Scott, I recall being approached by a guy in California with a similar request, they made joy stick controls for the search lights used on helicopters. He said the company that had supplied him with the boards was out of business and he needed to reverse engineer the board to stay in business. I got a quote for the firmware and pcb design engineering to him and he never spoke to me again. Must have scared him away. His name was Jesse, and his web site was at http://www.dynametricsystems.com/ But it's long gone... I recall asking him similar questions about the ownership rights etc... the story sounds very similar to yours. Happy is right though, you don't want to get wrapped up in some sketchy business deals and even if he is legitimate, will he pay? I have seen what looked like very legitimate businesses pack up and run from their debtors because they were in financial trouble and lied to their vendors. I lost 4 grand on one job where a guy did that. So be careful. Best regards, Bill Brooks PCB Design Engineer , C.I.D., C.I.I. Tel: (760)597-1500 Ext 3772 Fax: (760)597-1510 http://pcbwizards.com -----Original Message----- From: Scott Riley [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 1:49 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [DC] A Reverse engineering question Looks promising, but I don't see any contact info on their site ? The customer is outside this country. Of course in Upstate NY we do not really consider someone from Toronto as being from a foreign country (their just across the lake). The board shop that produced the part is gone as I mentioned and the original supplier had discontinued the part and will no longer supply it (I called them). The company is a re-seller of networking equipment and needs the board for some of the older hardware that they have. Thank you all for the help. This is a new customer with a one time request (well you never know). They got my name from a customer that I had done several flex circuits and a couple rev. eng jobs. But, being a one man show I don't think the ROI on this is sufficient for me to pursue any further. Thanks again for you input. Scott D. Riley Technical Design Service 607-658-9322 - Office 607-785-1696 - FAX www.techdesignservice.com -----Original Message----- From: DesignerCouncil [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of McGlaughlin, Jeffrey A Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 4:01 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [DC] A Reverse engineering question The equipment is a little pricey for a one-off job, but if this is a consistent source of work you might look at: http://www.whingate.co.uk/reveng_pg1.html . We have demo-ed the system and it does exactly as advertised. If you are only doing the one board you might talk to them anyway. They may be able to do the reverse engineering of a schematic on a sub-contract deal for you. Jeffrey A McGlaughlin, CID Engineering Designer Battelle Memorial Institute Columbus Ohio http://www.battelle.org [log in to unmask] -----Original Message----- From: Scott Riley [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Sent: Thursday, September 16, 2004 3:48 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [DC] A Reverse engineering question I hate to switch gears on everyone, but I'm looking for a little input on a job. A customer sent me a 6 layer board (complete with all the components on both sides) and wants to know if I can create data from it so that he can order more. I have done several two layer boards as well as a couple simple four layer designs, but six layers presents some problems. There is no documentation (schematic, fab drawings, etc) and no manufacturing data. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on how this might be accomplished ? Of course the customer wants it immediately and for cheap, but before I NO QUOTE this one I thought I'd get some input from the the experts. Thanks in advance for your help.. Scott D. Riley Technical Design Service 607-658-9322 - Office 607-785-1696 - FAX <http://www.techdesignservice.com/> www.techdesignservice.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------ --------- DesignerCouncil Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF DesignerCouncil. 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