In article .com, "david" wrote:
thanks
Be assured that i will call an electrician however i would like to
understand it myself.

There are two wires that come into the box lets call them A & B

Let's start by using the proper terminology: you have two *cables* coming into
the box. Each cable has a black, a white, and a bare *wire*.

A - has a white wire(neutral), a ground and a black wire (hot)
B- - has a white wire (neutral), a ground and a black wire (hot)

Correct so far...

Both the blacks are connected to the right side of the switch.

What do you mean, "connected to the right side of the switch"? What,
*specifically*, on the right side of the switch are they connected to?

I see nothing on the left side of the switch.

OK, from this I'll assume that the "right side of the switch" has two screw
terminals, with one black wire connected to each terminal.

the two white seemed to be
connect via the wing nut

All right. Here's what's going on, then: one cable brings power into the
swtich box, and the other cable takes it to the lights - *both* lights. The
white wires are neutral in and neutral out, and the black wires are unswitched
(always on) power in, and switched power out.

It is *not* possible to do what you wanted (install a duplex switch to control
the two sets of lights independently) without re-wiring.

And I'm not going to tell you how to do that. This is a _very_basic_ switch
installation, and - no offense intended - the fact that you had to ask how it
works demonstrates that you don't have nearly the knowledge needed to do the
job safely. I'm glad to hear that you plan to call an electrician. Having said
that... this stuff isn't rocket science. Anyone of normal intelligence can
learn how to do it; there are numerous good books available at most libraries
and bookstores, or at any Home Depot or Lowes store. You *can* learn how to do
this. But you're not there yet.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek at milmac dot com)

Nobody ever left footprints in the sands of time by sitting on his butt.
And who wants to leave buttprints in the sands of time?