yep, thats what the ansi code is for.
i googled the ansi on the MC lamp and it tells me its a
non retrofit pulse start lamp. the retrofit lamp you already have, will run in a hps ballast... but thats not the case with the new lamp. it needs a special ignitor.
here is the spec sheet for a generic
CMH ANSI M142/M102 ballast, on it are the specs for the ignitor and starter combo
throw them on that 150w HPS ballast core and you now have a CMH ballast for cheap! tho the price for the same ballast is 45$ plus S&H. off the top of my head i have no idea what the ignitor/cap combo would cost. when ordering a cap, what you need to know is the
microfarad rating, which looks like this: 17 Mfd ± 3% that is a 17 microfarad capacitor, with a correction factor of plus/minus 3%. you dont need to worry about the correction factor, just the microfarad rating.
when ordering an ignitor, there are 2 things you need to know, first, the part number... thats the important one, looks like this: 356-AS-71-HC its kinda like a VIN, as each digit means something or the other, lol. the other thing is the ballast to lamp distance. thats important in that if you exceed the ballast to lamp distance of the ignitor, the lamp will slow start or not start at all. most ignitors ballast to lamp distance is 5 feet, though they make some pretty big ones for remote ballasts. i have personally seen remote ballasts 300' from the lamp.
sorry guys, i would have got to these questions sooner, but ive been extra busy traveling for work....