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, July 9, 2022

It's All About Connections

When it comes to writing an engineering book, some authors may not follow the order in which he or she planned or laid down the contents. I happened to belong to this group. Inspiration is a funny thing and can be disruptive at times. For example, when I started out writing on the Philips AZ102 Sound Master part, I placed it in the Analog section of the book. Half way through, it dawn on me that this illustration fits better in the Hybrid section, so I moved it over there and continue writing.

Here's a two-page sample:

I hope to complete this deciphering example by mid next week, then go back to the Analog section to finish up the remaining portion. That should cover about 95% of the book. It will take another 1 week for me to proofread and brush up the whole book. I'm still thinking who I should approach to write the Foreword, or is it necessary? Any suggestion from my readers?

And oh by the way, if you have not leave your review for Manual PCB-RE yet, now is the time to do so. Don't wait till the last minute because you may forget and forgo the chance of having your name included in the next release of that book, and lose the opportunity to get a free copy of this book (Deciphering Schematics) if you make it to the top three.

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1 comment:

  1. Biotech97July 10, 2022 at 2:37 PM

    In my opinion I don't think the foreword is necessary.. I could care less about that, your knowledge and a great read is all I'm looking for and you have delivered that with every book. Heck I even purchased Manual PCB-RE when you released it without the foreword so I don't think it's necessary :)

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