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

Friday, December 18, 2020

A Young Apprentice in the Making...

Recently, someone by the name Jason Earle connected with me on LinkedIn to enquire about some reverse engineering work on his company's upcoming product. He is the CEO of MycoLab USA LLC, a company that specializes in air quality testing solution and services. To cut the story short, I helped him assessed a printed circuit board and reproduced a bill of materials (BOM), plus some simple PCB artwork prints as a good gesture.

He asked to reimburse me for my effort but I politely declined, and instead suggested that he get a copy of my book, The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering, to learn how to identify components on a PCB to create his own BOM. After a couple of days, he sent me a photo of himself proudly holding my book (the full-color version), and some time later, with another photo of his son:

I reckoned that little junior must've been attracted by the colors on the book cover, but I'm doubly sure that he will grow up to be a fine young apprentice of this niche skillset in 7-10 years time.

Way to go, young Skywalker! ;)

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