The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering: Unravelling the Beauty of the Original Design

Reverse engineering PCB's is to electronic circuit boards what hacking is to computer software...something people do, but no one admits to doing it, LOL.Mr Ng not only does it, but he lays out a very clear and systematic approach to the entire process. I am self-taught in this field, and it was a real joy to find that someone had actually written an entire book on the subject. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic.Swamp

Having spent a few weeks working through the book, I can pretty much confirm that this is the best resource out there for the subject. The book not only discusses the concepts of reverse engineering, but delves extensively into using Visio as a tool to neatly capture the process as well, something I wouldn't have considered had it not been for this book delving into such details. Well done to the author, and this book will serve as a constant companion during my future RE activities.

It is a great book/manual to read and very helpful to understand the arts of reverse engineering of PCBs in particular. Thanks for the insight, Mr Keng Tiong Ng.Tsehaye Kidane

For those practicing electronics design and good design habits there is not much here that you would not naturally do yourself. The tricks that would be nice like deconstructing PCB substrates or depackaging IC's - and then what to look for on the masks - or some special ideas you may not have thought of were missing or simply referred to as options but not in detail.I guess if you were reverse engineering because you have no engineering/design in electronics background (in terms of documentation) then book is probably a good choice.

I purchased this book after having discussed it with the author on the EEVBlog web forum. I have been reverse engineering complex printed circuit boards for many years, and enjoy the challenge. The author of this book has similar experience and it shows in his excellent coverage of the topic. He has correctly identified the key aspects of such a task and the need for the methodical & disciplined approach in order to achieve success. This book would suit anyone who has an interest in the reverse engineering of PCB's, and even those with previous experience will likely learn from this book. I certainly did ! There is no requirement for complex or expensive tools beyond the basics normally found on an electronics workbench, but MS Visio is recommended for the documentation. Visio is not essential to success however, and should not put buyers off of this book. I know of no other book that covers this topic so well for those starting out on PCB reverse engineering. The author writes in an easy to read fashion and offers purchasers of his book free downloads of additional useful material via his web site. The quality of materials used in the production of this book are excellent and it should have a long life in the lab. All who have seen my copy of the book have been very impressed with it. Highly recommended to those embarking on PCB reverse engineering, both beginners and the experienced.Review By: Fraser Castle. UK Electronics Engineer.and hobbyist !

Personal opinion, the book is mostly a guy teaching you how to use Microsoft Office to draw schematic.

I purchased this book after having discussed it with the author on the EEVBlog web forum. I have been reverse engineering complex printed circuit boards for many years, and enjoy the challenge. The author of this book has similar experience and it shows in his excellent coverage of the topic. He has correctly identified the key aspects of such a task and the need for the methodical & disciplined approach in order to achieve success. This book would suit anyone who has an interest in the reverse engineering of PCB's, and even those with previous experience will likely learn from this book. I certainly did ! There is no requirement for complex or expensive tools beyond the basics normally found on an electronics workbench, but MS Visio is recommended for the documentation. Visio is not essential to success however, and should not put buyers off of this book. I know of no other book that covers this topic so well for those starting out on PCB reverse engineering. The author writes in an easy to read fashion and offers purchasers of his book free downloads of additional useful material via his web site. The quality of materials used in the production of this book are excellent and it should have a long life in the lab. All who have seen my copy of the book have been very impressed with it. Highly recommended to those embarking on PCB reverse engineering, both beginners and the experienced.Review By: Fraser Castle. Electronics Engineer.and hobbyist !

Excellent book.

Literatur über Reverse Engineering (also über die Analyse und ggf. Nachkonstruktion eines fertigen Systems) ist rar ' und die wenigen Bücher, die sich diesem Thema widmen, sind meist so allgemein gehalten, dass jeder Teilaspekt nur kurz behandelt werden kann. Das Buch "The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering" des Autors Ng Keng Tiong ist daher eine Ausnahmeerscheinung: Es ist ausschließlich dem Reverse Engineering von elektronischen Schaltungen gewidmet und behandelt dieses Thema im Detail.Der Autor befasst sich seit rund 15 Jahren beruflich mit der Nachkonstruktion und Reparatur elektronischer Systeme. In seinem Buch fasst er die dabei gemachten Erfahrungen strukturiert zusammen und wendet die vorgestellten Methoden schrittweise auf eine als Beispiel gewählte Komponente (einen kleinen ISA-Bus-SCSI-Hostadapter) an. Jedem Teilschritt ' Identifikation der Bauelemente, Analyse der elektrischen Verbindungen, Rekonstruktion des Schaltplans ' ist ein eigenes Kapitel gewidmet; zahlreiche Abbildungen und immer wieder eingestreute Anekdoten des Autors aus seiner eigenen beruflichen Tätigkeit machen das Buch gut lesbar und leicht verständlich.Zur Dokumentation der gewonnenen Informationen verwendet der Autor das Programm Microsoft Visio. Wer ebenfalls dieses Programm nutzt, wird daher von schrittweisen Anleitungen am meisten profitieren. Ein Kapitel über Alternativen hierzu (sowohl kommerzielle Programme als auch Open Source) wendet sich aber auch an Leser, die andere Softwarewerkzeuge nutzen oder noch auf der Suche nach solchen Werkzeugen sind.Insgesamt ein sehr interessantes und außergewöhnliches Buch für alle, die sich beruflich oder als Hobby mit der Analyse elektronischer Systeme beschäftigen ' sei es, um diese trotz fehlender Schaltungsunterlagen zu reparieren, sei es aber auch nur, um ihre Funktionsweise zu verstehen und ' so der Untertitel des Buches ' die Schönheit ihres ursprünglichen Designs wiederzuentdecken.

"The Art of PCB Reverse Engineering", is an introductory text on hardware reverse engineering. The main focus of this book is on Technical documenting the hardware reverse engineering process using Microsoft Visio. Throughout the book the author provides anecdotal stories of his reverse engineering experience and what to look out for. A portion of the book is provided as a technical reference, (schematic symbols and component type). Overall it is great book.

Amazing book.A lot of work and experience in it.Everybody who is in this field must have it.