http://superpositioned.com/articles/2005/12/29/cheap-regulated-power-supply en-us 40 Electronics news and projects in the frequency domain <p>Recently, I&#8217;ve been scouring the web for a cheap power supply. Building my own was definitely a consideration, but I never considered ripping one straight from a computer. Even my rusty old 386dx can supply &#177;5V, &#177;12V, and GND.</p> <p>My journey led me to <a href="http://www.ehow.com" title="eHow.com">eHow&#8217;s</a> <a href="http://wiki.ehow.com" title="wikiHow">wiki</a> page that describes how to <a href="http://wiki.ehow.com/Convert-a-Computer-ATX-Power-Supply-to-a-Lab-Power-Supply">convert an ATX power supply into a workbench power supply</a>. The instructions are extremely thorough. Unfortunately there is no 3.3V tap, but you can figure out how to add that on your own!</p> <p><img src="http://superpositioned.com/files/ATX-to-Lab-PSU-8.JPG" alt="Completed ATX Lab Bench Power Supply"/></p> <p>There is <a href="http://www.instructables.com/ex/i/D5FC00DAB9B110289B50001143E7E506/?ALLSTEPS">a similar conversion</a> that explains the engineering and need for a power resistor in greater detail. Basically, the &#8220;cheap&#8221; circuitry in the ATX supply requires some (significant) current in order to &#8220;turn on.&#8221;</p> Thu, 29 Dec 2005 23:28:00 -0800 urn:uuid:6de2dbaa-39cf-49ca-982c-faf294e69771 Matthew http://superpositioned.com/articles/2005/12/29/cheap-regulated-power-supply External Links cheap diy equipment