Digital Zone

Been working on Chapter 3 of my trilogy book, and today I've just finished the 'digital zone' of the real-world PCB example. Here's a two-page sample:

The 'digital zone' covers address, data and control buses, common signals, communication drivers and receivers, jumpers, etc. Next, I'll be covering the 'transition zone'. As to what that is, I'll leave my readers to guess until I'm done with that section.

There's still a lot of grounds to cover so let's get going...

Re-engineering Our Minds

Just received a complimentary copy of the book 'Think to Thrive' from the author Dr. Henry Toi himself, a personal friend of mine:

The subtitle 'Re-engineering your mind for growth' is interesting and insightful, coming from the pen of one who is a thinker as well as an educator. Somehow it struck me that just like reverse engineering PCBs, our minds too need to re-engineer not only to stay relevant and useful, but to attain the next level of excellence.

And that is something for us to THINK about, isn't it?

Interested readers can order a copy at the following online stores:

Kinokuniya
Times Bookstore

Trilogy - Chapter 3

Had started working on Chapter 3 of my trilogy book, PCB-RE: Real-World Examples. I'm into 21 pages and still counting. Here's a two-page sample of the partial schematic on the Control Logic card I'm using for my manual approach in PCB reverse engineering:

Hope to complete the chapter by end of this month. Then I will start to collate the works of the other contributors...

80 Countries and Counting...

Four and a half months after hitting 70 countries and 6,066 page views, my blog has finally reached out to readers in a total of 80 countries and 8,448 page views.

While it is no mean feat of an achievement, I believe more can be done to create awareness of its existence if readers would simply recommend my blog and work to friends and post it in electronics forums or discussion groups.

If you have benefited from what I shared, or even enjoyed what is posted, then please do me a kind favor by sharing the link (visio-for-engineers.blogspot.com). Better still, drop me a line (comment) so I know what my readers are thinking or would like to see in the blog.

Thanks again for visiting and making it happened.

Artosyn Drones

Received a query from a blog reader:

I just started a job this month which requires to RE some functions on a RC controller which has an Artosyn AR8001 and AR8003 chip on them but I am unable to find the datasheet on the internet. Any idea to approach this?

My reply:

The AR8001/AR8003 are a complimentary pair of image transmission modules customed parts by the Chinese company Artosyn Microelectronics. It is therefore unlikely you'll find any datasheet online for these two chips, especially if the company only sells their drone products and not the standalone ICs. 

If you're doing PCB-RE just to understand the design, or to produce similar products, the only workable way is backward signal annotations: 

1. Treat the AR8001/AR8003 as black boxes
2. Locate pin 1 as reference
3. Find out the power and ground pins
4. Trace out the address, data and control pins using known ICs or onboard CPU
5. Since these are image transmission chips, look out for video amplifiers and trace their pins back to these ICs. 

Hope the above pointers will give you something to work on.

An example of a RC controlled drone with imaging capability:

Partial list of main component parts (Chinese descriptions):

From Sketches to Streamlined

After some deliberation, I've decided to include the Rigol DS1052E into the Case Studies chapter of my trilogy book. As mentioned, someone by the name Hellene had done a superb job in reverse engineering this piece of equipment and placed the schematic diagrams online. Though he did not complete the whole unit, it does provide a good picture of a commercial digital oscilloscope, except for one problem: it's done in rough pencil sketches.

Below is a sample of the Channel 1's front-end:

I'd figure if I want to include his work, I'll need to clean up the schematics and do an overhaul using Visio. It's definitely much easier if I just copy and paste from Hellene's work but my sense of being a professional writer got the better of me. Here is the Visio rendition:

The rest are still in the works but readers will be pleased to know that they are getting a better deal with these pretty schematics when they buy my book. It will not be anytime soon, but I'm hoping that it will be released before the end of this year.

Meantime, do go to Amazon or the icon or menu links above to take a look at my other PCB-RE books, and consider supporting my hard work through honest purchase so I can continue writing and drawing these beautiful electronic artworks. Thanks!

Internet of Things

Recently picked up writing Chapter 2 - Some déjà vu Stuff, of my trilogy book again, after laying it off because of some pressing matters. There are a number of interesting topics that I cover in this prologue section of the book, one of which is the internet of things (IoT). Here's two sample pages for preview:

The main section of the book will probably contain seven chapters featuring works by various PCB-RE practitioners, followed by another section with additional case studies and essential tools for the trade. I'm not giving myself too much pressure to fix a deadline, but I'd figure when things are more firmed, I will brief the contributors on the guidelines for their chapters to begin work.

Will update my readers again on the progress, so stay tuned...

안녕하세요

If you're wondering, the post title means "Hello!" in the Korean language. After posting my findings on a Korean PCB-RE engineer and reader's blog sometime in early May, I finally received a comment - in fact, two - the same one in each of the two posts:

I am impressed with his level of English expression, considering that many Koreans are not very apt with this international language. Believe me, I've been to South Korea in 2012; it's challenging to converse with the locals there if you do not have a modest amount of Korean vocabulary. That said, I'm sure many are seeing the importance of picking up English, especially after the recent de-nuclearization summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un in Singapore early June this year.

My third book (trilogy) is still in the works though, and I got the nagging feeling it will take much longer than the sequel to complete. Given the technical nature of such a niche topic, I'm not sure how well it will go with non-English speaking readers. Perhaps this Korean gentleman might consider translating my books for the benefit of his own people, since he has the desire to propagate the PCB-RE technology in his country.

Just a thought for now but who knows, it may become a reality (if he reads this post)...

SkillsFuture

This morning while doing my usual routine walk to begin the day, I stumbled upon two cards lying outside the gate of a secondary school:

On the flip side, two fields of industry are highlighted:

With the SkillsFuture Festival gaining momentum island-wide, the probability of coming across their publicity materials is significantly higher than striking the lottery...

iRobot

Was at the Lifelong Learning Institute this afternoon for the SkillsFuture Festival 2018, a month-long event organized by SkillsFuture Singapore, aimed at inspiring citizens to develop a passion for learning and pursue skills mastery. There were plenty of activities going on there but what caught my eyes was this particular SG social robot at one of the booths:

Meet Edgar version 2, a robot with the ability to ad-lib, i.e. come up with his own responses to questions posed at him. Its maker, Dr Wong Choon Yue, is a research fellow at the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. Edgar is more than just a robot avatar; with his in-built sensors to detect human facial expressions and gestures, voice recognition and knowledge database, he is able to engage living people for autonomous and intelligent interactions.

What he lacks now is realistic facial feedback but it probably should not be long before he gets one in the next model. That's kind of exciting and scary at the same time!

0x90 - Riding the NOP sled since 1998

There was this guy who bought my first full-colored PCB-RE book and left a book review on his blog, with the name as title above. Here is a small snapshot:

Those interested to read the whole article, please click here.

After reading his review, I wrote him an email expressing my appreciation and informed him that I was in the works of coming out with a sequel that would address his concerns. That got him excited and wrote another post, New Book Cooking. You can read it here.

Recently, I was surprise to receive an email from him out of the blue. Evidently, he had bought my second book PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, and was totally happy with the topics covered that he decided to write a good review on it.

Well, I'm keeping my fingers crossed... ;)

ScanCAD Facebook

Just received a Facebook notification this morning that ScanCAD mentioned my name in their page, so decided to check out what's up. Turns out:

In appreciation, I left the following comment:

Thanks to Bill and Jeff for contributing the longest chapter in the book, with useful insights and comparison of different methodologies in PCB-RE.

Hope to catch up with you guys again...

Surprise from the Kingpin

This morning I received a surprise email from Joe Grand (aka Kingpin) giving me a brief update of his encounters at the recent Teardown 2018 event in Portland, Oregon his hometown. He ran into his friend John McMaster and decided to pose for a selfie with my book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques which, incidentally they're both contributors too:

Now that's totally awesome!

Joe also gave away copies of the book to Bunnie Huang who has a long history of hacking and reverse engineering products, as well as Sean Cross 'xobs' of Studio Ko-Usagi. And both of them 'happen' to reside in the same island-state as me too!

Things are really heating up in the PCB-RE community, just like the weather in Singapore...

Teardown: Portland 2018

The annual Teardown Convention was held in Portland, Oregon this year and had just ended. It is an event where hackers, hobbyists and designers converged and share their ideas, discoveries and inventions through talks conducted in various rooms equipped with the necessary AV equipment:

Portland, Oregon is the hometown of Joe Grand the kingpin so it's no surprise he graced the event with his presence and presentation. What aroused my interest, however, was a talk given by Jeremy Hong, a cool young dude from Wright State University who runs his own business. In his first talk at the convention, he actually recommended my book PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques to the audience:

How cool can that be? In appreciation, I tweeted him:

Thanks, Jeremy, for recommending my book at your Crowd Supply Teardown talk. I owe you a big one! ;)

to which he replied:

No problem! It’s an excellent book and it really needs to get out there.

Since he's also into PCB reverse engineering, I asked if he's interested to write a chapter for my third book, and I got more than what I bargained for:

Definitely! It is an honor. I think I may have a few people in mind (that may be able to contribute to the book as well...)

Well, looks like there is hope for the trilogy book after all...

Korean Extravaganza!

Well, not exactly spectacular but the thought of having my book being listed in a Korean blog as a textbook for the PCB-RE subject is reason enough to dance with joy. Here's the follow-up to my previous post:

Seems that my Korean reader has also bought the sequel book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques, and given his review on his blog (translated by Google and paraphrased for readability):

There is a lot of content related to the practical work that can be used as teaching material this time. I have not gone through the book, but it's similar to what I'm currently teaching. It is a fact that information related to this field is rare. I am really grateful to the authors for publishing this book on the PCB-RE subject. We will do our best to promote the practice of this niche skillset in Korea.

The reader is even kind enough to provide a link to my blog, and advised his readers to read the book if ever they buy it. As they'll say in Korea, "Kamsahamnida!" That's 'thank you' if you're wondering...

100th Post!

This is my 100th post and what better way to celebrate it than a review from a Korean reader of my book, The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering? I stumbled upon his blog by accident and was delighted that someone of a nationality thought to be closely related to the Chinese actually bought the color edition of the book, even though he seems not to have a good grasp of the English language!

Of course, the blog is in Korean but thankfully there's Google translate to give a rough (and rather awkward) translation that is still bearably understandable. If you're curious, click on the picture to go to his website and take a look.

Have fun...

First Review from the UK

Am happy to find a new review from a reader in UK for my book, PCB-RE: Tools & Techniques:

Fantastic book, with loads of interesting information. From using the right light wavelengths to see through solder mask, to the theory and practical uses of X-Ray to see the inner layers of a PCB; the book has plenty of information at all levels of complexity. 

Highly recommended.

I really appreciate readers who take the time to give their reviews; it's not only a strong endorsement but a great encouragement to spur me to write further and better!

Change of Plan

Readers who're following my blog are aware that I am in the process of writing my third book on the subject of PCB-RE, a sort of trilogy to the two books I've written.

In the process of drafting the chapters outline, I decided that a book that solely focuses on my own PCB-RE experience is not adequate to give an overall feel to the practical aspect of this niche skillset. Therefore, it is in the interest of the readers that I should again invite practicing engineers to share their personal journeys.

I have just sent out invites to five engineers which I feel have the right combination based on the works they had done. I have also notify Marc Hickling of ENA Electronics Inc. of my intention to include a case study from their side of the story as well, and received a positive reply. There is still room for 2-3 more so if there are readers out there interested to showcase their PCB-RE works, don't miss out on this opportunity: drop me a note in this post!

Looking to hear from you soon...

Goodreads @ Google

While Googling 'PCB reverse engineering', the following ad turned up right beside the search results:

Quite a nice surprise to see my book and name appearing. Hopefully, engineers who are looking for this subject will find something helpful and informative through what I shared, both in the printed pages as well as my online blog!

Trilogy - Foreword & Preface

Was overcome with the urge to write, so I sat down in front of my PC and gave some thought on the Preface for the trilogy. After about two hours...

...and that's only the first half.

As for the Foreword, well... in response to a request from a reader who left a comment on my post Trilogy to PCB-RE dated March 16, I have reserved it for Amir Pasalic, CEO of ENA Electronics Inc. When the third book is firmed, I will write to him. Hopefully, he will be kind enough to pen the words...

Case Studies in Musing...

While organizing the materials for my third book on PCB-RE, I revisited the archives for the second book and found a rare gem. There was one chapter that I had initially intended to include but had to lay aside because two of the contributors were not available. I had done some preparation work on that chapter and it would be a pity if I leave it half-baked. Here's a glimpse of two sample pages:

If the trilogy works out, readers will get to see three other real world examples showcased in brief in one chapter. It is too early to set a date as to when the third book will see the light of day. If interests in the PCB-RE topic picks up (as indicated by the sales of the two books), I might consider setting aside more time to work on it.

For now, I will have to attend to other priorities, though...

Windows 10 BSOD on Cold Boot

Lately my desktop PC has been plagued with the dreaded BSOD (blue screen of death) problem on cold boot up with random reported issues. It would, however, go away upon restart and functions well for the rest of the time.

I suspected that it could be due to the new RAMs that I installed previously not too long ago. After researching online, I was more or less certain that some older motherboards could not reliably handle 8GB of memory or more. To confirm this fact, I removed two 2GB sticks and replaced with two 1GB modules, reducing the RAM to 6GB total. It was spot on! Now the PC boots up normally.

Looks like I'll have to be content with this configuration for now. On a positive note, the two extra 2GB sticks can serve as spares, just in case.

70 Countries and Counting...

As of today, my blog has hit 6,066 page views with readership spanning 70 countries:

Considering that I started posting just over a year ago, this is quite encouraging. I'm sure, however, that more can be achieved if existing readers and visitors do their part to help spread the word and share the link (visio-for-engineers.blogspot.com) to friends, forums and the engineering communities which they belong. It's a small favor to ask in return for the many hours of efforts put into writing the articles.

To those who have done so or will do so, I convey my heartfelt thanks.

Inside Cover Page (Trilogy)

Had some time off my busy schedules and commitments to take a breather, so decided to work on the inside cover page of the third book:

Reminds me of the 'for Dummies' series books with the same shaded page background for their inner cover pages. Haha, had wanted to do something like that for a long time...

ENA Electronics Laboratories

Among the readers who bought my books, there are quite a number who work in the PCB-RE industry. One example is Amir Pasalic, the CEO of ENA Electronics Laboratories in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Though his company's main business is in industrial electronics and servo motors, it is interesting to note that PCB repair and reverse engineering are two important services listed.

Readers who want to find out more can go over to the ENA website to better understand the PCB-RE process and other capabilities this company offer. Just click on the graphics above to get teleported to the destination.