5v to 12v dc boost for inverters

TI PTH08000 series. You'll be a bit on the low side of the input voltage but you don't have to design anything.

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Woops, wrong part number. Try the PT5041. Add another NiMH cell to get the input voltage up a bit.

You can use a TL499A

Ed

Both National.com and Linear.com have free software tools that will automagically design a basic boost-mode switching power supply for you. Then you can order free samples of the ICs you need, directly from their websites.

Definitely: Download Linear.com's SwitcherCADIII (AKA LTSPICE), rigtht _now_. Install it. Run it. Then select "File"--> "Switch Selector Guide". You'll get _exactly_ what you need (plus WAY more. Highly Recommended.). And national.com has the same sort of thing, but _only_ on-line, as far as I know (But they do also have a limited thermal-analysis feature, built in, which is pretty cool...)

Good luck!

Tom Gootee

"He who lives in a glass house" should not invite "he who is without sin".

"One more drink. (But that doesn't mean ONLY one more drink.")

Dear P. Kine,

With respect to the aaraoncake.net circuit, That's a pretty simple circuit. If it doesn't oscillate, then maybe something is not connected correctly. If I were to build the circuit, and it was wired correctly and did not work, I would try eliminating D1 and R4 (just short D1 and omit R4).

With respect to the cappels.org circuit, this one would need a larger inductor and lower base drive resistor to supply more power.

You might want to look at

Thanks!

This last is the (brilliant!) circuit (with a diode and capacitor) I am working with now. With fresh batteries I can power one of the dual sets for a while before they start to dim. They don't dim evenly, one of the tubes dies out while the other one stays medium bright.

I found that putting a diode in the path to the ccfl driver box gains a volt and some brightness. Possibly the driver's switcher is feeding back into my circuit and creating problems. Another improvement happens when I put a .01uf cap across the base resistor that feeds the transistor. That added more than a volt to the output.

I have another idea to try whenever I get some free time to work on it...

I really appreciate your site!

P. Kline

"It is a hobby, it is supposed to take time"