Thanks for the reply.
worked out what the problem was.
This is very strange, but i was using a Nokia Charger which provides 8.78V with nothing connected., but for some reason when you measure the drops across everything connected (resistors) in series, it looses a volt or two!
Any idea why...
Im currently reading a book on electronics, that says that the sum of the Voltage drops across all components tied in series should equal the voltage of the battery.
However i tested cicuit on a breadboard with a led and a resistor, and measured the drops accross each and added them together...