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

Sunday, December 18, 2022

More Than Skin Deep

When a nurse takes your pulse, she's checking your heartbeat rate. When a doctor uses a sphygmomanometer, he's measuring your blood pressure. But when a TCM practitioner feels your pulses (it's not a spelling mistake), he's studying the state of your internal organs. Incredible? Yes. Impossible? No. Those who have worked on a clip-n-test benchtop tester will understand what I mean. While Signature Analysis detects failure more or less on the surface of every circuit node, these clip-n-test in-circuit testers can test the internals (organs) of integrated circuits.

Here's a two-page sample of what should have been Chapter 5 of my book PCB Diagnostics:

The thing is, I'm still waiting for some materials from my engineer friend who is a sales manager cum field support engineer and trainer of one of these remarkable equipment. His schedules are pretty tight so I'll have to put this chapter on hold and proceed to the next chapter—Automated Testing.

Currently I'm about 20% into the content (by estimate only). There is so much to write on this topic which I had intended to put into a series of four books (see Conceptual), but decided it's just not worth the time and energy to do so. The only consolation is I get to give it some honorable mention in this last engineering book of my writing career. If ever my works get the kind of exposure and recognition to make writing sustainable, I may have a reason to reconsider. My wife has put up patiently and supported this passion of mine for seven years, and that is enough for me.

So, on with Chapter 7...

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