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

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

A Worthy Mention

Books on hardware hacking are on the popular rise and there are a few notable titles that aspiring hackers can learn from. One book, in particular, is The Hardware Hacker's Handbook by Jasper van Woudenberg, which is really about overcoming embedded security.

I'm not giving a review here, in case you're wondering; rather, I was surprised and delighted that the author of this best seller mentioned my sequel, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques in Chapter 3 (page 106) of his book, which I have produced and highlighted below:

It's always a nice feeling when your work is noticed by another author, a practice I engaged in my own writings to point interested readers to useful sources who want to learn more about a particular related topic. As always, the first and sequel PCB-RE books seem to be a natural choice for those starting out in their PCB-RE journey.

Writing engineering books is hard work that doesn't guarantee success unless there are good reviews and wide publicity from readers and supporters. So I'm counting on you, my friends, to spread the word and help recommend my books. Thanks in advance!

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