I'd like to make this a learning experience. (Otherwise, I'd just buy one.) And hopefully something that can provide 50W, steady enough so as not to fry my laptop...
A single device, I'm still a beginner as far as electronics are concerned... definitely not 1k/mo.
Then again, I don't even know what I need to learn! What are the advantages of Buck vs. Boost, etc? Cuk is out? Why?
I remember a DC-DC converter on the back of Forrest Mims' 555 handbook, but it needed a Radio Shack 120VAC/12VAC stepdown transformer. (I remember building it many years ago, and I only got about 50V out of it. Was expecting 120V...)
Low parts count. Uses "off the shelf" parts. Vout must be more than Vin. Wide supply range. Not good for multiple outputs.
Flyback isolated:
Lowish parts count. Vout vs Vin can be anything. Wide supply range. May need a largish core for a given power. Large ripple currents. Fair tracking on multiple outputs.
Buck:
Low parts count. Off the shelf parts. Vout must be less than Vin. Not good for multiple outputs.
Non-isolated Cuk:
Good if you want to invert the sign of the voltage. Off the shelf parts. The coupling capacitor can be troublesome. Can make equal +/- supplies with good tracking.
Isolated Cuk:
Much like isolated flyback without the large ripple currents. Good tracking on multiple outputs. Special magnetics.
Single ended forward converter:
Use a flyback.
psudo-squarewave, forward, voltage fed, isolated:
Vout vs Vin can be almost anything. Low output side ripple currents. Small cores for a given power. Poor tracking on multiple outputs. Narrower Vin range.
Psudo-squarewave, forward, current fed version:
Same as above but low input ripple. Fair to good tracking on multiple outputs.
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