Alternative power supply

[The Master]

Hi. Im going to make a circuit which is very small. Just a PIC chip and triac (with a few other little bits). Is there a way i can run it from mains without using a transformer? The standard transformers i use (which are quite small) are bigger than the rest of the circuit will be.

[Melanie]

You may regret asking...

http://www.picbasic.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=3265&highlight=Transformerless

[The Master]

Hehe. I see what you mean. Half way down reading that thread i had an idea which could save on wire too. Instead of a few of these little boxes on existing mains wires with extra data wires im gonna have 1 big box with sockets to connect to the mains wires.

Maby one day ill try something like this again for a lightswitch or something but for now im gonna use the transformer:P thanx anyway