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

Wednesday, October 10, 2018

5-Star Review

It's been quite a while since my sequel book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, received a review, so I was pleasantly surprised to see one, and a comprehensive one, from Sales Manager Mr Daniel Evans of Saelig Company, Inc.


If you're not an engineer, you may think of reverse engineering as a black art by which copycats steal technology or clone a product. Among engineers, the vast majority of reverse engineering is done to facilitate equipment maintenance. 
Regardless of industry, electronics repair shops are often asked to fix circuit boards from equipment that is no longer supported by the manufacturer. Perhaps the support period has expired, or the company is out of business. There may not be any source for a replacement board. The only way to keep the equipment running is to fix the board. In some cases the cost of replacing the equipment may be tens of thousands of dollars, even millions of dollars. So repairing the faulty board can be extremely cost effective, even if the repair costs thousands. 
In cases where a replacement board is available, the cost and/or the lead time to acquire a replacement board may be prohibitive. Repairing the board is a better option. 
Whether the equipment is old or new, a schematic may be helpful or essential for repairing a board. But schematics are often not available, especially for older unsupported boards and even for some newer boards. That's where reverse engineering comes into play. 
PCB-RE Tools & Techniques is a comprehensive resource for anyone or any organization that needs to make schematics for printed circuit boards (PCB). While the author has over 30 years experience in circuit board testing, reverse engineering and repair, the book is much more than one man's experience in reverse engineering. The author has leveraged the reverse engineering expertise of a dozen other engineers from around the world. The result is a compilation of information, techniques, and equipment that will help achieve better, faster solutions to the problems that reverse engineering can present.
Coming from someone with relevant experiences in test and repair equipment, especially the highly popular RevEng system from ABI Electronics, this is a strong endorsement on my book indeed. Thanks and much appreciated, Dan!

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