Thanks Skogsgurra, for some useful feedback.
You are correct, I am not a student, but a 55 year old embedded firmware engineer. (70%SW, 30%HW)
The circuit I asked about was one I found here on an earlier post.
No-one was amazed at the ancient technology suggested by one of the members on that...
I've seen a circuit using a 7805 to generate a constant current depending on the value of a resistor(R1) connected from the output of the 7805 to the common lead. The common lead to ground then is supposed to supply a constant current depending on the value of R1 and NOT affected by the load...