alternate switching of transistors q1 and q2 cause a resonant current to develop in the primary which is in turn transferred to the secondary and on to the discharge tube 110 control of the power mosfets q1 and q2 is effected by the switching control circuit shown in the lower half of fig2 in the preferred embodiment of the present invention the main controller for establishing the switching frequencies is by means of a dual timer circuit part no lm556 available from national semiconductor signetics and a wide variety of other vendors this lm556 timer circuit contains two individual 555 type timers which form the timing control mechanisms for establishing the switching frequencies the supply voltage for driving the 556 timer u1 is by means of a dc supply circuit connected to the ac mains the control supply transformer t1 is attached across lines l1 and l2 of the ac mains and serves to step down the ac mains voltage to approximately 20vac which is applied to a full wave rectifier bridge comprised of diodes cr5 through cr8 the resultant rectified pulsed dc voltage is filtered by capacitor c2 which is in the preferred embodiment a 40 microfarad capacitor the resultant 17vdc low voltage supply is applied between pins 14 and 7 of the timer circuit u1 the dual 556 timing circuits are each operable in oscillator.