Nope...not even close! Those lamps will not EVEN start with a Pulse start MH ballast if it's as dead as Henry claims....but I have brought lamps back to life...but how? A big secret!!! I have a witness who can say I HAVE started lamps that were 40-50 years old that wouldn't start with anything....until I did something...(a big secret) He will not tell you either but he will acknowledge what I say is true!
Sometimes old spent mercs can be revived by using NSTs or 1500w MH ballasts, although I would be careful with this type of lamp, its early and more fragile than later mercury lamps.
The only thing I tried was a 400w merc ballast, nothing happened. I don't have a BBQ ignitor or MH ballast. How about a spark plug coil from a 1960 Plymouth??
There could be a mechanical break in the lamp too...often at the leads (fuse?) in the base. I had a 200w HPS lamp I just recycled because of this (NOTHING would light it, except a microwave), but the arc tube was intact (looked pretty new).
I saw this bulb in person when I visited Henry a few weeks ago. Apparently the starting probe had burned away, the main electrodes are still intact. The starting probe is at the crown end of the lamp, note the resistor there?
This thing is cool! I've never seen a MV lamp with a starting probe and resistor on the crown end before, anyways I wonder if a pulse start ballast can still light this?
The etch is pretty much gone but somebody wrote Westinghouse 11-5 on the base.