Book Review Out of the Blue...

These days it's hard to find readers who appreciate my books enough to leave a nice review on Amazon. So I was presently delighted that someone left a glowing review for PCB Diagnostics which I've written about three years ago:

Excellent overview, really the only book of its kind. Getting back into advanced PCB diagnostics/repair having not worked in the industry for over 20 years, this book was a phenomenal refresher, so much so, I have several more of Mr. Ng's books awaiting to be read. 

I see another review complaining the book is full of expensive equipment, it does cover various things like A.T.E. and such systems, but also teaches the basics of diagnostics. I would say anyone coming to this book without sound electronics knowledge in the engineering realm will find themselves out of place with the material, but more so out of place if trying to do any such work. This book isn't for the part and board swappers looking for easy tricks that will fix PCBs, that is for youtube. If you really want to get into the field you need to hit the books and bench, use this as a guide for futher education.

If you, my reader and follower of this blog, have received the benefits of my hard-earned engineering insights and experience, would be kind to leave a good review on Amazon, it would definitely help in the ratings and sales to enable and motivate me to write more in the future. 

My wife, who supported me all these years in this gruelling work, always look forward to reading them, and find consolation that our efforts do make a difference and impact in other people's lives.

So have a heart and do your part. Hear from you soon! 

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...

ASTER

The name may not ring a bell to many people in Singapore. And no, it's got nothing to do with the leading provider of chemical and energy solutions in Singapore and Southeast Asia by the same name.

Right after my last post, I was informed by my former manager that someone from ST Engineering, a deputy president of International & PSS/SG BizDigital Systems, asking for my contact. Soon after, someone by the name Leo contacted me. He introduced himself as a deputy general manager of ASTER, a subsidiary of ST Engineering specializing in Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) services for the Singapore Armed Forces.

Leo claimed that he and his team had read my books on PCB Reverse Engineering, and would like to invite me to tour their remanufacturing facility. That piqued my curiosity and I readily accepted the invitation.

We fixed a date in early April. I was given a VIP reception upon arrival and the heads of each section in turn introduced their workplace and process flow, accompanied by the DGM himself and a few support staff. It was quite an eye-opening experience to be given free access to their electronics lab, mechanical workshop, engine bay, and the various test setups. There were similarity in some of their work practices that I could identify with my former work centre, but the majority of what I observed were new to me.

I was deeply impressed by what I saw.

At the end of the tour, we adjorned to a cozy meeting room where refreshments awaited. The DGM asked for my opinion on their setup, and whether there are room for improvements in terms of the processes and practices. In all honesty, I was humbled by the thought that someone of my status, a secluded self-published author, was given such recognition and honor at an institutional-scaled setting.

We had a good time of discussion and the engineers present eagerly asked questions to tap on my experience in reverse engineering and obsolescence solution. I reckoned this first meeting would not be the last, as the DGM generously offered his team and facilities at my service for a possible future collaboration.

I took note of his kind offer and promised to get back to him and his lead engineer, once I am able to provide a viable solution to their black box issue in PCB reverse engineering. In the meantime, there will be a lot of catching up on my part to get up to speed on the subject of remanufacturing.

Ps: As I made my way out, one of the security guards, a retired civil servant, came and shook my hand. He recognized me as the author of an eschatological book he read, and expressed his appreciation for the insights gained from my theological work. Now, that really surprised me and make my day!

Completing the Circuit

And so, here we are.

The full schematic of a life. Traced connection by connection, component by component, from the boy with the first spark to the man with six engineering books and a lifetime of memories.

Every path had a purpose, even when I couldn't see it at the time. The sacrifice that led me to the Air Force. The training that defined my skills. The mentors who taught me to see. The apprentices who carried the knowledge forward. The wife who believed when it was all she could offer.

The circuit is complete. Not finished—life continues, and who knows what new components may yet be added? But complete in the sense of coherent. Understood. Traced and mapped and made visible.

I look back at the journey and feel only gratitude. For the challenges that strengthened me. For the people who shaped me. For the work that gave me purpose. For the readers who made the writing worthwhile. Nothing that happened was wasted. Every moment contributed to the whole.

That's the beauty of a full schematic.

 

The Published Author

It's been over ten years since I exchanged the workbench for the writing desk.

Ten years. A decade. When I look back, it feels both long and short—long in terms of what I've accomplished, short in terms of how quickly the time has passed.

I have written a total of six engineering books. Each one well received by the engineering community. Each one contributing, in its own way, to the body of knowledge around PCB reverse engineering.

But I didn't stop there.

In between the engineering titles, I ventured into other genres. Family. Faith. Fiction. Writing, like engineering, is multi-disciplined. I couldn't be content with just writing about technical stuff. There were other stories to tell, other worlds to explore.

You never know what you're capable of until you try. That mantra has stuck with me through all these years.

In the process, my writing journey took on a life of its own. Not by compulsion or necessity, but by the sheer pleasure of discovering new worlds. Of seeing what words and imagination can come up with when you give them free rein.

Through trials and errors, I've come to realize that not every genre works for every author. My non-engineering books are well-received by peers and friends. That's about it. 

I've wished, sometimes, that international readers would give my other works a chance to land on their bookshelves—the way they did the engineering titles.

But perhaps that's not how it's meant to be. Perhaps my engineering voice is the one that resonates beyond my immediate circle. 

And that's enough. More than enough.

 

The Affirmation

When the final draft of "The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering" was ready, I launched it through Amazon Createspace—now called Kindle Direct Publishing.

Then I waited.

Within two weeks, there were sales.

Not many, but some. Enough to know that people were actually buying the book. Enough to hope that they might read it.

Soon, reviews appeared.

Most were positive. Encouraging. Some readers expressed appreciation for my engaging style of writing—words that meant more to me than any technical compliment.

It was then that I realized something important. I had found a way to transform boring engineering facts into enjoyable narratives. Not by diluting the content, but by framing it as story. By sharing not just what to do, but why it mattered. By revealing the beauty hidden in the work.

That was the affirmation I needed.

 

What It Means to Self-Publish

When I started out to become an author, leaving the comfort of thirty years in full-time employment, I had no idea how my first book would be received.

I worked on it for almost a year while doing part-time at ST Electronics. Juggling between work and writing is a feat not for the fainthearted. There were days when I came home tired from the lab and had to summon energy to write. There were weekends when I would have rather rested, but instead sat at my desk, wrestling with chapters.

I couldn't remember how many times I ground through each chapter. Every footnote. Every reference. Just to be sure I got everything right where it belonged.

Writing a book, I discovered, is not like writing a report. Reports have a beginning, middle, and end. They convey information and stop. Books need flow. They need rhythm. They need to carry the reader along, not just dump facts in their lap.

As a self-published author, I had to manage everything.

Writing, of course. But also editing—going through each sentence, each paragraph, each chapter, looking for ways to improve. Proofreading—catching the typos and grammatical errors that inevitably creep in. Designing the book cover—creating something that would catch a browser's eye and make them want to look inside.

These were skills of a different kind. Skills I picked up along the way, learning by doing, making mistakes and correcting them.

 

From Engineer to Author

Many experienced engineers prefer practical hands-on work to writing books.

Not because they're bad at writing. They do it every day—emails, reports, findings, training notes if they teach. Technical writing is part of the job. But writing a book? That's an entirely different ball game.

Besides the challenge of learning a new craft, you need to write with clarity and in an engaging manner. You can't bore your readers. You can't lose them in a jungle of engineering jargon. Engineers can state a technical fact accurately—that's what we're trained to do. Perhaps we can even state it clearly. But to write engagingly? To make someone want to read about circuits and diagnostics?

That's a skill most of us never develop.

I've often heard people say engineers are a boring lot. Lacking creativity and imagination. Stuck in left-brain thinking, unable to connect with normal humans. I wouldn't consider myself a boring person. But I'll have to admit: most people become lost whenever I tell them about my work. Their eyes glaze over. They nod politely. They look for an exit.

I've thought about why this happens. This was the new challenge I faced when starting out.

How do you translate technical expertise into prose that people actually want to read?

How do you explain complex ideas simply, without losing the depth that makes them valuable?

For engineers, this struggle is real. More real than we'd like to admit.

 

The Urge to Write

Being able to live a fulfilling life is one thing. Being able to pass on what you know to posterity is entirely another.

The urge to write had been growing for years. Quietly at first, then more persistently. It whispered to me during quiet moments at the workbench. It nudged me when I explained a concept to a junior engineer and saw understanding dawn in their eyes. It tapped me on the shoulder when I read technical books and thought, I could do this. I have something to say.

The urge to document. To capture what I had learned. To share it with others who might need it. But stepping out of my comfort zone—leaving a well-paid, promising career—was something most people would think twice about. Three times. Forever.

I was no different. I thought about it constantly.

I talked to Bernice about my dream of writing books. At first, she was taken aback. Her mind went to the obvious places: problems at work, burnout, the nine-to-five grind finally getting to me.

But after understanding where I was coming from, she advised that I take small steps instead of plunging headlong into it. I heeded her advice and arranged with my company to work part-time while attempting my first book.

This was another transitional phase of my career life. I looked forward to it with excitement and anticipation.

Will the dream of authoring my own book materialize? Or will it just be a temporary distraction—something I dabbled in and then abandoned when the reality of writing proved harder than the fantasy?

Only time would tell.

 

The Quiet Years

Days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Months into years.

The long, stable decades passed quickly—not in a blur, but in a rhythm. The work, the colleagues, the daily routines. Projects started and completed. Problems solved and new ones appearing to take their place. Engineers came and went, some staying years, others moving on to greener pastures.

I remained.

Not because I lacked ambition. Not because I couldn't imagine doing anything else. But because this work, this place, this community of problem-solvers—it fit me. It suited the way my mind worked, the way I approached challenges, the way I found satisfaction in the careful unraveling of mysteries.

Yet in the midst of all this, a subtle shift was taking place.

I was moving, slowly and without quite realizing it, from simply doing the work to understanding that I had something to share. A deep well of knowledge that others might need. Lessons learned through years of trial and error, success and failure, patient observation and sudden insight.

The question was not whether I had something to teach. The question was who would want to learn.

In my twenty-five years at ST Electronics, I had only two true apprentices. Not for lack of opportunity. A few showed passing interest. But sustained engagement? The kind that transforms casual learning into deep mastery?

Only two.

One was a sixty-year-old engineer. The other was a young engineer half his age. They could not have been more different—in age, in experience, in life stage. But both, in their own ways, inherited pieces of what I had to offer.

Teaching isn't just about transferring knowledge. It's about witnessing. About seeing the spark catch on in another person and letting them know you've seen it.

 

The American Apprenticeship

January 1987. A New Squadron.

We were the pioneer batch. That phrase carried weight. It meant there were no precedents, no seniors to guide us, no established procedures to follow. Everything we did would be done for the first time. Every success would become a template. Every mistake would be a lesson for those who came after.

My team, the ATE group, was assigned to the third-line repair bay, along with two other teams. Third-line meant deep maintenance—the most complex repairs, the ones that required removing systems from the aircraft and bringing them to a dedicated facility. It was the highest level of technical work in the Air Force, and it was ours.

Our new home was a bomb-proof shelter, designed to survive attacks that would level ordinary buildings. The shelter was empty when we first saw it. A shell. A promise. Nothing more. We had three weeks to turn it into a functioning repair facility. Those weeks were a blur of physical labor and logistical coordination.

Once the facilities were ready, we waited. For the arrival of the CETS.

A specialized team of personnel from Grumman Aerospace, the company that had designed and built the E-2C. Their mission: to assist us in running the squadron for the first two years of its operation. To train us, guide us, ensure that we could do the work before they left us to do it alone.

Our ATE team split into two groups. One would handle the CAT-3D, the general-purpose test system. The other would take the RADCOM, the specialized system for radar, communications, and more. I was assigned to the latter. And I was fortunate—more fortunate than I knew at the time—to be placed under the guidance of a man named Ronald Dykeman.

 

Diagnosing PCB Failures

One of the questions I often get asked during my tenure as a test and repair engineer in my former company was: what's the most difficult thing about PCB repair. My reply: intermittent faults and erratic failures. I'm sure those in the PCB repair industry would readily agree with me on this. And it's not getting any easier anytime, given the increasing complexity of today's PCBs in terms of their designs and functionalities.

That's one reason I embarked on writing PCB Diagnostics, a book that attempts to address not only this thorny challenge faced by the PCB repair community, but to promote a greater awareness on the available tools and techniques to help them get the job done. For readers who want to know what is discussed in this book, here's the table of content:

Beyond the basics, I've included some rather esoteric approaches and methodologies, along with real-world examples and interesting case studies, to give readers a taste of how repairs are carried out using benchtop equipment and testers that they only heard or dreamed of, but have never gotten the chance to work on.

Some of the processes are laid out in detailed steps while others are covered only in enough depth, either due to the nature of the technique that is self-explanatory, or the scope of work involved which would overrun the book length. This is especially true of automated testing which I would love to devote specific coverage on a book series basis (see Conceptual for an idea of what I mean).

It's still too early to say how well PCB Diagnostics will be received by the repair community, but I hope that those who have bought it would leave their reviews on Amazon so I know if it has served the intended purpose when I started out to write it. Thanks!

A Special Meetup

A few days before I flew off to Taiwan for holiday with my wife, I received a message from Antriksh, founder of Hardwear.io, via LinkedIn. He told me he'd be coming to Singapore on a business visit and would like to meet up with me, and have me sign my books. I was delighted, of course.

Soon after returning from my overseas trip, I fixed a lunch date with him on July 18 at City Hall station which is central. Well, he didn't come alone but had a friend, Aseem, the co-founder of Hardwear.io, in company. Being the host, I treated them to lunch at the Coffee Club in Raffles City.

We had a good time sharing our personal stories in the career journey we undertook. I also got to know about the nature of their business proposals to the various government agencies on IoT security solutions. As a surprise, Antrisksh brought some souvenirs from the recent Hardwear.io USA 2023 conference for me, two T-shirts,  two luggage tags, a tout bag and a mini hand carrier.

It was an hour-and-a-half meetup and they were off to meet Bunny Huang, author of The Hardware Hacker book. Before we parted ways, Antrisksh asked if I would be interested to give a four-hour presentation and workshop at the next Hardwear.io conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands sometime in November. I felt honored to be invited and told him I will work out something and plan my schedule. It's still preliminary at this stage, though my incentive for going will be to meet Joe Grand in person there.

Maybe someday,  I will link up with Bunny Huang and meet him over coffee. After all, we're both living in the same city-state, though our paths have not crossed so far. Life is full of surprises, so who knows...?

My Profile as an Engineer

Formerly, I worked as a test engineer in the home-grown defense industry, Singapore Technologies under the Engineering arm. I was privileged to be trained and had worked on the following automated test equipment (ATE), and developed over 30 test program set (TPS) projects:

1. Schlumberger S700 Series Testers

 a. S720 Functional Tester
 b. S730 In-Circuit Tester
 c. S750 Combinational Tester
 d. CADAT concurrent fault simulator
 e. CATS 10000 hardware modeller
 Programming language: Mediator

2. Teradyne Testers

 a. Spectrum 8851 In-Circuit
 b. Spectrum 8852 Combinational
 c. M910 Digital Test System
 d. Inline Device Programming (ILDP)
 Programming language: C

3. F5E Tiger Aircraft

 a. AITS Test System
 b. P200 Power Supply Tester
 Programming language: ATEasy and 
 PowerBasic

4. F16 Fighting Falcon

 a. DATS/2000 Test Station
 b. LASAR simulator
 Programming language: ATLAS-716

5. AS332 Super Puma

 a. Apodis SDC/CCU Test Station
 Programming language: ATEasy

Of course, no test station is standalone or self-sufficient on its own, and I had the opportunity to work on the following test and repair equipment:

 1. Data I/O 3900 Device Programmer
 2. Altera Device Programmer
 3. Acugen ATGen Test Vector Generator
 4. Pinpoint Workstation
 5. QMax QT150 and QT200 Testers
 6. Polar Toneohm 950 Short Locator
 7. Polar PFL780 Fault Locator
 8. ABI System 8 Test Systems
 9. PACE Soldering & Rework Station
10. ERSA SMT Rework Station

In retrospect, it was an exciting and fulfilling engineering career I had which allowed me to put my valuable experiences into print, though the current six engineering books cover less than half of what I knew and did. It's a shame that my seven years endeavor could not afford me the luxury of full-time writing to continue imparting my knowledge. Perhaps one day, if there is a turn of fortune, I may return to complete what I left undone. Hopefully it will not be too little, too late...

 

My Profile as an Author

In my seven-and-a-half year as a writer, I have written a total of thirteen books, half of which are engineering related while the rest are of personal and religious nature. Most of my readers are interested in PCB-RE and diagnostic stuff, so it's no surprise that my engineering books fare better in sales. But if you really like my writing style, and have a knack for theology or eschatology, then please take a look at my other book titles, which are available in e-book edition as well.

Self-Published Author

Jan 2016 - Present · 7 yrs 7 months

Authored the following books:

Engineering
1. The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering
2. PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques
3. PCB-RE: Real World Examples
4. Manual PCB-RE - The Essentials
5. Deciphering Schematics
6. PCB Diagnostics

Memoir
1. Love's Chronicles (English and Chinese)

Family
1. The Marriage Puzzle (English and Chinese)

Theology
1. Volume 1 - NT in 77 Days
2. Volume 2 - OT Law & Prophets in 157 Days
3. Volume 3 - OT Writings in 87 Days

Eschatology
1. Revelation - A Concise Study
2. NFS Laboratory

Available on Amazon and other online bookstores.

I'm still doing part-time writing at present, as I explore other options. In particular, I hope to write on fiction novel and politics. If you are interested in such topics, keep a look out in my Amazon store.

As always, stay safe and well, my friends! 

Speakers and Books

This year's Hardwear.io event featured nearly thirty speakers from various fields relating to hardware and security:

Interested readers can go over to YouTube and subscribe to the channel to be notified when the videos for this event is uploaded.

Incidentally, all my engineering books were showcased alongside other renown authors writing on similar subject matters:

I'm sure some of the winners at this event would have been delighted to receive a copy for a prize in their participation. But don't just wish or wait for the next event to come by and try your luck. The books are available as print and ebooks on Amazon for order. Just click on the covers displayed on the right side bar to preview before purchase.

 

Hardwear.io USA 2023

Just last Sunday, Antriksh Shah from Hardwear.io contacted me on LinkedIn and expressed interest in procuring two sets of my PCB-RE books, hoping to give them away as prizes for participants in the upcoming Security Training & Conference at Santa Clara Marriott:

I was delighted with this first encounter and readily offer the books at a discounted price, along with complimentary copies of two other books, Deciphering Schematics and PCB Diagnostics. I am sure the winners would be excited to receive these books should they come out top among the competitors.

If you have not yet signed up for the event, you can go to this link to find out more about the talks and trainings offered. Who knows, you may be one of the lucky winners!

 

PCB Diagnostics (Kindle Full-Color Edition)

Just when I thought I'm done with updating this blog, about three weeks into releasing my final engineering book, PCB Diagnostics, two readers who bought the print edition emailed me and asked if it is possible to send them color photos of certain pages. They cited having difficulties making out certain details from the black and white photos due to their poor eyesight conditions.

I promptly sent what they requested and then thought it might be good to come up with a color Kindle edition. One of the advantages, besides full-color, is the ability to zoom in for greater details. It took me about a week to replace all the photos and illustrations with color versions. Here are a few sample pages:

You can go to this link to preview more pages before placing order, if you have the Kindle app installed on your tablet devices. It may take a while for Amazon to update the preview content to the color edition though, but rest assured that it is in full-color.

Happy reading! 

PCB Diagnostics Released!

From the initial conception to its release, PCB Diagnostics has taken me close to two years to complete, though the actual intensive writing process occurred only in the last six months. To be honest, it wasn't all smooth sailing——family commitments, financial disruption, CoVid-19 infection, and emotional turmoil from two deaths, one of a personal friend last year July, and then my aunt just last Wednesday in the midst of my final proofreading. I had to put everything aside to attend to her funeral arrangements and provide support to my aged uncle who has been very dependent on her all this while.

On a lighter and happier note, this last engineering book is finally released and available for order on Amazon, right on our anniversary date! And fittingly so, since my first engineering book was also released on the same occasion eight years ago when I started my writing journey with my wife's wholehearted support.

In appreciation, I have written the following dedication to her:

To Bernice, my beloved wife, for being so patient, supportive, and understanding in the past eight years when I started out to fulfil my dream as an author. We did not know how it would turn out, and though there were tough and uncertain times, you stayed by my side and cheered me on, knowing that my works will make a difference, however small, in the lives of my readers, and leave a lasting legacy when both of us fade into history.

I would not have come this far without you. Thank you for believing in me. With heartfelt gratitude, I dedicate this book to you, just as I did for the first.

It is my hope that readers will support this work and help spread the word, so that we can complete this journey with joy and sweet memories. I don't know if I will update this blog in the future, but if you have anything to say to me or my wife, feel free to leave your comments below. I will still drop by and check once a while, and reply any query if need be.

Ps: And oh, don't forget to leave your reviews on Amazon for my books too! They always bring a smile to my wife whenever I show her what my readers wrote.

 

Proofreading and Waiting...

Currently I am doing a final proofread of my book, PCB Diagnostics. Caught several typos and rephrase some sentences upon re-reading. Just gotten the barcode for the cover's ISBN image as well. I should complete the task by Friday but at the same time, I am also waiting for approval from a JTAG product vendor on the use of some material related to Chapter 9, which is already in place.

Here's a two-page sample that summarizes the PCB diagnostic process, with supplementary notes:

While diagnosing PCB failures is a more familiar topic than PCB-RE, it is by no means easier to write, considering the many different techniques (I covered six in detail and two in passing in this book) that are used to accomplish this challenging task. Even then, each has its own merits and challenges to take into account.

But I'm glad to be near the end of this writing journey on engineering stuff. If everything goes well, the book will be available for order end of this month. That's all for now.