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

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

The First Spark


Life is made up of a series of sparks which propel us in our journey of learning and growth. But the first spark is often the most significant. It can be a moment of realization, a special encounter, or the quiet observation of someone close to you. It is the source that started us on the path of discovery and exploration.

However, not everyone remembers. Or clearly at which point in time or life that made them decide what they wanted to do or be. One of the favorite questions posed in class to young students is: What would you like to be when you grow up. The young minds fire up and imagine their own future of possibilities.

For me? I wanted to be like my father—to be able to fix things. To take things apart and know what make them work, and why they fail. That's what my father taught me, by what he did around the house, and through my quiet obeservation.

Sometimes the daily inculcation of a mindset is unspoken. But it catches on. And without realizing it, you find yourself aligning and steering your own destiny towards that goal, only to find out that there are more waiting beyond the horizon.

 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)