Luminaire starting aid device

An automatic starting aid for a lamp comprising:

• a photocontroller for automatically turning the lamp on during periods of darkness and off during periods of daylight;
• means for detecting a load drawn by or voltage across the lamp;
• a microprocessor, responsive to the means for detecting and to the photocontroller, for controlling start-up of the lamp,
• wherein the microprocessor is programmed to detect a condition of the lamp in response to the load drawn or voltage across the lamp by comparing the voltage across the lamp with a trip voltage that is proportional to a line voltage of the lamp;
• a power supply for operating the microprocessor;
• and
• a trigger circuit, responsive to the microprocessor, for turning on the lamp.

A starting aid comprising:

• a trigger circuit for supplying a tigger voltage pulse to a lamp in response to the presence of a line voltage signal supplied by a photodetector;
• a feedback circuit for detecting the lamp voltage;
• and
• means, responsive to the line voltage signal and the feedback circuit, for comparing the voltage on the lamp to a nominal voltage level for disabling the trigger circuit and terminating the trigger voltage pulse in the presence of a lamp cycling or lamp out condition,
• wherein the nominal voltage is proportional to the line voltage of the lamp, such that the starting aid may be used with lamps of varying voltage.

A diagnostic starting aid for a luminaire comprising:

• means for detecting a load drawn by or voltage across a lamp;
• a microprocessor, responsive to the means for detecting a load drawn or voltage across the lamp, the microprocessor programmed to detect a condition of the luminaire in response to the load drawn by comparing the voltage across the lamp with a trip voltage that is proportional to a line voltage of the lamp, such that the starting aid may be used for lamps of varying power;
• a photocontroller for controlling the start-up of the lamp;
• a power supply for operating the microprocessor;
• a trigger circuit, responsive to the microprocessor, for turning on the lamp;
• and
• means, response to the microprocessor, for indicating the occurrence of the condition detected.

A starting aid circuit for a luminaire, comprising:

• a voltage divider circuit to detect a voltage across a lamp;
• a microprocessor, responsive to an input from the voltage detection device, for controlling the start-up of the lamp and programmed to predict a condition of the lamp based on the voltage across the lamp by comprising the voltage across the lamp with a trip voltage that is proportional to a line voltage;
• a trigger circuit, responsive to the microprocessor for turning on the lamp;
• a communications device for transmitting a signal to
• a power supply for operating the voltage detection circuit, the microprocessor the trigger circuit and the communications device.