[CheeseFromLidl]

Very true. I’d like to add that it appears to be common on chinese sites to use micro-payment systems. You want the modified code / device driver / pinout / datasheet or rom dump? Please pay 3 cents.

On the Russian fora I’m often hitting a wall with unfamiliar chip IDs in their schematics. But when looking up smd markings they often have a nice photo of the part in situ.

[ACCount37]

It's always amusing to me when I see full documentation packages and SDKs for Western parts on Chinese websites, offered for $5. While the Western company that actually makes those parts would demand a pile of NDAs and an agreement worth six digits just to see those documents and SDKs.

[CheeseFromLidl]

I’m in the process of cleaning out my “varia” parts bin. It’s a box of neat-looking chips with an id that looks easy to google for datasheets … but most are locked away as you state. There is a fixed barrier for hobbyists around the 100 to 200MHz bus rate area. From there on hardware that’s available for diy projects gets dumbed down or bottlenecked in some critical section. Every once in a full moon you get a glimpse of the product brief for a chip you desoldered from a docsys decoder and see what’s behind the NDA wall. Oh well, here’s to fpgas.

[tverbeure]

One of the images in that Chinese forum thread contain the power supply schematic of the TDS220. I haven't seen that anywhere else...