The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering: Tools & Techniques: October 2023

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

Monday, October 30, 2023

Scarier Than Halloween?

For the most part of my engineering career, I performed repairs (surgeries) on countless PCBs. It didn't dawn on me that one day, I would have to undergo one myself. Warning: graphic image in this post, so be warned!

Recently I had a regular dental visit to clean my teeth. My dentist friend noticed the gum above my front top left incisor was darkened and inflamed. She did a check and found recesses of 5mm and 9mm around the affected tooth. X-ray revealed the foundation of that incisor had eroded, and she advised me to see a gum specialist.

She cautioned if I leave it untreated, the incisor would slowly loosen and ultimately come off. Moreover, periodontal disease is known to likely affect the brain and heart. After giving it some thought, I accepted her advice. She recommended me a gum specialist and I made an appointment for consultation the following week.

The day came and I visited the specialist's clinic for a more thorough examination, after which he proposed a perio guided tissue regeneration (GTR) procedure to help secure and save the incisor and the neighboring teeth. A quick discussion with my wife and I went ahead with the surgery on the same day. The surgeon administered about ten jabs of anesthesia around the area before carrying out the procedure (I will spare you the gory details). It was over in about 45 minutes and I was prescribed two courses of antibiotics, anti-swelling medication, mouthwash, and painkillers.

The surgery set me back $1500 but in view of the risk of loosing my incisor and possibly my health, it's a price worth paying. Thankfully, the wounds are healing well and I didn't end up looking like a hamster. Will be going back for review in two weeks' time.

Meanwhile, I'm taking baby food and resting as much as needed...

Monday, October 9, 2023

Steal and Escape

Two days ago, I received an email from a guy by the name Jason Richard out of the blue. Here are his words:

A few months ago, I sent Joe a picture of the hardware hacker library I was building at work and asked him to do the same. After a few messages he felt that I needed your new books for the collection, so he sent them to me.
Things were unfamiliar, but not daunting... Until I got to page 149. That might have been scariest thing I've seen as I imagined someone asking me to RE it. After a few minutes of terror and intense imposter syndrome, I settled down and thought about it. Afterwards, I kept reading to understand how you would tackle the problem. Once again, I'm loving the information you are providing and am wondering if you ever thought someone would classify your books as a thriller?
Don't ever say, "this is my last book"! For a 40-year-old man just getting into this subject, I need your knowledge. Thank you again.

I was somewhat taken aback when I read that he classified my books 'as a thriller'. Who is this Jason Richard, anyway? After doing a Google search, I found a man by that name that matched his email address, and who owns the following company:

With so many online scams going on these days, I felt a need to exercise some caution. Since he mentioned he knew Joe (Grand, I suppose), I wrote an email to the Kingpin to check if he had indeed sent him my books. This morning, I received Joe's reply:

Thanks for checking - Yes, Jason is a friend of mine. I sent him a few of your books to add to his ever-growing bookshelf. He's hungry and eager for knowledge!

Hmm... A founder of a high-tech escape room business in San Diego interested in PCB-RE? That's odd but interesting. But at least now I understand why he'd consider my books on this niche skillset 'a thriller', coming from his adventure games background. That figures. Maybe I'll write a reply and suggest to him the possibility of including reverse engineering skill into his escape room adventure. I'm sure it will be the next big hit!

Well, just a thought, anyway...

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