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, July 1, 2026

Remanufacturing (Revisited)


In late March, I was contacted by the DGM of ASTER and was invited to tour their facilities in early April. Then, sometime early June, a representative from the Army sought me out via Facebook Messenger and arrange for a meetup with his superior in the middle of the month.

Was it coincidence that two organizations, one commercial and the other military, expressed interests in my niche skillset of PCB reverse engineering? All within the space of two months this year. Both are also involved in remanufacturing, albeit in their own operational capacities. The timing could not have been anticipated.

After ten years and six engineering books on PCB-RE and its related subjects, I couldn't believe that here, locally in Singapore, there are actually people who not only read my works but also actively practicing this craft. I was both consolated and excited! It has opened new opportunities for future collaborations as well as enhancing local expertise.

Now that I have drafted two out of the three Rs (Refurbishing and Retrofitting) of Solutions to Obsolescnce, perhaps it's time to work on the final R (Remanufacturing).


Ps: Overseas readers and professionals who have read my book or are involved in these three aspects of overcoming obsolescence, do comment on this post and give your views.  They may prove invaluable to the upcoming book I'm currently working on...

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