Moto VT71: a better ballast?

[polyphase]

I have an extra unit like the one shown in my original post, and I have parts for a few more. Send a PM if any interest.

If anyone is or is thinking of building one of these, the value of the 30ohm 5W resistor has been changed to 20ohms 5W. 30ohm is fine, but it was running hot and I didn't have room for a higher power one in the can. It seems the only purpose of this resistor was to limit charging currents through the original selenium rectifiers. With silicon diodes, it is unnecessary, but I'm more comfortable having something there.

Incidently, the reactance of the 10uf capacitor in this design limits current to less than .5A per string, even under short circuit conditions. Adding fuses or thermistors in this circuit would be pointless.