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, August 24, 2022

Amazon Ranking (US)

As usual, a few weeks after its release, Deciphering Schematics hits the top chart for new release in the Electrical & Electronic Circuits category:


It's just a fleeting achievement, though I wonder why Amazon would even bother to give every book this kind of temporary ranking. What makes a book, especially an engineering one, popular and appealing to readers in this field? Is it the content, the style of writing, the illustrations, or its overall presentation? I know some books are hot favorites, like The Art of Electronics (I own the 3rd edition) and is considered the de facto in the electronics industry. There are, however, other books that continue to enjoy good sales with plenty of reviews, yet falls short of reader's expectation in substance or style.

So what gives? This is the question I have in mind as I embark on writing my last engineering book, this being the seventh year of my lonely journey as an author. Besides leaving a lasting legacy to my readers, there is really no reason to continue writing because it's not sustainable with the increasing cost of living in this present age.

Unless there is a breakthrough and recognition for my efforts, I'll have to call it quit by the end of this year and start looking for a full-time job.

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