duh.....Sensirion also makes those, should have thought of it first off...have to find my samples on it. Lost my contact info it was from a job ago....but thanks for reminding me about that one! "Alan B. Pearce" wrote: >True...unplugged....unpowered....the crux of the matter is I >have control on the source side of the plug and not the device >plugged into the wall. The device could be a wall wart, a >regular plug, Ahh, suddenly the light turns on ... you are wanting to see if a load is plugged into your supply ... I would suggest you look at the LEM Minisens devices, neat little hall effect sensor in an SOIC-8 package, designed for sensing current in PC tracks or adjacent wires. By adjusting the effective number of turns of primary around the chip you can adjust the low current sensitivity. You will probably need to screen the device against electrostatic coupling from the mains wiring, but that is not impossible. I phoned the UK representatives when I saw them announced in the local Electronics Weekly, and got a couple of samples plus one of the evaluation kits for free. http://www.lem.com/ -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --------------------------------- Get your own web address. Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business. -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist