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, March 17, 2018

Trilogy to PCB-RE

As the dust settles over the release of PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, I am thinking of writing the third and final installment to complete the trilogy on the PCB-RE subject. This third volume will discuss a real-world example of my successful attempt at reversing a whole electronic unit comprising three cards: an analog PCB, a digital PCB, and a mixed-signal PCB.

The book cover concept is shown below:


I'm not sure when I will start work on it, as I need to juggle my priorities and commitments. Probably will do some background work of organizing my materials when I find the time. Readers who have bought my two PCB-RE books, please read the back cover and leave your comments on what you'll like to see included in this upcoming book.

And oh, by the way, I'm also deliberating on who to write the Foreword (or whether there should be one anyway). If you know of anyone who is experienced in PCB-RE, kindly recommend. Thanks!

1 comment:

  1. Hi Keng I strongly suggest our founder of ENA Electronics (www.enaelectronics.ca) he has been a reverse engineer for many years and it well versed in the subject. More info can be found at: http://www.enaelectronics.ca/pcb-reverse-engineering.php#mn

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