The regulator from 1977
The Super Regulator from 1977, design by Mr. Kaneda.
Let me also point out that the basic idea has been around for at least 35 years. One example can be found in book written by Mr. Kaneda from 1977 and I'll guess he didn't invent it. What has changed since then? The zener references are nowadays much, much better and the opamps are even more much better. In other words there are great opportunities to increase the performance. One more change, rather important also is that the 680 ohms resistor at the top is changed to a constant current generator. This is very important for the output current capability also to the bandwidth, the speed of the regulator.
Is "Super" too much?
Does the design deserve the epithet "super"? Yes, indeed! Can anyone come up with any regulator with less noise and lower output impedance? I don't think so. I would be happy if someone can prove me wrong. This design is extreme in the true sense when it comes to these two parameters. I believe that a couple of more parameters also are state of the art.
I think this design is very interesting from an engineering point of view, a challenge to make it as good as it can be. Therefore I have decided to have it for spin. Since I really like SMD will this be a very "narrow" project, narrow because of the SMD technology. One way to make it a little bit more popular is to gather a bunch of people so I can without risk order rather many pcb's. 61 pcb's were ordered and are now also delivered but according to investigation much later, noone did build. Was it too hard or was there no need for it? Since then a couple has been built though with very good results.
This group purchase was discussed here. Remember, the deal is closed.
My project is unique in the sense that there exists only pcb's with hole mounted parts. This is the first DIY SMD Super Regulator which has left the computer.
Andrew L Weekes ALW has made a very good hole mounted pcb together with a very good documentation. He has also had a group purchase run and he came up with 700-800 pcb's! This shows very clearly the distribution between hole mounted pcb's and SMD pcb's.
There are also a couple of commercial sources, really expensive ones.