The Electromagnetic Pulse: What You Need to Know
Nov 28th, 2011 | By Mike | Category: Solar, Top Headline | Print This Article
In apocalyptically-themed television shows, books, and movies, many different scenarios to explain the collapse of society and the end of the world have been imagined. Some of the creators of these dark works of fiction have chosen to center their doomsday storytelling around something called an electromagnetic pulse, which causes its own particular brand of mayhem by destroying the power grid along with most of the electronic devices and systems upon which we have all become so dependent. Without electricity and with its computerized systems no longer able to function, the implosion of society becomes all but inevitable, and the chaos and destruction that follow are something straight out of our worst nightmares of Armageddon.
Except in this instance, the nightmares are very much based on reality. In fact, there are two different scenarios—one related to natural events, the other to intentional human action—under which an electromagnetic pulse could indeed bring modern society crashing to the ground, and both are considered likely to occur at some point by experts who study the question.
Given the fact that the electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, does present a real danger to all of humankind, it is incumbent upon all of us to learn as much as we can about the nature of this threat.
What is an EMP?—The Basics
The seven-minute-long artificial aurora created by the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test explosion in course of Operation Dominic on July 9, 1962
An electromagnetic pulse is a massive atmospherically-conducted current of electricity that in certain circumstances would be capable of destroying every electrical power system, as well as every electric or electronic device or appliance, within range of its point of origin. The magnitude of the current involved, which is created by the interaction between masses of charged particles descending from above and our planet’s natural magnetic field, would be so significant that it would overwhelm any systems or circuits that draw or transmit electricity, literally blowing them out or frying them from the inside. EMPs originate in the upper atmosphere, and they can strike suddenly, silently, and without warning.
Nuclear EMPs
As many people may already be aware, one potential cause of an EMP is a nuclear explosion. In order for a nuclear bomb to create an EMP, however, it must be exploded in the earth’s atmosphere at a sufficient enough height for the gamma rays it emits to interact with the earth’s magnetic field. That’s why the bombs that were dropped directly on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, for example, did not produce this kind of effect. One interesting fact about nuclear-generated EMPs is that it does not take a particularly powerful atomic bomb to create them; in fact, small-to-medium sized nukes that use fissionable uranium are more efficient at producing EMPs than hydrogen bombs or other weapons with a high-megaton yield.
A 500-kiloton single-stage atomic bomb—a type of weapon that has been in existence since the 1950s—exploded 300 miles above the central United States could cause so much damage to our electric and electronic infrastructure that it would all but destroy the nation’s economy in an instant. Even a 100-kiloton bomb, if exploded at the right altitude in the right location, could cause the electrical grid to collapse completely through a chain reaction of systemic failure. The type of nuclear weapon we are talking about here is quite primitive, relatively speaking, and all the world’s nuclear powers, including Russia, China, North Korea, and Pakistan already possess or are capable of manufacturing simple weapons that would fall within the 100-500 kiloton range.
A sudden and unexpected nuclear attack, which could be carried out with surprising ease through a missile launch off the coast of the United States, would devastate power generation facilities, their communications and control systems, and power distribution equipment everywhere. The large transformers that support the power grid would be destroyed en masse, and because neither these transformers nor the parts that would be needed to repair them are manufactured in the U.S., replacing them in a short period of time would be all but impossible. While some of the vital information contained on computer hard drives would be salvageable, the cost of recovering it would be prohibitive, especially given the dire situation we would be facing in the wake of such a catastrophic occurrence. A large percentage of our automobiles, which now rely on complex electronic micro-circuitry to function, would stop working, and those living in colder climates would be left completely without heat—and with no place else to go to find it.
Stepping back and looking at the big picture, it is clear that we have now become so dependent on microelectronics and digital technology to assist us in meeting all of our basic needs that the collapse of society and the social order in the wake of a nuclear EMP attack would be inevitable—not to mention incredibly destructive and painful.
Solar Storms and EMPs
While many nations would be capable of unleashing a devastating EMP against their enemies through nuclear attack, at least there is some hope that sanity will prevail and this kind of event can be avoided. But unfortunately, EMP by nuclear attack is not the only threat we are facing. Nature is also capable of producing a powerful EMP, and the reason we use the word “unfortunately” here is because this type of pulse is not just a possibility, but an inevitability.
Solar storms associated with cyclical spikes in sunspot activity frequently result in an emission of a huge cloud of charged particles from the surface of the sun, and when these clouds strike the earth’s magnetic field the result, just as with a nuclear explosion, is the creation of an electric current that if large enough can cause serious destructive effects. The disturbing thing here is that once every 500 years on average the sun produces a solar storm so violent that the geomagnetic effects it causes would be strong enough to wipe out the electric grid in whatever part of the earth it should happen to strike. The only reason we have been protected from such an outcome so far is that alternating current was only discovered by Tesla a little over 100 years ago.
The last of these solar superstorms occurred in 1859, and while there was no electrical grid at the time, early telegraph systems had already been installed and operators reported extensive malfunctions and disruption in services. The primary effect of the gigantic charged particle emission associated with the 1859 geomagnetic storm was visual (as spectacular aurora borealis displays), and while usually confined to northern climes were seen all over the globe. But if this storm had taken place in the present time things would have been quite different—solar scientists agree that if this storm had happened in 2011, the result would have been a total breakdown in at least a part of our power grid.
There is one significant difference between the EMPs produced by the sun and those created by nuclear weapons blasts. Nuclear explosions actually cause three different types of electromagnetic pulses, each of which has different characteristics, while solar storms produce just one of these three varieties. The first type of electromagnetic pulse that follows immediately after a high-altitude nuclear detonation, usually referred to as E1, is a very rapid and high density pulse that is generated by the explosive force of the initial burst of charged particles, which are thrown out at a super high velocity and eventually collide and interact with the earth’s magnetic field. It is this process that produces the first massive electric current, and it is this powerful EMP that would be responsible for frying the micro-circuitry that we find inside of computers and other types of electronic devices and systems. The second burst of energy after a nuclear explosion, E2, is much less powerful than E1 and tends to only cause localized damage. Because solar storms do not produce E1 pulses in particular, such an event would not have the same effect on electronic devices and systems that an EMP generated by a nuclear attack would.
E3 is the type of pulse that nuclear and solar sources each produce. The sheer force of the charged particle collisions that precede E1 and E2 actually knocks the entire magnetic field of our planet out of its normal position, like a pool ball being struck by a cue ball. It then quickly snaps back into place again, but this oscillation causes the release of a long wavelength electric current that has a lifespan of up to several minutes. After either a solar storm or a nuclear attack, it is this kind of EMP that would overwhelm and ultimately destroy the electrical grid over a wide geographical area.
While there is no disputing the destructive impact the largest solar superstorm would have on the power grid, and consequently on society and the economy, it turns out that even a smaller storm could have profoundly negative effects. A few years ago, a study commissioned from the scientific research firm Metatech by multiple federal government agencies calculated the effects of a once in 100 year type of superstorm on the electrical grid, should the EMP generated by such a storm hit the earth’s atmosphere over North America. The study showed that a storm this size could cause the failure of enough large transformers to lead to a total or near total breakdown of the U.S. power grid, if its EMP impacted the magnetic field over the northern part of tour country. For your information, the last one-in-100 year solar storm occurred in 1921, which means that we are less than a decade away from the arrival of the next one, assuming the normal historical pattern holds.
Heeding the Warning
There are precautions that can be taken to protect both the power grid and electronic devices against electromagnetic pulses. In fact, just recently a company called Emprimus developed a new powerful shielding system that could be used to protect the largest transformers from damage caused by sudden surges of power, even those that would follow an EMP. Generally speaking, the knowledge of how to protect the grid from EMP-related damage exists, as do the technical means to make it happen; but not surprisingly, neither government nor the large utility companies has done much of anything to implement such protections, which of course cost money and do not offer any immediate return on investment. Estimates are that a severe solar geomagnetic event could cause up to $2 trillion dollars of damage, and that it could take from four to ten years for the country to recover completely (assuming that it could do so at all). It has also been estimated that installing the necessary equipment to protect against a solar EMP-related calamity would cost the average electricity consumer in the U.S. an extra 20 cents per year. And yet, nothing is done.
Electronic devices would require some kind of protective box or sleeve made from highly conductive metals like copper or aluminum in order to survive the vicious blast of a nuclear-based E1 current. The best way to protect computers or other kinds of precious electronics would be through the use of a Faraday cage, which offers full shielding from stray electric currents. Because of the effects that an EMP would have on television, radio, and the Internet, the best way to keep in contact with the outside world following a catastrophe of this sort would be with a shortwave radio, but this too would need to be kept inside a protective enclosure beforehand to be saved from the destructive effects of an E1 pulse.
The Price of Dependency
We have become so dependent on electricity and electronics for our very survival that society would no longer be able to withstand any disaster that took it off-line and off-the-grid. Those who have already unplugged and are living a self-sufficient lifestyle could be adequately prepared for the effects of a solar-based EMP, as long as they were relying on alternative energy to provide all their power needs. Off-the-gridders who want to be prepared for all contingencies, however, would be wise to begin investigating the protective technologies that currently exist to help shield electronic devices and home wiring systems from the effects of E1 pulses, which would present a threat to everyone if a nuclear attack should ever occur.
We do not know exactly when and where it will come; or if it will come because of something that happens on the surface of the sun, or because of actions taken by rogue nations and reckless leaders. But the one thing we know for sure is that an electromagnetic pulse is coming, and if we are caught unaware and unprepared, in the end we will have no one to blame but ourselves.
©2013 Off The Grid News
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Newt Gingrich is the only public official who has warned of this danger. Think what this would do to communications, etc of our military!
most if not all of the military’s equipment is protected. protection has been built in for a number of yrs people that manufacture and sell to them know this its designed in the specs before production on the item begins.
I am sorry beready but you are wrong. The nuclear hardening program was dis-continued in 1992. The chips that were being made by company’s like Texas Instruments were deemed to costly. I am not guessing here as I was a process engineer for TI for 9 years. The current military will fare no better the you or me.
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your comments on EMP. Will hand crank magneto’s be ok if an EMP hits? Like the old hand crank telephones?
Thanks
See coment # 12 for extended comment.
If you think we are protected from this type of attack from other governments and mother nature, guess again. We haven’t been able to keep up with simple things such as food distortion, distribution, or how about the technoligies we possess that help us with weapons of mass distruction. Tracking our own rogue citizens and foriegners is so huge, we just guess at most of it. Face it, we can’t even keep our own borders secure, protection from EMP’s,,,,,,haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Under a properly qualified commender-in-chief, boomer released nukes would create scorched source of launch anywhere on earth including launch of orbiting devices. If you accept that such calculated risk is likely then move underground and prepare for the event.
Can you say, “Submarine-launched EMP cruise missile?” No? How about “Foreign-flag freighter-launched EMP cruise missile?”
How would an EMP affect Power plants (especially Nuclear Power) would they be able to shut down the reactors manually?
I may be paranoid but I’ve been worried about this since I was about eight years old. As an Amateur Radio OP since the late 1950′s I have had knowledge of this due to the eleven year sun spot activity we all love and hate.
It makes long range communications we love as do those crazy CB radio owners.
Also I spent several years in the US Navy in Electronics and was made very aware of EMP.
I also worked in the early days of multi warhead re-entry vehicles. So my electronics experience is decades old and up to date. While I was working in the war head re entry program I was on the USNS Vandenberg.
You might have seen this ship in the movie “Virus” as a Russian Trawler. It was a floating electronics maze of Radar, radio and many other high tech practices
I have put my paranoia to work over the years by lead foil wrapping several type of radios for use in the event of this happening. Example I have two very small made by Yaesu. They cover the Amateur bands from 1Mhz through 444 MHZ in modes of CW, AM, SSB and FM.
They are designed to receive continuously over the entire spectrum from 500Khz to 440 MHZ but are limited to transmit in only legal Amateur bands. Including CB. They are able to receive but not transmit on the CB 11Meter band. As the radios are micro processor controlled I have modified the software so they can both receive and transmit across the full range as mentioned above. I have two of them wrapped in multiple layers of over lapping lead foil. Then wrapped in copper screen wire that is soldered together at all over lapping seams. There is then a plastic wrapping of several layers, “all separate and sealed.” Around that is one more layer of copper screen as above. The whole thing, the radio and equipment needed for it, Microphones, CW Keyers, head sets and speakers are all likewise protected. Then the whole thing is wrapped in another water proof layer of plastic and then shielded once again. Then they all are in a large box and that is then totally encapsulated in foam. The foam is the kind you see in boxes that form fits the goods. It is water proof. Then I put the whole thing in a large box that is water proof. I then used my tractor to bury them in separate but close by holes covered by a copper screening and a layer of plastic plus 48 inches of dirt. Also with one of these radios is a solid state 12VDC 350 watt amplifier to have power when needed to reach out a little farther in the low bands as these little radios only have a low and high power out put. In this case it is only 5 watts on the high power setting. Same as the CB band power.
More or less they are peanut whistles in the radio world but low power does some extraordinary communication in the presence of the Ionosphere being heavily ionized as it would be during sustained radiation from the Sun.
This is why there is the 11 year cycle. During the 11 year high output cycles real wonders can be done with low power. In 1964 from Treasure Island Navel Station San Francisco I was able to talk with a guy in Iceland with a home built 700millawat transmitter. That’s only 7 tenths of a watt!
The only way to find them is to know the exact spot. It isn’t written down anywhere. Another way is via GPS and I have the ordinates memorized to six digits. I have several hand held GPS receivers that are very carefully EMP protected and stored in different places. Of course there probably won’t be any GPS if there is a bad Solar flare and EMP. The satellites will be fried most likely. There is the distinct possibility the designers have protected them so cross your fingers. They could save your life!
The electronics are but a small part of what I have prepared for. I have over the year’s by hand dug a 48″ by 48″ hole straight down to 22 ft. I then have hollowed out a square room that is 20ft X 15ft.
There is another room next to it with stores for me, my wife and pets. I have 10 cats and two dogs.
I also have a 120 gal tank of Tilapia growing down there and a full “although small” Aquponics system.
The fish are for eating for meat and the plants are also. The plants also help take care of the CO2 and O2 problems.
Where this hole is is my secret!
I still dig for one hour per day to make it larger.
The only power I need is ventilation, grow lights, water pumping.
I have several radio’s not quite so heavily protected down there but 12 ft of soil is a hell of a good shield from Gamma etc. Yes they are also wrapped in copper etc. I plan to build a very small room off the side that is an actual Faraday cage for my radio operation station.
The radio’s I have down there are a little more resistant to EMP. Two of them are entirely old tube type radios.
One is a CW only transceiver To those of you who don’t know what CW is, it only transmits a carrier. That means the only to transmit with it is Morris code. Yup I do that at about 22 words per minute.
One of the old radios also there is an old 1960′s era Collins KWM-2 Single side band transceiver It’s also all tubes. These old tube radios use a lot of power that is wasted as heat. So I have a couple solid state radios that do nothing but transmit and receiver CW. I also have an old solid state Atlas 350, 250 watt single side band transceiver It runs on 12VDC. My antenna is a 203 ft long wire. It is grounded at the surface so as to not carry any electrostatic energy down during an EMP. It is so designed that I can pull it down to the shelter by a rope in a conduit after the EMP but may be too hot via Gamma to go out to get it. There is a very highly technical reason for the antenna being 203 ft long but that’s not for here.
I also have a very good stock of ammunition for several weapons for various levels of self defense.
When I finish my emergency exit the real entrance/exit will be redesigned so as to be caved in if needed for safety or defense. There are some various defense items I won’t talk about.
No! I’m not talking about explosives, trip wire guns etc.
What I’m talking about is legal and more effective anyway.
I’m adding to it every day.
You forgot to mention that one of the largest dangers will come after the EMP from your neighbors and the hoards streaming out of the big Cess Pools of humanity, “CITIES.” . They will kill you for a piece of bread!
I’ve been where having a piece of bread could get you killed! I know from really bad experience that a little food and or water will and can get you killed when all hell breaks loose. When I’m through I hope to have about 2200 sq ft of storage and living space. Hopefully with my aquaplanes I can stay down for months at a time.
Be prepared people. It ain’t if it’s when!
With the idiot in the White house and not much better in Congress it may be tonight, or tomorrow!
Wow, that’s a lot of wrapping when all you have to do is cut the cord off a microwave. It’s a faraday cage already!!!
Has anyone built a magnetic generator at home with success?
The generators that advertise using the Earth’s magnetic field to produce electricity at no cost (like Magniworks.com) are bogus. Can’t be done. Remember, if it sounds too good…
Nikola Tesla did it 100 years ago. Us and some nations direct the energy for many uses with facilities such as HAARP. Tesla’s research funding was recalled when he announced his intention of wireless free electricity for the world. Investment domination of legitimate research for the good of all is controlled by the progeny of the same money moguls today in all fields of research primarily through corrupt government oversight. Medical research is no exception.
Most Electrical Engineers are taught only the minimum amount of theoretical knowledge to do their minimalist jobs. We would not want them to become too smart. Not good for the money moguls. Not good for their political cronies. Want some good info, then check out Maxwell’s original electrical theory. It uses quaternian algebra and has applications in this area. It was “cooked down” to a minimally useful theory by Heavyside and others, who, under the direction of their financiers, kept most of the useful parts of the theory undiscovered. Tesla was well aware of much of Maxwell’s work, and, much of his own original theories also apply to non-linear energy conversion. Almost all electrical engineers do not understand and do not want to examine non-linear aspects of energy physics. They would have to THINK.
Hey,
Don’t you think we need to stick to survival with reality? Not myths and pie in the sky!
We don’t’ have time to re invent the wheel here.
The hammer is about to fall.
If you live in the City………….. Well I feel for you!
Due to this I got out years ago. I’m deep in the woods and independent and well fortified for when the starving hords from the stinking City Clones or out to steal what they can.
I don’t blame them but me and mine will be safe. Even from them if I’ve done my home work right.
Tesla was a genious. But we do not have time for this we need to work on survical.
Good luck!
peteg,
Just finished reading your post. Wow! So how do you intend to generate the needed power for your radios?
A hand crank generator? Question, if a person has an emergency radio wraped, do we still need an antenna such as yours? I think what scares us the most (we live in the mountains, far away from the City.. thank God) is that we are 1200 mi away from our kids who live and work in the city.
After reading the book “One Second After”and studying shielding for an EMP attack I have taken the preliminary step of put a solar charged radio and flashlight/lamp in an unused microwave oven, which is apparently adequately shielded for such an event.
An unused microwave oven might be adequate protection IF 1) you keep it plugged in to a grounded outlet, and 2) if you remove the Klystron tube that generates the microwave frequencies for cooking: EMP causes frequencies in the gigahertz range, and thus the Klystron tube could be excited at its resonant frequency by the EMP and thus cook your radio. This is a similar principle to a frequency being transmitted via a resonant antenna is best received by an antenna at the same resonant frequency: A resonant antenna receiving a strong signal will also radiate that signal in the local vicinity. Thus the Klystron tube will resonate at its resonant frequency in the gigahertz range and retransmit that frequency into the oven.
Sorry, but a microwave oven is useless as a shielded enclosure against EMP. The gap about the oven door is wide open to all frequencies except the microwave operating frequency. That single frequency is blocked by a quarter wave shorted wave guide, which acts as an open circuit providing very high attenuation at that one microwave frequency at which it is 1/4 wavelength in length.
James H.
Very good!
Besides what the hell are you going to seal in that tiney spot.
Build a room or use a spare room and completely surround it with copper screening.
Example when working in very, very low signal testing in the lab we built a very simple Faraday cage like this.
Use what ever demension you wish.
We laid out a copper screen on the floor of the required size then laid ply wood on it. We then laid another coper screen on it. Then yes another piece of ply wood to walk on and protect the copper under it.
After that we soldered all the edges together. Then build from 2X4 a room by the dimehtions of the floor.
Then on the inside of the room like your would put up dry wall we put a complete copper screen on the inside of the 2X4′s. Then soldreed all gaps and overlaps together. Then covered the outside of the 2X4′s with another layer of copper screen all soldered together. The door was made from 2X4′s with the same type screening as the walls.
The edges of the door both inside and out were trimmed with copper finger stock to make contact with copper flashing around the door frame which was soldered to the copper screening on the room.
In testing we found that there was a very minute of some frequencies getting in. The place we built this was in a facility where we built all kinds of radio transmitting equipment from 2Ghz through 42Ghz. Lot’s of stuff to try to keep out.
So with that problem we built something like an airlock. Just another small room attached to the outside of the door only wide and high as the door. It was completely copper screen shielded like the rest of the structure.
After building this small room with another door like the original we couldn’t find any radiation inside the room.
We had very expensive and highly sensative equipment. Our spectrum analyzer cost almost a half a million in USD. There was much more but that’s just a little taste of how serious we were.
It worked great!
Good luck!
Start thinking how your going to eat and feed your kids if your unlucky enough to have had them
Dig. Dig deep. It takes about 36 or more inches of hard dirt to protect you from Gamma rays.
Peteg,
Great information, thanks so much. By your last comment, (sorry for the stupid questions)are we in physical danger of gamma? I guess I thought it would only harm electronics. So,,, we happen to have 7+ feet of clearance under our house. Could we build one of these rooms you gave instructions for under the house, and keep our er radios, electronics, etc. safe? Oh, I see John K’s post. I was wondering,,, what if I put two surge protectors in-line. Would that offer any protection for anything? Or are they not fast enough?
So I guess my 14K generator that runs on propane gas would be of no use,right? Could I build a wire cage around the unite? How about the the electric box with the transfer switches would they need to be cover and ground with steel mesh? I have heard that a old tool box made of steel could protect electrical products? Is our government doing anything to shoot down any missiles that come this way. I guess I’ve answered that one,didn’t a missile get launch along our cost and our government just denied it ever happened. I remember seeing the contrails of that missile launch. We spend all the money on defense and surely you would like to think that they in Washington love America enough to protect this great country. How do we John and Jane Does protect ourselves and our families from this madness. Thanks for letting have my say. Take care out there SP
You can, but make sure you don’t have more than 1/4 an inch hole anywhere, or your let the higher frequencies though. You’ll also need to use metal honeycomb vents for anything in and out that are smaller than the 1/4 inch.
The problem with these reports is that they rarely tell the whole story: Nuclear EMP occurs at ground level bursts (very short range EMP) and edge-of-space bursts (mentioned in this article). What this article fails to note is that only two countries in the world have rocket delivery systems capable of reaching the edge-of-space altitude necessary for nuclear EMP: Russia and the U.S. And the Russian systems are so poorly maintained it is unlikely they would be able to do it either.
Iran now has a sub orbital missile for delivery of any type of warhead they want….as does North Korea.
Shahab 3 – Iran, Tae Po Dong 2 – North Korea
Sadly you are under the illusion that ANYONE in Washington loves ANYTHING but money.
Correction. They don’t love money. Money is the means to get what they really love…and that
is POWER.
Yes I think they love something more than mney.
They love power and the soft living at your expense too.
Oh, they have huge undergound quarters that they and their little brats can live in for minths, even years.
Who paid for that I wonder?
The generator would probably be fine, but the insulation of the wiring of the electrical generator might be destroyed by the high voltage induced by the EMP. It the generator is one of the newer kind that generates DC and uses a solid state inverter to produce the 60 Hz AC, it would be even more vulnerable.
James H.
I can’t do a lot about preparing for EMPs at home, but one thing I did do… I built a “Faraday Cage” and have all my small electronics that I don’t use daily in it to HOPEFULLY prevent damage. I placed CB radios, walkie talies, emergency and shortwave radios, etc in the cage. Be sure to properly ground your Faraday cage if you build one. I used 5/8″ copper bar, 8 ft. long and sunk it COMPLETELY into the ground. This should be enough grounding to absorb ANY EMP and keep my electronics safe. A Faraday Cage is any enclousure COMPLETELY covered in metal, (I used steel window screening). There can be NO cracks or openings in the metal screening at all for this to work, then sufficiently ground the entire enclusure. You can find “How To’s” on YouTube.
Good discussion, all, and thanks to those who are share good info with the rest of us. Regarding a Faraday cage and protecting small electronics, I’ve read that placing them in either an ammo box or steel trash can lined with cardboard will do the job. No?
I heard that you could cover small appliances etc in several layers of aluminum foil in a metal trash can or such if you did not have a faraday cage. Is this true??
Great article – but… why not also give us a head start on the research on how to defend against this.
I am VERY interested in purchasing an off-the-grid solar panel system from you folks but can’t get a response from anyone via email there. It’s great to know it can be protected from a solar EMP and would love it if you would point us in the right direction for protecting a solar system.
I get conflicting information on the Faraday Cage. Some say that grounding is necessary and some say it’s not. Does the grounding question have anything to do with the type of pulse, i.e., E1, E2, or E3? In other words, if your cage isn’t grounded, is it protected from any EMP pulse?
I don’t trust YouTube for this kind of information. Anyone with a video camera can post instructions. Where can I find a reliable source of information on Faraday Cages?
I have the same problem. I’ve read a lot, and apparently well grounded scientific people strongly disagree on the grounding issue, leaving us mere mortals confused. Right now, I just am using a galvanized metal garbage can with tight lid and lined with non-conducting material, which is a cheap, $35 solution.
What non-conducting material did you select to line the metal garbage can? Also, do you think the non-conductive liner computer gear is packaged in would work okay? I have my small electronics sealed in some of those placed inside emergency totes in my crawl space. Thx!
Ground it for what?
The current you are going to be worried about is going to be induced by the magnetic wave front/fronts.
If you had an anti gravity generator you could float it in the air without a single connection to anything.
All the currents induces would be around the conductiong walls.
Beyond that you should be safe.
I was flying my wife and several people to North West Texas and the aluminum aircraft was hit by lightening.
Blew holes in the leading edge corners at the ends of the horrizontal stabalizer. About the size of a half dollar at the exit and entrance points. We noticed the bright white light but that’s all until we landed and saw the holes.
That was a huge amount of current in the skin of the aircraft but we didn’t feel a thing.
Yes, the Faraday Cage must be grounded, or why have it. I bought galvanized 30 gallon trash cans, and I put a lot of my ham radios in it, along with a 8,000 watt inverter. I also have a 6hp Briggs and Stratton gas engine with 2 single wire alternators on them, in the galvanized cans. I soldered and bolted 10 gauge wires on the cans, then run it to a 8 ft copper ground rod. I clamped all the ground wires to the rod, then soldered them all in place. I am confident they will remain dry and safe. Make sure you line your cans with card board, or foam, something non conductive for added protection. Also, I used 4 ground rods in a circle, and ran extra wires to the ground wire on my towers.I also used a post hole digger to make my holes deep before pounding the ground rods in.In the bottom of each hole, I added about 12 inches of BENTONITE. This looks like gravel, but when you add water, it turns to the consistency of pipe dope.It remains damp all the time, making for a excellent ground. Just as a precaution, I stuck a 1″ pvc pipe in also, with a cap on it. During those hot summer days, I just pour water down it to make sure it stays moist. Nice shiny 30 gallon galvanized cans make great Faraday Cages, and they keep your stuff dry and in good shape. You might want to put these somewhere where the trash man won`t grab them by mistake, or neighbors taking your stuff. I certainly would not bragg to any neighbors. I live out in the woods, and the only neighbors I got scamper on 4 legs, and they don`t want my stuff anyway.Hope this helps those that are trying to help themselves.
I have been told a simple galvanized metal garbage can, lined with a non-conducting material, will work, so I have that (tight fitting lid needed). $35 bucks a Menards, easily accessible, cheap. The only question I have is about grounding. I keep reading different things about this – will the line leading the ground act as an antennae or to ground; worse, I am confused why apparently intelligent people disagree about this. If the garbage can is a good expedient Faraday, EVERYONE should have one. Heck, people thing nothing about dropping $35 on a bottle of wine, or $350 to get their latest electronic geegaw – and they can’t afford this????
Another option is to look at being truly OFF grid. Just finished a helpful book: Surviving Off Off-Grid.
I like the garbage can idea but what non-conducting material are you using and how thick does it need to be? Now for the grounding need what if the can was sitting in a concrete floor?
You may be able to find some red insulating rubber in sheets at your local rubber company. We use it in the electrical industry to make a “safety tunnel” when we have to work on high voltage live (very rare these days, though). Some of your glass shops may also be able to drop the names of their rubber suppliers, also. Just a suggestion……
ditto to the “who do you believe” comments. it would be very helpful if a documented expert could answer questions on this subject. an example. Is some protective shielding better than none? What age vehicles are safe from damage? Would a metal shipping container grounded protect the contents? Would equipment in an all metal barn be less damaged than if it were outside?
I have 1950′s vintage tractors that will run after an emp attack. They have absolutely NO ELECTRONICS in them. They are pretty basic and primative, but, some transportation and farming is better than none at all.
Keeping my suzuki samurai! The radio won’t work but everything else will!
It’s my understanding that pre-1993 or -1994 Diesel vehicles (trucks mostly in the USA) are EMP-proof because they do not have electronic fuel injectors, they have “manual” ones. The really ironic thing here is that collectors’ vintage old classic car vehicles and these old dinosaurs with 200k miles on average are going to be the only thing running after The Big One, besides bicycles, ox carts, horse wagons, and what, the occasional golf cart, car or truck that just happened to be in a protecting enclosure (underground storage garage? airplane hangar? metal shed?) or whose owner Faraday’ed it at the right time or who had replacement electronic parts which had been protected. They’re going to be worth a fortune, if you have gold or food to buy one, and, in some areas, the means to constantly protect it and not just from hoodlums. The federal government already has the Executive orders on the books to confiscate food, water, fuel, and vehicles for “national security” so you won’t get to use it for long! Likewise for airplanes, trains and ships. Of course, getting fuel would be a b+tch, too – if available at all, mostly at first, at astronomical cost. Ships would perhaps be the best way possible to travel long distances (like intercontinental), but only a sail boat would be guaranteed. Especially since airplane trips would be very rare at astronomical costs and they are exposed to more dangerous solar EMP radiation, which comes in waves, not just once, from the sun, remember, and interferes with navigation.
*”mechanical” not “manual.”
well your right about the Diesel injectors.
However the newer stuff has electronics to control them. Poof!
I have a very old 15KW generator that has no electronics at all except for a bridge rectifyer tied to a magnetic auto transformet to make a dc signal to control the voltage.
I have built a Faraday cage around it and yes it is gounded but just because. No real scientivid reason to ground the cage. But just in case I have serveral of the diode bridges in case one gets fried.
I also have many many parts. Lots of single diodes to build a bridge if I have to.
The article has some important truth and a lot of misinformation. All atomic weapons generate an EMP. The effect of an atomic detonation near the ground has a limited range of effect. The effect of detonatating an atomic bomb at high altitude approximately over Kansas would extend over the entire United States. (Basically, everything within line of sight is effected.) The magnitude of the EMP effect is greater the greater the asymmetry in the conductive medium through which the gamma rays pass. (i.e., The earth air boundary and the air space boundary produce large effects.)
In fact, scaled up systems that protect the electrical and telephone systems from lightning also provide a degree of protection against EMP. EMP is much larger in the magnitude of voltage and current than lightning and also much higher in frequency. (I.e. The pulse occurs over a much shorter time.) As a result, most lightning protective circuits do not provide enough protection, unless hardened to EMP capability.
The intense magnetic field can pose a threat to some devices, but its magnitude would be reduced by the external metal enclosure of large power transformers. The iron core would saturate, so the issue is how intense the free air field itself is. If the induced voltage spike is high enough, it would break down the insulation, thus destroying the transformer. (Those expert in the field should be able to calculate how high a voltage would be induced in power transformers with various types of metal enclosure.)
Regarding Faraday cages, there is no electrical field within a Faraday cage. All points within a Faraday cage, that has no openings, are at the same potential. A 1/4 inch hole would not block any frequency of about 1.18 Ghz or above from passing through the shield.
Cars and other devices using solid state electronics are definitely at risk.
James H.
Addendum: My comment on a Faraday cage apply to a perfectly conducting cage. In practice, a minimum thickness of the conductor forming the Faraday cage is required to attenuate any exterior surface currents to an interior surface current of a value close enough to zero for any practical purpose. A real world Faraday cage requires significant thickness in the metal from which it is formed. A thin screen won’t give much protection against the low frequency components of an EMP or even from the currents of a near by lightning strike.
James H.
Bull shit!
Wonder what the intensity of the magnetic component of an EMP would be inside the Faraday cage? Would a barium ferrite external coating, such as an epoxy paint with those components work? Just putting it out there……
The problem with “documented experts” is that global warming has them on both sides, so I would expect the same situation here.
My brilliant DIY brother’s solution to the vehicle problem is going to be replacement electronics for our oldest vehicles (i.e. the fewest computer chips, etc.) stored in a Faraday Cage. They would have to be wrapped in something that would not conduct electricity, maybe even just bubble wrap. The important thing being that they can’t touch the inside of the cage. There are foam floor mats sold by electric supply stores that are made to protect people working on electronics. A trash can lined with those mats would keep anything in it from touching the sides.
If you have a water filter and food stored for your family, this should be your next step. When I post this, my next step will be to call my Senators and demand action. I wrote to my Senators about this last month. One answered essentially: “Yes, this is a real problem. But the Senate never picked up that bill after the House sent it over…so Oh Well. If it ever comes up again, I will vote on it.” I couldn’t believe the cavalier attitude. I was livid! The possibility of actually working hard to get that bill on the floor or developing his own bill clearly was more work than he wanted to do. If we all call and demand some action, we might at least rattle their cages a little.
Do not wrap sensitive electronic components in bubble wrap! Bubble wrap and most ordinary plastic easily generates static electricity, which will destroy sensitive electronic components. This was discovered early on when they initially shipped transistors in plastic containers.
Special electrically conductive plastic is readily available to avoid the static electricity pit fall. Static electricity is also a hazard anytime sensitive components are handled. Always ground yourself before handling them. (Warning: Be careful, disconnect the electrical supply from any devices before you work on them!)
I believe simple cardboard or paper would work OK. A simple wooden container would also work.
The difference here is that real EMP experts are competent and know what they are talking about, rather than speculation on things about which they are in almost total ignorance.
You seem to have not noticed that most of the “human caused global warming” experts are administrators and politicians rather than working scientists in the field of global temperature. It does not take much checking into the issue to discover that naturally occurring cycles of global warming and global cooling have been going on for millions of years.
The data on this present cycle of global warming does not match the data on man’s increasing use of gas, oil, and coal as fuels. The data does match the cycle of sunspots. Additionally, no one has explained how man’s production of CO2 on earth is causing temperature rises on the other planets of our solar system – but a change in solar energy output does explain that parallel data quite nicely.
Another important detail is that actual (i.e., real) atmospheric temperature measurements are in conflict with the “man caused global warming” proponents theories. So far, the predictions of their theories keep failing to match the actual measured data of today, let alone predicting what’s going to happen 100 years from today.
To set the record straight, we who reject the “man caused global warming” theory reject speculative theories and chicken little type claims that we must actually destroy our present economy to avoid the possibility that we are headed pell mel towards a devasting disaster 100 years from today. Facts, not speculative theory are the foundation of science.
Responsible people do not base massively expensive and consequential actions on wild guestimates, though politicians do seem to choose that approach without regard to the harm they inflict.
James H.
Global Warming!!!!!!
PROVE IT!
Ok so here’s what I do to test a Faraday cage, I use an AM/FM/SW radio for the test. After building the cage and checking the continuity with a multimeter on all surfaces I place the radio in the cage tuned to a low AM station and listen for a signal. Then tune the radio to a high AM station and listen. Repeat the same test for FM and SW. If the radio cannot receive any of the signals in the cage that it can out of the cage, the cage is impervious at least to RF. I also test the cage grounded and ungrounded. My cages are made from aluminum window screen with a wood frame and insulated with 1/2″ foam sheet. The insulation can be anything that is non-conductive and solid as long as it stays dry.
I am looking at copper or brass screening, it is solder-able and would make a tighter cage, but more expensive. I am also testing my solar panels with screen to see if the screen reduces the output too much to make them unusable.
Good start, but the cage is not “impervious even to RF up to only VHF! And there are some more details that you need to take care of. For example, your tests would not detect a lack of attenuation at UHF and higher frequencies that might be caused by gaps or holes in your Faraday shield. But if you pay careful attention to avoid any openings longer than 1/8 inch, that should not be a problem (Someone identified a 1/4 inch limit, and that probably would be adequate, but I tend to be conservative when there is only one chance to get it right.)
The Faraday shield attenuates RF fields. The amount of attenuation depends on the frequency and the thickness and conductivity of the metal in the shield. Copper screen would be better than aluminum because it has better conductivity. (The effect of corrosion over time was not considered in that statement.) The attenuation will be limited because of the thinness of the conductive screen material, though it does increase with increasing frequency. Small hole size screening will definitely provide attenuation to the higher EMP frequencies involved. Do not leave any holes or gaps longer than 1/8 inch in the seams.
The wires connected to the solar panels will act as antennas producing a very high voltage. You need EMP rated protective breakdown devices connected between the leads to limit that voltage. There voltage rating must be above the maximum possible solar panel generated voltage, but low enough to protect the panels. A high voltage high current rated rectifier diode in series with each lead connected right at the solar panel will improve the protection of the panels. Enclosing the power leads in a metal enclosure along their lengh will also help.
Protect the inverter device in an enclosure and again, protect its output AC power leads with EMP rated voltage limiting devices. Again placing the power leads inside a metal enclosure helps reduce the magnitude of the EMP induced voltage.
A problem is that the long pulse, low frequency component of the EMP, won’t be attenuated by the thin copper of the screen. I don’t see an answer to that.
James H.
How about using metal military surplus ammo storage boxes that are adequately grounded and lined with insulating rubber? Just a thought……
Read “One Second After” by William R. Forstchen with a forward by Newt Gingrich and an afterward by Gen. Eugene Habiger, USAF Ret. former Commander-in-Chief, US Strategic Command. Not only would people eat everything they could find including their pets in a fairly short time, the wildlife would be decimated since there would be relentless hunting with no season for the animal populations to recover, and gardens take at least 50 to 80 days to mature even if you start them in early spring. By that time, 50 to 80 percent of the population could be dead from starvation and lack of medications such as antibiotics, insulin, blood pressure medicine, etc. Meanwhile, who thinks the third world countries where plows are still pulled by oxen, would find it as difficult as we would. If EMPs don’t scare you, you aren’t paying attention.
Third world! Plus the people aren’t ignorant, fat and lazy savages like Americans, they are good and have a happy life! That’s why in August I visited the European country with the most undeveloped economy and infrastructure, Macedonia, which is also, fortunately, not EU. EVERYBODY there grows fruit trees and vegetables on EVERY SQUARE INCH of their property. They know how to preserve and conserve the produce, including wild foods that they know how to collect in the mountains and forests. Many people cook and heat their homes with wood. It is not unusual to see donkeys pulling carts. Many people still make their agrarian living on the very productive land, with some modernization but everybody’s parents and grandparents remember the old ways and they still have the equipment lying around. We’re going to be able to provide food relief and become millionaires! (See Jim Rogers, long on agricultural commodities).
If this interests you, contact me at collingswoodbirther@yahoo.com.
P.S. I am quite certain, based on BOTH Biblical and New Age eschatologies, that The Big One is going to occur on or around 12/21/12 and I do NOT want to be in America.
Your right. Don’t forget you might even be on the menue in the right conditions.
I have fish in a large under ground tank. Yup under ground as in a shelter over 20 ft deep and very large.
The fish feed the plants in a system commonly called Aquaponics.
Fish make Amonia, bacteria change the Amonia to Nitiites and yet anothe bacteria turn the Nitrites into Nitrates for the plants.
A young lettace seedling in the water will grow into a full head in about 24 days.
I have a continuous growing and harvisting Aquaponics sytem right now. It will make meat and vegies for me under ground while almost completely sealed in.
Need to pump air, and circulate water, feed the fish, eat the fish eat the plants. Work day and night.
Google Aquaponics. Get started because if it ain’t producing you won’t have time after the hammer drops and it will and it might be on the way down right now.
If you live in the city, GET OUT, GET OUT, GET OUT!
These are the governments EMP commission official reports on EMP effects, a bit lengthy but thoroughly descriptive.
http://www.empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP_Commission-7MB.pdf
http://www.empcommission.org/docs/empc_exec_rpt.pdf
Grounding your Faraday cage is absolutely imperative, in order to dissipate the current flow. Very large conductor sizes are required here,(no #12 wire) going to a 8′ (or longer) ground rod (must be into the water table, not dry earth). Ground rod must be AT LEAST 15′ from your current electrical service ground rod, to prevent ground looping feedback. Nested Faraday cages (small one inside larger one work best). Insulate between each of them. All openings must be sealed with a metallic braid type gasket for the lid. Use multiple ferrite beads on all exiting cabling or better yet use fiber-optic cables. As fiber-optic doesn’t conduct EMP. I’ve been told that if your cell phone rings (operates near same frequencies) inside your cage then it’s not working. Not sure if that is correct or not. But I do know that it rings INSIDE MY MICROWAVE with the oven plugged into the wall and the door closed. HMMM???
The gap around the door of your microwave oven is open to most radio frequencies. It has a quarter-wave trap at the microwave operating frequency that acts as an open circuit, thus attenuating the microwave energy that can escape out from the oven. (It also prevents energy of that frequency from entering the microwave oven – but that isn’t relevant here.
James H.
For information on man-made and solar EMP visit EMPACT at http://www.empactamerica.org/
If you explore the site there are links to the EMP Commission reports and others.
There is also preparedness information.
Note that according to EMP Commission, only a 10 kiloton nuclear weapon that is gamma-ray enhanced is needed to emit a sufficient E1 pulse that will shut down the power grid large transformers and other power grid equipment as well as other critical infrastructures’ equipment. Using only a crude Scud B off our coasts from cargo ships, barges or submarines-Iran has practiced these scenarios-portions of the power grid can be shut down. Detonated off the East Coast at 80 plus miles in altitude, the Eastern Grid-70% of the U.S. grid- would be imperiled.
EMPACT has information on bills in congress to begin the power grid protection process and how you can contact your representatives to request passage.
All of the technical information and comments are useful and educational, but what I don’t see anyone talking about is what will happen when most of the 320 million people in the U.S. start running out of food, water and medical supplies … and the chaos that will ensue. This should be pointed out so that people realize just how devastating this kind of event could be. It is appalling that our government hasn’t taken the lead on this and put preventive measures in place where possible.
They don’t want to protect the population because they want to reduce the population, anyway.
That is why food storage is always a good idea. To be able to help yourself and a neighbor. AND, to educate others to do the same. Forget that new bike or car. Buy food and water first. And, more ammo. Not for the neighbors, but for the government men who believe that food storage and preparedness is hoarding.
Get the weapons off the radar. We are about to sign a treaty with the UN, “Communists.” for a weapons law that leaps right around the Constitution and allows UN troops to come here and enforce it.
As the UN laws are on guns right now, citizens can have no simi auto, no hand guns etc.
You know soon as they get their grubbly little hands on it it will just get worse. Hide everything you can.
Noe not tomorrow!
While our politicians play politics in Washington, the rest of us here in America, are left to prepare for ourselves. You can bet your bottom dollar that the politicians have preparations for themselves and their families which we may never be aware of. You can also bet they have no intentions of doing ANYTHING to protect us. The Air Force has a program that employs the THAAD missile system to shoot down the kind of launch vehicle that can carry a nuke aloft, but, the military has such maligned chain of command requirements they could not launch in time to be effective. Interception needs to begin within less than 15 seconds of launch detection. Termination needs to be less than 40 seconds into the burn, if any level of mitigation of damage is to be achieved. We don’t have that anywhere in our command structure. Just check out how well prepared we were for that Chinese missile launch that occurred off the California coast in November 2010. You didn’t see US shoot it down, now, did you? We are not prepared. And THEY KNOW IT. We are sitting ducks.
How the hell do you think the government could protect 3Billion people even if the wanted to?
Will a propane backup system be affected? Older diesel vehicles?
See #11.
Maybe you should ground the alumnimum siding on your house and park your cars inside.
I suspect that you have more than a 1/4″ crack or crevice somewhere in your siding, and, anyway, there is no protection where your roof and ceiling are, so this would do no good at all.
LOL. Good one! Serious topic and serious folks here!
An EMP would turn large gun safes with the electronic lock pad into a thousand pound anchor. I choose the old fashioned dial type combo lock for mine just for that reason. Immediately after an EMP is when you’re going to need your firearms for protection and they would be useless inside of a safe that you could not open. Without power tools it would take you days to break into it, and by then it would probably be too late. It’s a small price to pay for the added inconvenience of having a dial combo lock over the electronic one.
Good idea. Thanks!
Electronic safes all have manual “keys” that can be used to open the safe.
was also wondering about mostly mechanical diesel trucks, such as my 94 & 95 dodge cummins….. I know its hollywood but I remember a John Travolta movie in which they set off a small EMP, but first truned all their electronics off inside their hummer, & the vehicle too. Would a vehicle be affected if it was turned off, or if the batteries are unhooked?? Thanks
Yer Hummer tronics would be toast.
See comment #11.
Batteries have nothing to do with EMP.
EMP is a current induced into anything that conducts just like in a generator.
As the magnetic filed moves across the conductor it induces current. It could possibley induce enough into the cables to make the battery explode though. That’s just conjucter.
I’l to some math on it in a few days.
That is if it’s of any importants at all.
Tonight may be the big pulse that blows away all conducting goodies.
I grew up with on inside plumbing, no electricity until REA put it in when I was about 15 years old.
I’m not so sure I won’t enjoy it.
It’s you I’m afraid of. You who don’t know how to eat unless it’s in a can or delivered by the delivery boy.
I’ll have food and a growing supply that I will have to keep you and the other City Scum out of.
I’ve been through survival school. Military and hard knocks I can get by. Can you.
NO don’t think buying a gun and hunting will help
Withing a month at the longes there won’t be a deer, cow, possum, raccon, skunk, squirrel left to eat.
There is of course going to be quite a crop of idiots if you can stomach it.
I would like to know if/how an EMP would affect storage batteries, those in autos and those part of a PV system, and would a Faraday cage protect them? I am in the process of storing extra electrical parts in a Faraday cage for my ’76 Chevy 4wd pickup. These parts (starter, alterntor, distrbutor, and others) will be installed after an EMP. As long as the wiring is not affected this would be a relatively quick fix.
Is any pre-76-78 vehicle non-electronic ignition better? I understand not perfect, but better?
Does the grounding rod, which protects your electrical systems in your house protect against EMP? That is, your house wiring, panel, etc.?
I really believe the “Day of Tribulation” is really an EMP or solar flare going off. If you look behind the original meaning of “tribulation” you find the definition of “pressure”, “trouble”, “burden”, “anguish”, etc.
It also say pray that it does not occur in the winter or the Sabbath and woe to those who give “suck” in those days.
During the Winter we need energy, power, etc., there will be none if it occurs then, the first to go will be the very young, the Sabbath could infer distance or travel. You do not want to be caught away from home, maybe?
Good luck in your interpretation of this article and prepare, but most of all DO IT!!
I do , too. I think we should talk. Write me at collingswoodbirther@yahoo.com. See my comments Tojoflaherty says: at #11 and #14, (December 1, 2011 at 9:04 pm).
Could you store your stuff underground and if so how much earth do you need? Second, I have an 84′ Chevy Pick-up, it would it fry my Coil and Alternator with the battery disconnected or connected? Also, I have a large metal tool box made from 1/4 inch steel. Would this protect the stuff I have in it like chainsaws?
Thanks
Yes it would fry them.
If you don’t drive it or depend on it for your transportation.
Take the alternatoe, distributor and such and wrap them in copper screening. Solder the screen together everywhere it overlaps and burry it in a water proof container with dessicant inside. Remove the heavy cable from the starter moter’s solenoid or just remove the starter and put it with the reast of the stuff.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO CANNED GOODS ON STORE SHELVES?
Get the canned food on your own shelves. The store shelves will be emptied. Do it for other reasons also: possible lost job, earthquake prohibiting deliveries, etc, etc, etc.
Also, grow a garden every spring.
Someone mentioned GROW A GARDEN. Read “One Second After” or even common sense. EMP or dollar goes down, which may be sooner, People Panic, Cleans out the stores in 3 days then they start roaming the housing areas in groups, PULLING UP GARDENS. You need to learn about SPROUTS. Alphalpha Plus. Only takes a few days to grow in your WINDOW, not outside in plain sight. You will have LIVE VEGGIES all the time with all the vitimins. Safe way to grow. Don’t expect hunting after a while or going to the mountains, everyone else is thinking that, so they will be there. The Lord says: “Stand Ye in Holy Places and be not moved til I come”. Temples, Churches and your homes are blessed or Holy Places. If “Ye are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear”, Food in your basement, Water in 55 Gal drums and 100 Gal. Drums in your garage, medical kits (fair size ones)and other things you can brainstorm on ever needing, plus Good Guns and plenty of Ammo.
My garden is under gound.
It’s aquaponics. I eat the fish and the vegies.
You probably should have an undergound shealter anyway.
Why. First if it’s a bomb created EMP there will most likely be Gamma radiation.
It takes about 36 inches packed dirt to protect you from it.
I have my room under ground with about 18 ft dirt above. For comfort I built a frame inside it and insulated it but before I put the wall panneling in I lined the outer edges of the 2X4′s with copper shielding just in case.
My fish tanks are there under gound as well as my growing trays and tanks.
I produce way more than I can use and sell some of it at the Farmers Market.
The fish will be my meat, the vegies are my good stuff.
I also have two large bee colonies. That’s a long story!
By the way the vegies mature much faster in a aquaponics than in a garden.
A lettuce seedling will grow to full maturity in about 24 days.
Get to digging!
Tell no one. Hide the entrance. Hide every thing. It may be the only thing that keeps you alive!
ALL goods on store shelves would probably be stolen within the first 5 days of such an event, so, prepare now. Food will not be a plentiful quantity for many years after such an event.
It won’t need to be plentiful after the first year. Only Survivalists, Preppers, and miracle workers and their contacts will be around…
what about an old ice box or freezer that is put into the earth.
It is ironic that all the things man created for our comfort of modern living will probably be the death of us and the people that cannot or will not become accustomed to modern day living will be the survivors.
Yep, supreme irony and somewhat just, I think. People who got off the grid ahead of time, especially within communities, will be the most likely to survive. Along with the evil Illuminati globalists, of course, who caused the current and future chaos but the Bible says they will wish they were dead: see Revelation 6:15 for an AMAZING description of those in the bunkers: the politicians, the famous celebrities, the wealthy, the military generals, and the “mighty” (Olympic athletes, probably).
See my comments at #14 and
P.S. I am quite certain, based on BOTH Biblical and New Age eschatologies, that The Big One is going to occur on or around 12/21/12 and I do NOT want to be in America.
Guys,
As is usually the case on ‘Net forums, there’s a lot of conflicting info being bandied about. I think it would be very instructive to all of us to arrive at a consensus from some of the “credentialed” folks on here, and get some trustworthy guidance on how each of us can prepare for an attack. Would any and all of you who are electrical engineers, military comm folks and others who understand this issue please “raise your hands,” so we know we’re getting some qualified and credible info, rather than just uninformed opinions?
Man thanks!
Shibumi
I studied, even graduated, and then worked as an electronics engineer. If what you all are talking about is so important, you lose anyway, and already. Take the advice, feed yourselves, ride a bike,walk, and for all and everyones sake,help the ones who can actually help themselves. Unity in small groups can accomplish much, and it also has a good deal morale boost to know that you are a survivor. If you try to keep things as they are now, you will only bring those resourses to an end, and that could be just enough to save you othrwise.
All great discussions, and almost entirely the same arguments you can read in any forum or chat room on the subject. What I wonder is WHY is everyone trying to figure out how to protect their electronics in the event of a solar flare or an EMP? After all, who are you going to talk to on those radios and for what purpose? And, if you’re the only guy, for miles around, that has his lights on or freezer plugged in…ask yourself, “Do I really want to attract that much attention?”
No, our efforts and resources are best applied elsewhere like learning how to live the way people did BEFORE we were so dependent on everything electronic. Take a defensive weapons class, learn how to purify water, grow your own food, and live in a community with shared skills and protection. I have an off-the-grid property, and live there part-time with my husband who has an electrical engineering background. We’re preparing and learning to live without electricity, and showing others how to do it but seoyc is right….starvation will dictate the behavior of the masses and THAT is what we need to prepare for…if it’s even possible.
Great advice.
Let’s face it, would you really want to live in a world that will be so devastated by any kind of an EMP? Even if the Governments of the world took it seriously and pumped in some cash to build protection for the GRID we would still have utter chaos throughout the USA and slow death. Just pray to God, Budda, Mohamad or who ever you pray to that this does not occur in the near future. I worry about my children and grand children. What kind of life will they have in the future. I will take one day at a time, and try to help my fellow man each day. When it is my time to go, I will say Good Bye and go peacefully to my final destination.
Eddie
That is good of you to stick around to watch over your grandchildren. We can get through anything if WE THE PEOPLE stick together.
I guess that means that I will be left to protect my family and try to look out for yours, also, then Eddie? Teach them the skills that they will need now, while you still have a chance. After the event, it will be much more difficult. But, they will be paying attention, as there will be no cell phones, ipods, ipads, mp3 players, etc, to distract them.
Can you site the sourse of the 300 Kton atomic bomb being effective? I was under the impression that a minimum of 1.5 megatons (fission bomb) were required to wipe out USA electronice.
Im not too concerned about a country hitting us with an EMP device. It would be suicide. They may take the grid down here but considering how many off our armed forces are not here they would respond quickly. At the very least, the nuclear armed sub sitting off the coast of the offended nation would take care of business. On the other hand, a solar event would be impossible to stop from happenning but at the very least you can prepare for it and their would at least a little warning to help prepare.
The present evil and corrupt administration of the country will “never let a crisis go to waste,” particularly at the time of the Electoral College after a Presidential election (mid Dec., 2012). There will definitely be a false flag attack, probably on Washington, DC to ensure martial law and no transition of power, ever.
Contact me at collingswoodbirther@yahoo.com.
Jeus predicted “lightning from heaven.”
“Lightning of the Height” is “baraq bama” in Hebrew.
“His lightning of the Height” is “baraqo bama.”
Wake up, Neo!
To James H
Really enjoy your posts. You seem to be someone who at least gives the rest of us the impression of being knowledgeable on the subject of Faraday cages. Ever considered giving You Tube instruction so the rest of us might have a fighting chance?
The ONLY vehicles that’ll be useful during the EMP attack will be bicycles, skateboards and other non-electric, human-powered vehicles would be working.
If this happens be expecting mass looting.
Older vehicles that use points instead of spark-plugs and older deisels without the computer would be alright. They all use mechanical fuel pumps and diesels uses compression. An EMP should not hurt them. Probaly a large majority of farm tractors would still be usable. Biggest thing would having deisel but one could build a good wood- gas generator instead. Wood gas generators were used extensively during WW2 in Europe. Check out http://www.victorygassifiers.com for more info.
Anyway, you guys are right, it would be horrible the amount of death and destruction that would happen withen one week of such an event especially out west in places like Phoenix, LA, Vegas, etc. due to lack of water. I live in East Tennessee and would fair much better until the roaming hoards from up north came scavenging. Of course, I would be surprised if they made it through West Virgina.
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would a walk -in cooler act as a Faraday cage??
Older vehicles still have ignition coils and starter motors that would be toast. As well as alternators and batteries. Like someone else said here, get a bike or a horse.
OK, sorry i was wrong, I Didn’t realize those parts would be fried. I am man enough to admit that but at least those parts are relative inexpensive, easy to store are easy replaced. At the very least, buy some spare parts like a coil, alternator, starter etc and put them away for safe keeping. Buy a good used truck made in the late seventies or early 80′s and buy parts for it. Mine is an 84′Chevy ton 4×4 and it has no computer. Apperently, my coil, alternator, and starter could still get fried but easily replaced. You can still find plenty of parts for these trucks since anything from 1974 to around 1985 or so models will interchange with out much effort. Some Dodge and Jeep stuff will also work on a chevy. Ford is alot harder to interchange. If it was a nuclear detonation. then it wouldn’t matter, we are all screwed.
So you want to preserve your mode of transportation…alright. What do you intend to power it with? Gas stations will be shut down, if nothing less than no power.
well, you have a few options. A good wood gasifiier can power a vehicle and you have plenty of fuel. During WW2 these were popular in Europe. Look up Victory Gasworks on google. Their are plenty of youtube videos. 2nd, you can always become a moonshiner. You would have to modify a little but its possible. Here in East Tennessee we are pretty good at that. You may have to wait a couple of months for the mass die off but eventually you could grow a feild of corn, potatoes, whatever to make ethanol. If a deisel, especially an older own, you can make bio-deisel. If you have cattle or other live stock, you may be able to capture methane and use it. You might be able to find gas from non-fuctioning vehicles but i doubt.
Look, im not talking about taking a cross-crounty trip but a few gallons of gas or deisel can go a long way in farming, firewood gathering etc. You would be amazed how much work a 30HP tractor can do. At the very least, you have the option of a working vehicle. i would rather have the option of a truck than have no option at all.
I find it interesting how many people say just get a horse. It is not as easy as you would think. How would you feed the thing during winter,house it, etc. A thousand plus animal eats alot. I do not have horses but I do raise beef cattle and they are alot easier to raise than horses. Hay that a cow could eat with no problem could kill a horse. So yes, if I could keep a truck or tractor operational, I will find a way to fuel it. What, else am i going to do with my time. At the very least, i would at least try to keep a chainsaw and possibly a rolatillar running. Neither uses alot of fuel but saves you tons of time. I would pick a 4wd tractor especially with a front-end loader over a truck. You could easily store enough fuel for these pieces of equiptment to last you until you figure out to make that wood gasifier. Before you say someone would kill you for it which they would, you would have to join a larger group of people. With these pieces ofequiptment you could easily feed and keep warm alot of people with minimal work compared to just using hand tools and animal power. It would take a group effort to secure it since it would be to everyone’s advantage to protect it. However, If you still want a horse, go with a jack mule. Mules are still in use to pull cable here in this country where you can’t get a vehicle. They live for twenty years and tuff as nails compared to a horse and will work a horse into the ground. However, they can’t breed so you still need someone to have a female horse and male donkey so its not a perfect system.
Another idea is to build a battery powered truck or tractor with deep cell batteries or even better yet golf-cart batterries. Buy enough solar panels,inverter,etc to charge the system. Protect the stuff from an emp blast. Then when everything has blown over,put it all together and you have both transportation and electricity.
Just a thought
How deep do I bury a air and water tight suitcase below ground
Please forgive my ignorance, I just finished reading one second after. Scary stuff. I’ve read a bunch of the posts above and I’m still really not clear about some of the affects of a pulse. For example, I get that a pulse will follow the power lines and fry all of the electronics in the house. After the pulse, is the house wiring fried too? So, if I have a protected generator will the wiring in the house work when I connect it? Is there any type of “surge protector” that might help protect the house?
I am a woman. I am not electronically inclined. I haven’t been able to interested anyone in working up Faraday cages. I have solar panels, a 1976 diesel Chevy, food, water, chickens, rabbits, canned produce, etc. My family will not move. We are toast. Why? We live 30 miles from a nuclear plant. If a EMP hits, the diesel generators at the plant will run out of fuel in two weeks. I have been told that spent fuel cells are also stored at that site. Will the government be willing or ABLE to restock the fuel? All over our nation the plants will go toxic!
Please someone out there tell me I am crazy in this thought…….
What will happen to the people, animals and vehicles that are not under ground or protected? Will the earth be so hot that the people and animals perish? If I prepare a place (such as James H has using aquaponics underground), won’t my family and I die trying to get to that place if we are miles away when a solar flare happens–even if we have an older vehicle? Won’t the tires burn off the vehicle, or are tires considered an insulator?
Is it possible to build a new house and put copper mesh of some kind around the entire house and fix the doors as peteg described above? And, if it is possible, because attenuation works both ways (to and fro) wouldn’t the TV, appliances, cell phones, etc be saved from EMPs due to the copper, but, also, TV, appliances, cell phones, etc will not work inside the house because signals from the outside cannot get through the copper?
Good evening Folks,I am listening to a 1950′s Motorola tube type radio while I’m reading all of your great comments. Question,will EMP have any effect on old types of radios? I have a antenna for my CB and Ham radios,should they be taken down or at least grounded. Thanks for all of your comments. Take care and Merry Christmas. Southern Patriot
Many thanks to all for the practical info! I have found that youtube has a LOT of useful info on survival-related subjects that would be great to learn. As far as fueling vehicles, the “Alcohol can be a gas” book is a great idea for getting your fuel needs elsewhere but it does require a bit of work. If you haven’t checked out Rocket stoves on youtube, they’re a cinch to make and can be used pretty effectively. Here’s a link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRLR07GRgvQ&feature=fvwrel If you don’t have it, get real player so you can download videos to view at your convenience. Once you download stuff, make SURE you learn from it so you can use the knowledge at all times and you can pass on the skills as well. God bless you all and this great country of ours as well!
I have heard questions about protection using steel,but no real answers,
would steel sheet as siding and roof afford any kind of protection for any thing?
It’s the best time to make some plans for the future and it’s time to be happy.
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