If that's the case it has to be the ballast. Geez don't you have anything to check continuity, etc? You need to get yourself a meter. I'm particularly anal about this, because "when I was a kid" a cheap meter from someplace like Lafayette Electronics was a real POS, and a decent one was EXPENSIVE. Nowadays you can buy a real decent meter for 50-75 bucks, or a better used Fluke for about that much.