicated about 7500 hours at 3h/cycle. You should be good for lots of years.

As the title says, I would love to get a fluorescent street light of some kind. What kind of fluorescent, it doesn't really matter. Only I want it to have magnetic ballasts with starters.
Those Polish ones (Mesko OUKS, 10J etc.) caught my eye many years ago already, but it can be quite difficult to get them into Finland. Also some Dutch ones (Schréder TZP, Industria 86.808 etc.) have caught my eye.
In here in Finland, there is Orno 24-321 which is similar to Mesko OUKS340, but those are incredibly rare. I actually tried asking one but with no luck.


Another thing I would love to have, is Soviet fluorescent tubes. Razno, Svetex, Lisma etc...

I have 3 1982 GTE Sylvanias in my Dazor 318A3 on my desk. On average, its gets 2 cycles per day totaling around 8 hours per day. When I turned them on I hold down the rest button for 4 seconds and the tubes almost always start without issues.

If the tubes are rated for 7500 hours at 3hr/cycle, how long should they last?

I've seen many desklamps that still run very old lamps so I'm hoping mine will last a long time!

The Brazilian car parts import store on ebay seems to have been shut down.... I need to acquire these:

https://www.mercadolivre.com.br/par-lanterna-s10-95-96-1996-97-1997-98-1998-99-1999-00-2000/up/MLBU752121770#polycard_client=search-desktop&search_layout=grid&position=12&type=product&tracking_id=7a66dd55-6ebf-4fe7-b09b-c0b58ee4780c&wid=MLB2630718387&sid=search

Somehow. I tried creating an account but it require a +55 phone number and there is no way to contact support. I tried looking through FAQ. Anyone able to help? I was originally gonna buy a set off ebay but now that this has become a pain I guess I am buying a set and a spare set now..... If I can.