ballast resistor resistance?

Make sure it's reading what you think. Meters "vary." What does the ohmeter say with the probes disconnected? This is the "infinity" reading. Short the probes and see what it says. Digi meters rarely read "zero" with the probes shorted.

My Flukes, example, say 0L at infinity, which is supposed to mean "OverLoad" a stupid and counterintuitive reading for "infinity." This could easily be mistaken for ".o1" ohms.