To My Readers



If this is the first time you're visiting my blog, thank you. Whether you're interested or just curious to find out about PCB reverse engineering (PCB-RE), I hope you'll find something useful here.

This blog contains many snippets of the content in my books to provide a more detailed overall sampling for my would-be readers to be better informed before making the purchase. Of course, the book contains more photos and nice illustrations, as evidence from its cover page. Hopefully, this online trailer version will whet your appetite enough to want to get a copy for yourself.

Top Review

I started doing component level repair of electronics with (and without) schematics more than 40 years ago, which activity often involves reverse-engineering of printed circuit boards. Although over the years my technical interests have shifted into particle beam instrumentation, electron microscopy, and focused ion beam technology fields, till this day——and more often than not——PCB repairs have returned multiple multi-million-dollar accelerators, FIB, and SEM instruments back to operation, delivering great satisfaction and some profit.

Many of the methods described by Keng Tiong in great details are similar to the approaches I've developed, but some of the techniques are different, and as effective and useful as efficient and practical. Systematic approach and collection of useful information presented in his books are not only invaluable for a novice approaching PCB-level reverse engineering, but also very interesting reading and hands-on reference for professionals.

Focus on reverse engineering instead of original design provides unique perspective into workings of electronics, and in my opinion books by Keng Tiong (I've got all three of them) are must-read for anybody trying to develop good understanding of electronics——together with writings by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill, Phil Hobbs, Jim Williams, Bob Pease, Howard Johnson and Martin Graham, Sam Goldwasser, and other world's top electronics experts.

Valery Ray
Particle Beam Systems Technologist

Saturday, February 25, 2017

What You Need to Know

While this book is intended for beginners interested to learn PCB reverse engineering, some background in electronics is preferred:

1. You should have a working knowledge, or at least be able to read schematic diagrams (that's the reason for buying this book in the first place—to re-create schematic drawings from a PCB!). It will be advantageous if you're already acquainted with the basic rules and concepts of what constitute a good schematic diagram, or better yet, if you have experience with some kind of EDA tools or software. You'll be able to skim through or skip over some of the basic information presented in later chapters.

2. You should be able to identify simple discrete devices (resistors, capacitors, diodes, transistors, MOSFETs, etc.), integrated circuit packages (DIP, SIP, PLCC, QFP, PGA, BGA, etc.) and modular components (DC/DC converter, etc.). But not to worry, I will provide useful pointers and tips along the way, when necessary.

3. You should have in your possession a good digital multimeter with the diode measurement function on top of the standard functions and know how to use it. I will also introduce other additional tools that will greatly aid you in your reverse engineering effort when we come to the appropriate chapter and topic.

4. You should be familiar with the color codes for certain discrete devices (resistors, capacitors, etc.) so you can read their values without having to constantly refer to the reference charts (I've provided quite a collection in the appendices). It's not the end of the road, however, if you're not able to remember what the color codes are; just that it will probably slow you down if there are plenty of such components on the PCB you're working on.

5. You should be acquainted with datasheets. Not that you're required to know all the component-related specifications, or understand every aspect of the device's performance. Thankfully no. But you do need to be able to find information like pin number, orientation, signal names, etc. and typical application examples provided by the manufacturer on how the device is used in real-life designs.

At first glance it may sound like quite a handful above, but trust me, it couldn't get any easier than what I have laid out as the basic skills required to get started. Before you even realize it, these would have become second nature and you'll be focusing on the real work!
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