Step-up voltage regulator

Hello.

A question: I need to step up the Output of a Digital PIN to 5V.

I was wondering if using one of these

could be a viable solution, or if I'm going to fry out something....

Any suggestion?
Thanks so much.

cips

do you have any 5volt now ?

if you do, why not just use a transistor ?

Hi.

Right now I have 3.3v out of the PIN...

Thanks

Sorry, now I catched what you mean....the board operates at 3.3.
Ok, yes, if I can get some 5v somewhere I can use a transistor, correct. May be this could be a solution.

Anyway, do you see any drawback in using a circuit like the Pololu?

Thanks

Anyway, do you see any drawback in using a circuit like the Pololu?

Yes if you are thinking of feeding the output pin directly into this regulator. It will take too much current and fry the pin.

Better is to connect the regulator to the 3V3 supply to get 5V and use a transistor to switch the 3V3 output to 5V.

There seems to be a trend at the moment with people thinking voltage regulators are the same thing as signal conditioners or level shifters, they are not.

it is about power. if you need 1 watt out, you have to put 1 watt in. simple enough.

1 watt at 5 volts is 0.2 amps the simple volts x amps = watts

start with that 1 watt out and divide by 3.3 volts and get 0.3

so you need to put in 50% more amps to get same wattage out.

also, imagine you need to have 6 outputs. you would need 6 boost transformers. that means you need to increase your power supply and the power running through your device.

common practice is to control the power, not supply it. use your microcontroller as a controller and control where it goes and what it does, don't try to supply the power.

Thanks for the suggestions.