The Price ? Astounding !

I became aware of an adjustable voltage regulator IC, the LM338K, which is a 5 amp adjustable regulator in a TO-3 can:

Yikes, over $100 ?   The LM338T is the same part in a TO-220 package:

The only reason I can see for offering the part in the expensive package is that the TO-3 steel case is probably hermetically sealed (hermeticity requires metal, glass or ceramic) - this is important in certain commercial and military applications.  I suspect that these are for repair / spares only - although it's surprising that they still offer the chip at all in this package.  The TO-220 packaged chip would be fine for me :)


Best Regards,
Chuck, WB9KZY
http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm