Mr. Ronald Dykeman

Ron's coffee mug

Ron was, quite simply, one of the most experienced and meticulous engineers you could ever find. He had been with Grumman for decades. He had worked on the E-2C since its early days. He knew the RADCOM the way a master craftsman knows his tools—intimately, completely, with a depth of understanding that came from years of hands-on work.

But experience alone doesn't make a great teacher. Ron had something more: patience. The willingness to explain something five different ways until it clicked. The ability to stand back and let you make mistakes, then guide you through understanding why they were mistakes. The quiet confidence that came from knowing he didn't need to prove anything.

He didn't give answers. He gave directions. He taught us to think like diagnosticians, not just button-pushers. He taught us to understand the systems, not just operate the equipment. It was the best education I ever received.

Ron Dykeman taught me about radar and communications and automated testing. But he also taught me something else: that the best teachers are also human beings, with humor and warmth and the ability to laugh at themselves.

I carried both lessons forward.

 

The American Apprenticeship

January 1987. A New Squadron.

We were the pioneer batch. That phrase carried weight. It meant there were no precedents, no seniors to guide us, no established procedures to follow. Everything we did would be done for the first time. Every success would become a template. Every mistake would be a lesson for those who came after.

My team, the ATE group, was assigned to the third-line repair bay, along with two other teams. Third-line meant deep maintenance—the most complex repairs, the ones that required removing systems from the aircraft and bringing them to a dedicated facility. It was the highest level of technical work in the Air Force, and it was ours.

Our new home was a bomb-proof shelter, designed to survive attacks that would level ordinary buildings. The shelter was empty when we first saw it. A shell. A promise. Nothing more. We had three weeks to turn it into a functioning repair facility. Those weeks were a blur of physical labor and logistical coordination.

Once the facilities were ready, we waited. For the arrival of the CETS.

A specialized team of personnel from Grumman Aerospace, the company that had designed and built the E-2C. Their mission: to assist us in running the squadron for the first two years of its operation. To train us, guide us, ensure that we could do the work before they left us to do it alone.

Our ATE team split into two groups. One would handle the CAT-3D, the general-purpose test system. The other would take the RADCOM, the specialized system for radar, communications, and more. I was assigned to the latter. And I was fortunate—more fortunate than I knew at the time—to be placed under the guidance of a man named Ronald Dykeman.

 

E-2C Ahoy!

Pioneers of the E-2C Squadron, after 25 years

Upon completing BMT, I was posted to the Airforce Engineering Training Institute—AETI, as everyone called it. After the physical exhaustion of BMT, the mental engagement of AETI was a relief, a return to familiar territory. By the end of the year, my academic performance had been noted. I was earmarked for something special: the E-2C program.

Initially, I was being considered for its radar team. Through rotational posting around different squadrons during my OJT, I distinguished myself as someone apt in building test circuits and operating test equipment. Then someone from the E-2C's ATE team pulled out. I became the replacement choice.

It was May 1986. I had been in the Air Force for nearly two and a half years. I had learned radar theory, built a test fixture, and studied a sophisticated ATE system. Now I was about to embark on the next step.

Together with my teammates, I was flown to the United States for a six-month training stint. Our destination: the Grumman Aerospace facilities, where the E-2C Hawkeye was designed and built. Our purpose: to learn two of the most advanced ATEs Grumman had ever created—the CAT-3D and the RADCOM.

Six months passed in a blur of learning and discovery. When I returned to Singapore, I was not the same technician who had left. I had seen the cutting edge. I had touched it, studied it, made it part of myself. I understood automated test equipment at a level few others did. 

The year was 1987. It was one of the best times of my career life.

 

The Promise of Electronics

Like any Singaporean male, I had to render obligatory national service to my country. Two years of my life, given to the military, required by law. But unlike most, I wasn't serving two years and returning to civilian life. I had signed on as a regular. The Air Force was now my employer, my future, my path forward.

Basic military training, or BMT, is where every new recruit undergoes a three-month stint of intensive, tactical training in military craft. For the conscripts or NSmen, it would be their full experience of military life before being posted to units where they would serve out their time.

For us regulars, the ones who had signed on for a career, our BMT was compressed. Still physically demanding—the runs, the marches, the obstacle courses, the drills—but shortened, so that more time could be devoted to what we were actually here for: technical training. 

And through it all, I kept my eyes on the horizon. Beyond BMT lay the real work. The work I had signed up for. The work that would build on everything I had learned at the polytechnic. The work that would, if I was lucky, fulfill the promise I had made to myself and my family.

But destiny, I was about to learn, has a way of taking unexpected turns. Looking back, I marvel at the path that had brought me here. The promise of electronics had fulfilled itself in ways I never could have imagined.

And it was just the beginning.

 

A Circuit Breaker

I'm not talking about the COVID-19 safety distancing measures implemented by the Singapore government back in April 2020. However, it does have a similar ring concerning disruptions to the normal daily life we were all so used to.

Life has its fair share of surprises that sometimes affect the choices we make. My father's sudden heart attack episode was such a case, and just after my graduation from the Polytechnic but before my enlistment to national service. Suddenly, the plans I had for pursuing my passion in electronics took a different turn, for the sake of the family.

Was it good, or was it bad? I had no way of knowing at that moment. A friend who attended the air force recruitment talk handed me a lifeline. It changed the course of my career path, and shaped my understanding of electronics and work philosophy.

As they say, what doesn't break you will ultimately make you.

 

When Theory Meets Practice (Part 2)

The is an idiomatic phrase coined by Indochinese Thai vendors. It implies things are similar yet distinct, and often used to describe fakes, alternatives, or nuanced differences.  The same is true with theory and practice. What we learned in theory should work in practiee. But any experienced engineer will tell you that's not the case.

My years in the Polytechnics certainly had their highs and lows. The highs were, of course, the projects I got to build in my second and third years. The low? A lecturer who was mediocre. Not incompetent, exactly—he knew the material well enough to recite it from the textbook. But his knowledge ended where the textbook ended. And he taught us electronics!

It was frustrating. Demoralizing. A class of eager students, hungry to understand, met with a teacher who could only point at words on a page. We learned despite him, not because of him. That mediocre instructor was a regrettable blot in my tertiary study—but in hindsight, he taught me something valuable. 

Not about electronics, but about teaching. About the difference between knowing a subject and being able to share it. About the kind of educator I would try to become, years later, when I sat down to write my first book.

 

When Theory Meets Practice (Part 1)

I'm not trying to be funny here; just stating a fact that many aspiring engineers have come to know when trying to apply what they've learned.

Even the transition from high school to tertiary education can be quite a shock for most people, let alone real working life. The first year wasn't exactly what I had envisioned after I was accepted into the Singapore Polytechnics, the very first of the country-state's multi-disciplinary institution. Instead of plunging straight into studying and doing electronics, we were subjected to a whole year's worth of theory on applied mathematics, basic electricity, mechanical science, and materials engineering. 

Of course, there were practicals but not what you would imagine: metalwork, woodwork, electrical control, arc and gas welding, lathe machining, and precision CNC milling. Interesting? Yeah... Tiring? Definitely.

On hindsight, we understood that engineering isn't just about electronics. Engineering is able making things—real things, physical things, things that exist in the world. Before we could call ourselves electronics engineers, we needed to understand what it meant to shape materials, to join them, to machine them to tolerance. 

High School Hobbyist

Everybody has a hobby—sooner or later. Mine came during high school days when the class teacher introduced us to electronics.

After learning the basics of electricity and how circuits work, and doing simple experiments in the laboratory, we couldn't wait to get our hands on whatever we could find to make our own projects. Back in the 1970s, the place to go was Sim Lim Tower where many small family run electronic shops congregated, offering their wares to entice would be electronics enthusiasts.

The real breakthrough, however, was when the class teacher let us build a superheterodyne AM receiver, though I suspected back then many of us didn't understand what the super-heck-the-roden thingie was. But we built it anyway.

And the deal was sealed, at least for me. Electronics it was!

 

The First Spark

Life is made up of a series of sparks which propel us in our journey of learning and growth. But the first spark is often the most significant. It can be a moment of realization, a special encounter, or the quiet observation of someone close to you. It is the source that started us on the path of discovery and exploration.

However, not everyone remembers. Or clearly at which point in time or life that made them decide what they wanted to do or be. One of the favorite questions posed in class to young students is: What would you like to be when you grow up. The young minds fire up and imagine their own future of possibilities.

For me? I wanted to be like my father—to be able to fix things. To take things apart and know what make them work, and why they fail. That's what my father taught me, by what he did around the house, and through my quiet obeservation.

Sometimes the daily inculcation of a mindset is unspoken. But it catches on. And without realizing it, you find yourself aligning and steering your own destiny towards that goal, only to find out that there are more waiting beyond the horizon.

 

The Seasons of Life

In setting out to write a memoir of my life, I have pondered on the paths I've taken. Not every one of them are by choice, but each has had its own share of challenges and surprises. From a boy watching his father fixed things around the house, to a student learning electronics, to an apprentice in the military and established engineer in the commerical sectors, until today as a self-published author sharing my thirty years of experiences, I have walked through my own seasons of life.

And this is precisely how I will frame my lifestory—as a four-part narratives:

1. The Academic Years
2. The Air Force Years
3. The ST Electronics Years

4. The Author Years

Nothing fanciful, really. Just authentic and personal. There are valuable life lessons that I am still able to recall, for now, and these anecdotes will interweave with the work experiences I will be sharing with my readers.

Hopefully, it will inspire more engineers to embrace their work as a calling, and not just a career. At least that's what I hope my memoir will achieve, if nothing else.

 

Dear Reader

The Preface is an introductory section that explains the story behind a book's creation, and is written by the author. In all my engineering books, I always include one with my motivation for writing, the scope of the subject covered, and sometimes the relevance of my experience.

In writing my own memoir, I decided to use the personal address "Dear Reader" in place of the usual term. And there are good reasons. Firstly, it is about my life story. Secondly, it is directed to my readers. And thirdly, it is a meant to be a gift—an impartation of something personal and dear to me—the memories of a journey forged in adversities, uncertainties, yet much to be grateful about.

Here is a fragment of what I have written, a foretaste if you may:

Dear Reader

The book you hold in your hands began not as a book at all, but as a series of moments—small decisions, unexpected turns, challenges faced and overcome. For much of my life, I did not think of my journey as remarkable. I was simply doing what needed to be done: learning my craft, supporting my family, solving the problems that landed on my workbench.

It was only later, after thirty years in the engineering trenches, after I had written six technical books and begun to reflect on the path that brought me there, that I realized my story might have value beyond the circuits and schematics.

This is a book about electronics. But it is also a book about life. The two, I have come to understand, are not so different.

A circuit is a system of connections. Components linked by traces, signals flowing along paths designed for purpose. When the system works, we barely notice it. When it fails, we must face and resolve the issue—tracing the broken connection, identifying the failed component, understanding why the expected behavior has stopped.

Life is the same. 

We are all systems of connections: to family, to work, to dreams and duties and the people who depend on us. Life's circuit has a way of completing itself—not always as we expected, not always along the path we would have chosen, but in ways that can surprise us with their wisdom and their grace.

I hope this glimpse will create an anticipation for the upcoming memoir, just like the six engineering books before it, one that is engaging and filled with words of inspiration to learn from my trade, but this time, from my own life. For the past ten years, I have found much joy in writing and sharing my knowledge in electronics, whether it's reverse engineering a PCB, deciphering a schematic, or diagnosing a failure. I hope you, my readers, have found the joy of reading them too.

In gratitude.

 

A Memoir in the Works

It's been almost three years since I wrote "PCB Diagnostics", the last of my engineering books. After diverting to writing sci-fi and other genre of faith-related books, I felt it's time to retrace my life's journey from a high school electronic hobbyist to a full-fledge engineer. 

Few engineers write their own memoirs and I can understand why. Writing is hard, Writing about your engineering knowledge (and expertise) is harder. But writing about your own life's journey on this aspect? Believe me, it's much, much harder.

So what prompted me to write my own biography? Well, age is catching up on me and my health isn't as good as it's used to be. So before I pass off the scene, I thought, "Heck, why not tell the story of my life and how I arrive at where I am now?" I'm sure readers of my engineering books would love to know the intricate details of those personal anecdotes which I mentioned in passing in several of my works.

Here is the book cover concept and back blurb:

As most readers are aware, I have the habit of creating the book cover and blurb to give me a handle before I start out to write the content. It helps me focus on my task better——in this case, my life story.

This work is of a different nature, though. It will have a mixed of engineering and emotional stuff weaved into a personal narrative. Readers who enjoyed my engaging style of writing will most certainly not want to miss out on this opportunity to know, really know the author behind the books they found helpful in learning the black art of PCB-RE.

So keep a look out for the progress. And leave a comment if you are a fan of my books. I would love to hear from you and be inspired to write more, if health permits.

Stay well and safe, my friends!

Book Cover Makeover

Recently, I've given my first sci-fi novel book cover a major makeover. That's when I revisited the question:

Why did I write HAVAH?

The idea came about sometime in mid-April of 2023, while I was finishing my last engineering book. Spurred by a spade of news on the advances in AI algorithms, quantum computers and humanoid robots, I pondered the possibility of merging these elements into a coherent sci-fi narrative.

We're living in changing times where many distinctions are beginning to blur the lines. What used to be taboos and out of bounds are becoming the norm in a highly polarized world. This is the reason why I chose to write a novel of this genre—not only to bring the readers to a realization of the rapid changing landscapes in a world we used to know and yet is fast becoming unrecognizable, but to confront pressing questions that demand serious considerations and what their implications will be for our future.

Being human is a given; but keeping our humanity is a choice. The question, though, is what really defines our humanity? Readers can appreciate this paradoxical dilemma and more as they immerse themselves in the honest exchanges between man and machine in this intriguing novel.

 

An Author's Thought

Not everyone loves to write, and fewer still take writing as a calling. In a world where literacy is on the rise, more and more people are able to read. This is especially true now that mobile technology has become an indispensable part of our modern lifestyle.

What does it take to be an author? Besides the ability to put into words what you wish to convey, passion and determination are two necessary qualities. To be honest, these days it's getting harder to become a successful author, even if you have a writing style that is engaging and can produce books that are enjoyable to read. So, why do I still want to go on writing? Perhaps, Anais Nin said it best:

Life passes on too quickly and many experiences we have are either quickly forgotten because our brains start to fail, or lost when we are gone. That's why it's important to put these precious memories into words while we still can, and in the process leave a legacy for future generations to learn and remember us. And I suspect that those who carry on writing believe in this fact:

I'm now into my 60s and I don't know how much time I have left. One thing is for sure: when it's time to go, I don't want to look back with regrets to have live in vain when I could make a difference in someone's life, or impact others for the better by sharing my life's experiences and the invaluable knowledge I gained.

So yes, I will keep on writing, until the day I breathe my last.

 

Gold Book Award

BREAKING NEWS! 

My first science fiction novel "HAVAH" has just been conferred the Gold Book Award by Literary Titan!

This award honors books that exhibit exceptional storytelling and creativity. It celebrates novelists who craft compelling narratives, create memorable characters, and weave stories that captivate readers. The recipients are writers who excel in their ability to blend imagination with literary skill, creating worlds that enchant and narratives that linger long after the final page is turned.

As an indie author who self-publish, this award is a great endorsement to my first attempt at writing a fiction book genre. It is also a positive step towards writing a sequel, which I will probably begin sometime after my Japan trip with my wife who has been so supportive of my writing endeavors. 

Reader's Favorite 5-Star Review!

I submitted my novel to Reader's Favorite for review a week ago and today they came back to me with the following 5-star review:

The need for a rapid response to global threats leads to the development of the STRATOS team, an elite unit of combat-ready operatives prepared to take on and eliminate hostile targets at short notice. Keen to maintain the upper hand in a changing world, the country's top brass took it upon themselves to include an artificial intelligence project to assist in STRATOS operations. David Friedman is the mind behind EVE, the artificial intelligence program. With the personnel yet to get fully behind this new initiative, David takes it upon himself to perfect his creation, which leads to unforeseen consequences in the manifestation of an entity named HAVAH.

Keng Tiong's science fiction novel focuses on the battle for human supremacy over machines. He establishes the story's context well, explaining the need for an extra edge in the rapidly evolving fight to protect the country from international and domestic terrorism. The character creation is balanced and well thought out, as each STRATOS team member has a unique origin story and motivation for participating in the project. One of the main character in particular, Captain Wolfson, whose reaction to being forced to work with EVE reflected some people's distrust of artificial intelligence. 

With each unfolding chapter, the anticipation grows as David's clandestine upgrades to EVE take shape. While some of the story focuses on how the AI entity affects the STRATOS team’s outcome, the author balances the action with a subplot that follows the unusual developing romantic triangle between David, Amanda, and a rapidly evolving EVE. Keng Tiong's storytelling style encourages the reader to think about the effects of the increased use of AI in our daily lives. HAVAH is a scintillating debut novel that science fiction genre purists will enjoy reading.

Below are the ratings of a mini critic by Reader's Favorite on the various aspects of the novel:

1. Appearance - 5
2. Plot - 5
3. Development - 5
4. Formatting - 4
5. Marketability - 5
6. Overall Opinion - 5

I couldn't be more happy that my modest first attempt would garner such a good review and ratings from a highly acclaimed book review and award site. Hopefully the novel will garner enough reader attention and interest to warrant a sequel and perhaps even a trilogy!

 

Release Announcement

I'm happy to announce that my first sci-fi romance novel is finally released and ready for order. It is available on Amazon in print and Kindle editions. Click on the book cover above to go to the Amazon bookstore to place your order,

I look forward to your support and hope that this first attempt at writing a different genre will bring a new level of reading experience for all my readers,

 

Sci-Fi Extravaganza!

(Click on picture above to go to the blog)

I've been away from this blog for quite a while, but I'm not completely disengaged from it, nor do I have the intention of abandoning it. Truth is, I've been busy with something else——writing a book of a totally different genre. As the post title suggests, I am currently writing a hard sci-fi romance novel. And now that I'm near finishing, I thought it is time to announce it to my readers who're following this blog. 

This is my first attempt at sci-fi narrative. Readers may wonder why I chose this seemingly unrelated path in my writing endeavor. Well, for one thing, this has also been my dream all along. But being an engineer by trade, my interest and focus is in passing on my knowledge to the engineering community, to leave a legacy if you will for future generations of engineers who want to take up this niche skillset of PCB reverse engineering.

But after finishing my sixth and last engineering book (PCB Diagnostics) some time last year in February, I felt quite burned out on this genre of writing. Not that I do not have any other skillset or knowledge to impart, but eight years writing the same kind of related stuff can be quite stifling even for any prolific writer, much less an indie author like me. 

Recent years have seen advancements in the fields of AI, quantum computing, and neurosciences. I've kept myself abreast on these development and wonder if there is a way to integrate these elements into a coherent sci-fi narrative. That's when I suggested to my wife and she seemed quite excited at the prospect. So, after some deliberation, I decided to give it a go.

The result——HAVAH, a love that transcends the metaphysical realm. Readers who bought my engineering books would have been familiar with my writing style. The novel will be no exception, except (pun intended) that you can expect more of my creative demeanor in the storyline and the colorful characters. And it's not just a sci-fi romance. Through engaging dialogues in the novel, readers will be exposed to a plethora of issues and questions accompanying these technologies that are shaping and changing the world we're living in.

My primary purpose for writing this novel then, is to create awareness of the changing landscapes and encourage healthy, constructive discussions that will prepare us to embrace the inevitable future, and not be caught off-guard and find ourselves being left behind. 

I hope to release it by end of this month. As usual, there will be a print edition to be followed by an electronic edition later on. Readers can keep track of my progress by simply clicking on the banner on top of this post to go over and take a look.

Do spread the word around to family or friends who enjoy reading science fiction. Cheers and take care in the new year!

 

Book Reviews (Deciphering Schematics)

These days, book reviews are hard to come by. So when there's one from a reader, it's always a joy to share. Here's two recent ones for Deciphering Schematics:

Good ratings and reviews encourage and motivate authors to continue writing, and even excel in the work of sharing their invaluable knowledge. It just take you only five minutes of your time, but it means a great deal for the one putting months of hard work in solitude.

So be generous, readers, especially during this season of thanksgiving. Show your gratitude and appreciation to those who have enriched your life through their writings. What goes around comes around!

Scarier Than Halloween?

For the most part of my engineering career, I performed repairs (surgeries) on countless PCBs. It didn't dawn on me that one day, I would have to undergo one myself. Warning: graphic image in this post, so be warned!

Recently I had a regular dental visit to clean my teeth. My dentist friend noticed the gum above my front top left incisor was darkened and inflamed. She did a check and found recesses of 5mm and 9mm around the affected tooth. X-ray revealed the foundation of that incisor had eroded, and she advised me to see a gum specialist.

She cautioned if I leave it untreated, the incisor would slowly loosen and ultimately come off. Moreover, periodontal disease is known to likely affect the brain and heart. After giving it some thought, I accepted her advice. She recommended me a gum specialist and I made an appointment for consultation the following week.  

The day came and I visited the specialist's clinic for a more thorough examination, after which he proposed a perio guided tissue regeneration (GTR) procedure to help secure and save the incisor and the neighboring teeth. A quick discussion with my wife and I went ahead with the surgery on the same day. The surgeon administered about ten jabs of anesthesia around the area before carrying out the procedure (I will spare you the gory details). It was over in about 45 minutes and I was prescribed two courses of antibiotics, anti-swelling medication, mouthwash, and painkillers.

The surgery set me back $1500 but in view of the risk of loosing my incisor and possibly my health, it's a price worth paying. Thankfully, the wounds are healing well and I didn't end up looking like a hamster. Will be going back for review in two weeks' time. 

Meanwhile, I'm taking baby food and resting as much as needed...

 

Steal and Escape

Two days ago, I received an email from a guy by the name Jason Richard out of the blue.  Here are his words:

A few months ago, I sent Joe a picture of the hardware hacker library I was building at work and asked him to do the same. After a few messages he felt that I needed your new books for the collection, so he sent them to me.

Things were unfamiliar, but not daunting... Until I got to page 149. That might have been scariest thing I've seen as I imagined someone asking me to RE it. After a few minutes of terror and intense imposter syndrome, I settled down and thought about it. Afterwards, I kept reading to understand how you would tackle the problem. Once again, I'm loving the information you are providing and am wondering if you ever thought someone would classify your books as a thriller? 

Don't ever say, "this is my last book"! For a 40-year-old man just getting into this subject, I need your knowledge. Thank you again. 

I was somewhat taken aback when I read that he classified my books 'as a thriller'. Who is this Jason Richard, anyway? After doing a Google search, I found a man by that name that matched his email address, and who owns the following company:

With so many online scams going on these days, I felt a need to exercise some caution. Since he mentioned he knew Joe (Grand, I suppose), I wrote an email to the Kingpin to check if he had indeed sent him my books. This morning, I received Joe's reply:

Thanks for checking - Yes, Jason is a friend of mine. I sent him a few of your books to add to his ever-growing bookshelf. He's hungry and eager for knowledge! 

Hmm... A founder of a high-tech escape room business in San Diego interested in PCB-RE? That's odd but interesting. But at least now I understand why he'd consider my books on this niche skillset 'a thriller', coming from his adventure games background. That figures. Maybe I'll write a reply and suggest to him the possibility of including reverse engineering skill into his escape room adventure. I'm sure it will be the next big hit!

Well, just a thought, anyway...

 

PCB-RE: A Niche Skillset

A novice starting out to learn PCB reverse engineering usually begins with a multimeter and the simple notion that it's all about finding the interconnection points between components on the circuit board. In truth, it's not entirely correct. If it were that simple, electronic engineers the world over would be doing it.

Like the game of Go, the basic rules of PCB reverse engineering is easy to pick up, but mastering the skill requires time and certain know-how, if you want to shorten the learning curve and avoid costly mistakes and pitfalls. That's the reason I set out to write the sequel book PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques. To some measure, I was prompted by readers to give this niche topic a more complete treatment; also, I was driven by the desire to enhance my own learning journey by leveraging from the expertise of engineers who are willing to share their knowledge in their own peculiar field and experience using equipment and approaches I might or might not have heard of.

Here is the table of content for this book:

While it is by no means complete (which book can claim that?), it's nonetheless thorough in the fields of interest presented. As one reader aptly commented: 

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It has many chapters on all sorts of techniques to reverse engineer printed circuit boards, with the intent of either replacing them with identical boards that no longer exist or determining the schematic for debugging a faulty circuit.

So take it from the likes of renown individuals and companies like Joe Grand (aka Kingpin), John McMaster, Bill Loving and Jeff Rupert (and their remarkable team from ScanCAD International, Inc.), Bob Elder (Teel Technologies), Fraser Castle (a seasoned engineer in multiple disciplines), Dr. Sergei Skorobogatov (University of Cambridge), etc. It is my firm belief that:

The best experiences of our engineering careers and endeavors can become a lasting legacy for future generations of engineers.

If the Art of PCB Reverse Engineering is the de facto reference for PCB-RE, this book is definitely the companion supplement to it!

Diagnosing PCB Failures

One of the questions I often get asked during my tenure as a test and repair engineer in my former company was: what's the most difficult thing about PCB repair. My reply: intermittent faults and erratic failures. I'm sure those in the PCB repair industry would readily agree with me on this. And it's not getting any easier anytime, given the increasing complexity of today's PCBs in terms of their designs and functionalities.

That's one reason I embarked on writing PCB Diagnostics, a book that attempts to address not only this thorny challenge faced by the PCB repair community, but to promote a greater awareness on the available tools and techniques to help them get the job done. For readers who want to know what is discussed in this book, here's the table of content:

Beyond the basics, I've included some rather esoteric approaches and methodologies, along with real-world examples and interesting case studies, to give readers a taste of how repairs are carried out using benchtop equipment and testers that they only heard or dreamed of, but have never gotten the chance to work on.

Some of the processes are laid out in detailed steps while others are covered only in enough depth, either due to the nature of the technique that is self-explanatory, or the scope of work involved which would overrun the book length. This is especially true of automated testing which I would love to devote specific coverage on a book series basis (see Conceptual for an idea of what I mean).

It's still too early to say how well PCB Diagnostics will be received by the repair community, but I hope that those who have bought it would leave their reviews on Amazon so I know if it has served the intended purpose when I started out to write it. Thanks!

Bestseller Title in the Netherlands

Soon after Antrisksh and Aseem's recent visit to Singapore and our meetup, I noticed an increase in sales of my books in the Netherlands. In fact, one of the titles got into the bestseller category:

This is not surprising, since The Essentials is priced lower than the other engineering books. But I believe there is more to it. While The Art of PCB-RE is still the best overall consistent seller, what it lacks in real-world application (after all, it is an introduction to PCB-RE for those learning this niche skill, albeit a good book to start with detailed step-by-step guidance), The Essentials filled in with a complex example (which can be overwhelming for beginners who're thinking to jump into the deep end of the pool).

So, if you intend to take the manual PCB-RE route, these two books would be your safest bet to get you up to speed. As one reader, Michael Boewe, puts it:

Want to know how to reverse engineer a PCB? Buy this book. The book gives a very thorough explanation of how to reverse engineer a printed circuit board. It discusses different techniques that can be utilized with real world applications.

Click on the book cover and secure your copy today!

A Special Meetup

A few days before I flew off to Taiwan for holiday with my wife, I received a message from Antriksh, founder of Hardwear.io, via LinkedIn. He told me he'd be coming to Singapore on a business visit and would like to meet up with me, and have me sign my books. I was delighted, of course.

Soon after returning from my overseas trip, I fixed a lunch date with him on July 18 at City Hall station which is central. Well, he didn't come alone but had a friend, Aseem, the co-founder of Hardwear.io, in company. Being the host, I treated them to lunch at the Coffee Club in Raffles City.

We had a good time sharing our personal stories in the career journey we undertook. I also got to know about the nature of their business proposals to the various government agencies on IoT security solutions. As a surprise, Antrisksh brought some souvenirs from the recent Hardwear.io USA 2023 conference for me, two T-shirts,  two luggage tags, a tout bag and a mini hand carrier.

It was an hour-and-a-half meetup and they were off to meet Bunny Huang, author of The Hardware Hacker book. Before we parted ways, Antrisksh asked if I would be interested to give a four-hour presentation and workshop at the next Hardwear.io conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands sometime in November. I felt honored to be invited and told him I will work out something and plan my schedule. It's still preliminary at this stage, though my incentive for going will be to meet Joe Grand in person there.

Maybe someday,  I will link up with Bunny Huang and meet him over coffee. After all, we're both living in the same city-state, though our paths have not crossed so far. Life is full of surprises, so who knows...?