I have been looking at a lot of different regulators. Generally speaking switching regulators will give me a wide range of input voltages at the out put amps I am looking for with added efficiency. However, the simplicity of a linear regulator is really appealing for the project that I'm looking at. The problem that leaves me with is that most linear regulators will do between 0.5 and 1.5 amps. Is there a way to hook up two regulators so that they provide my 5 volts with their combined amp output like with batteries?
Answer
You can use an external pass transistor with a fixed 7805 regulator, see for example page 14 of National Semiconductor's datasheet.
It's also possible to use the LM317 to build tracking regulators that can be connected together so that they share the power.
But the reason the integrated packages don't go much above 1A is the dissipation due to the product of the difference between input and output voltages times the current. Switching regulators are much better for higher currents than linears because of this thermal problem.
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