Hi all,
Despite the topic title, I'm not trying to use a simple linear regulator to 'step up' voltage
Essentially I have several 'modules' I've made for various microcontroller stuff, and because I wanted to use them 'standalone' on each one I have included a simple 7805 reg circuit, with a DC socket for a plug-in power supply.
This works like a charm, but.... would it be possible to use just one of these regulators, and power the other boards from it? (we're talking <100mA total system current). The reason I ask is because then all the regulators on each of the other boards would then have their outputs at 5v, but their inputs at 0v. Would a simple diode going from Vout to Vin be sufficient? Essentially we are tlaking about having parallel regulators, with their Vout's tied, BUT only one regulator's Vin has voltage.
I haven't implemented 'jumpers' for on board power supplys, or diodes in series with the regulators outputs, so unless the diode thing works, I will have to build a power supply with multiple DC jack cables, one for each board >.<
Sorry for the simple question, hope someone can help, I 'would' test this, but I really don't want to blow any of the regulators, because they are not easy to replace on these PCB's (Dpak, SMT).
Cheers,
Blueteeth