Here's a shot of my Beta 5 lit up running on a electronic fluorescent ballast,it's been operating dusk to dawn for the past 4 months without any issues.This seems to be an economical alternative to the core and coil ballast that fried.
Update: The lamp developed a leak It did 9 months,not sure if the leak was the result of running it on the electronic ballast or if it was a poorer quality lamp and would have failed anyway,the lamp looked fine the day before but now it's pretty black lol.
Yes it still lit up dimly and the metal parts were glowing like a little neon lamp lol. Hopefully it was just a defective lamp, I will have to get another one and try again.
The photo cell is a good one right? I had a photo cell that would turn on and off 4 times before it would make up its mind. That is very bad for LPS, LED would like that because it is less heat
Login
It did 9 months,not sure if the leak was the result of running it on the electronic ballast or if it was a poorer quality lamp and would have failed anyway,the lamp looked fine the day before but now it's pretty black lol.
What brand was the lamp? i thought Philips was the only one who still made them?I guess you can try it again and see what happens? 
a out LPS is very sad
VL LPS is the best price but have a lower life.