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 3, 2021

Visio Alternatives?

I've been asked a number of times by readers whether there's any open source Visio alternatives out there, and I can understand why—a single user license doesn't come cheap even for a Standard version. Of course, there are many so-called free alternatives (not necessary open source, though) that claim to be  equal to or better than Microsoft Visio. Some are cloud-based, online kind of diagramming editors that do not need to be installed, while others offer free download of their most basic products with limitations for you to try before you buy.


At best, if you ask me, these alternatives are nothing more than your usual run-of-the-mill diagramming tools with colorful and attractive templates for drag-and-drop style presentation and illustration purposes only. When it comes to creating serious engineering drawings, their arsenal of drafting tools prove to be rather basic and primitive.

In my years of using Visio, right from the start with version 4.1 Technical from Shapeware, to this present time with Visio 2016, there is never a doubt in my mind that nothing (and I mean NOTHING) out there comes close to the power and usability of this amazing piece of software. How many of these Visio wanna-be spot the following features:

        1. Multiple-page support per drawing file
        2. Layering of shapes
        3. Smartshapes and Shapesheet programmability
        4. Bill of Materials report generation

Most Visio alternatives failed on just the first feature alone. And if you have bought my PCB-RE books you would no doubt have firsthand experience of what it's capable of through the many examples that I've demonstrated.

If the full license is too high upfront, you can opt for Microsoft's monthly plans of $5 for a web-based version which is synced to Onedrive, or $15 for an additional desktop install version. This can be tied to your Office 365 subscription without bursting your bank account. In fact, Microsoft offers a free 30-day trial of its latest version. Click on Evaluate Visio to go to the site.

So go ahead, give Visio a try and see if it's the best and only diagramming tool you'll ever need.

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