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 23, 2022

Automated vs Automatic

"What's the difference?" You asked. Well, not by a stretch of two letters at the end, really. When I was first introduced to the concept of ATE, the initial impression was it's a machine that could do everything a test engineer could dream of. But after being initiated into the privileged circle and having acquired what there is to know, I've come to realize that it's far from all that I'd perceived.

Automatic? Only if the test engineer provides what it requires—interface fixture, cables and test program, then and only then will it do what it does best. Which is the reason why I personally feel that 'automated' would be a more befitting word for such test equipment.

Here is a two-page sample of the chapter:

Christmas is just round the corner so I hope this will add some festive cheer to all my readers out there. I'm halfway into writing the chapter. Hope to complete it by Christmas and start the next chapter. If my engineer friend can come back with the materials I requested, I will begin work on Chapter 6. If not, it will be Chapter 8. Make a guess on the topic.

That's all for now. Stay tune for more updates.

Ps: I've finally obtained permissions from two wonderful guys to use their projects for illustration in Chapter 4 Building Test Jigs, though the draft were already done in advance. That's good news which brought a tint of joy to the coming holiday seasons.

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