Some of you may be interested in this cool circuit. For reasons I do not know one does not see this circuit documented very often. This configuration allows a logic signal (i.e. 0 -> 5V) to be easily converted to a larger voltage swing. The output will swing almost all the way to the positive voltage rail and down to about about 1 volt above ground. (You can get a few tenths of a volt closer to ground by replacing the 1N4148 diode with a Shottky diode). The top transistor will automatically be forced off as the lower transistor turns on. The turn off is extremely fast becasue as the lower transistor starts to conduct and sink current from the output load the diode develops a forward bias. This bias translates to a reverse bias across the Vbe junction of the upper transistor thus snapping it off.

I have used this circuit many times to drive loads where a wide voltage swing with active pullup is needed to improve rise time. With alternate high voltage transistors it is easy to use this to let a logic signal drive a high voltage load. For example a cathode driver for a CRT.



Maybe this can give you your 5V to 10V translation.

"Using transistors for real world interfacing"
Michael Karas