> > Well, yeah, but the PWM would really need to be synced to the AC
waveform,
> > which would be a PITA.
>
> Not if the PWM frequency was much higher than the line frequency.  If so,
> you could just ignore line sync and output asynchronous PWM which will
> average nicely each 1/2 line cycle.  1.2KHz would be 10 PWM periods in
each
> 1/2 line cycle, which should be good enough.  The FET transition time
should
> still be a negligeable percentage at that frequency if driven right.  Note
> that the lowest hardware PWM frequency a 20MHz 16xxx PIC can produce is
> 1.22KHz.  Frankly I like this much better than low pass filtering the gate
> to turn on the FETs slowly.  I guess it can be OK if done just right, but
it
> I don't like the power those FETs are dissipating even for a short time.

You might not like the whining coming from the lights either though....
PWM at 40kHz would be easier on the ears, and would possibly repel mice
too...
/\/\/\/*=Martin

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