5V Power Supply

For many of my electronic projects I needed a stable 5V power supply. I didn't want to use batteries, and my only switchable AC adapter provides only either 6V or 4.5V.

So I decided to build one myself. My goals were:

• as simple as possible
• stable and ripple-free 5V output (ripples cause all sorts of strange phenomena in digital circuits)
• wide range of input voltages, so I could use any AC adapter
• DC connector for standard DC plugs

Solution

I decided to use a simple 7805 linear voltage regulator with two capacitors. It is no switching power converter, which means it converts all residual power to heat - but that's okay for me. It also means it's very cheap, easy to get and simple to use.

AND it permits input voltages up to 35V and an output current of 1A.

TODO: add circuitry

As you can see I also added one LED to see if the 5V are okay and the regulator is still working (and of course because shining LEDs are the most important motivation factor for electronic engineers!) ;-)

And here is the result: