/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>1399644
>Are linear components, the ones that require heatsink any good or should i avoid?

it depends on the current being drawn and how much you need to lower the voltage. say you're driving some op-amps which draw 30mA, and you're dropping 3V (from 8V to 5V). so the power used by the regulator is 3*.03 = .09W or 90 milliwatts. this is nothing, so you can use a tiny plastic package without any heat-sinking at all.

also, linear regulators provide very clean power, unlike switchers, which is important when dealing with tiny signals.