You are probably right, but then again, how long ago was planes deliberately flying into tall buildings a non issue.
Considering how cheaply this could be done and how resourced terrorist are these days, all it needs is one of them to think of it and then pay off an electrcal engineer somewhere and ....
If they can learn to fly 767's and they already train to make bombs etc you never know whats next.

This thread could also lead into some more useful ideas about power protection and lightning protection which would be the first place to start to protect against an EMP.

it isn't that cheap, and it isn't that easy

trust me, I wanted to try one as my disertation :P Skipping the DOD interview woiuld have resulted if it ever got beyond the bad idea stage, the cost would be more than sending a dozen shmucks to Embry Riddle. (Flight and aircraft tech school in Florida my sister went to.)

And even if it was, let's say that the fear of EMP increases cost of consumer electronics 25%, and doubles thier weight. I can increse the cost of the device by 10% and smoke them. Or just let everyone be afraid, pushing thier paranoia until an iPod is the size and cost of ENIAC (adjusting for inflation). It which point RIAA is very, very happy.

Non issue, becuase realistically, there is nothing you can do to stop it passively. If there is real world EMP detonation, I'm more worried about my bank records than my mp3 player.

If by unit you mean your data, it's easy- copy the date to a new hard drive.

If by unit you mean the hardware, forget it. Big was right when said it can be simulated in the microwave. The solid state components will be smoked, all gone. You can save the frame, maybe the power supply, and that will be it. EMP = NCT (new computer time) <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Non fuel injected, certainly. Carberators would make it, though. Anything that old wouldn't have a chipped ignition or anythign like that.

and as soon as you attach your headphones, the faraday cage doesn't mean diddly <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> speakers in the tin can, with shrodinger's gerbil on it's wheel for power

Yeah, if the engine is trashed, it's pretty easy.

You need a really big block of super high grade steel, a fully equipped machine shop, and an engineering degree. And time. And resources becuase you will screw it up the first time or three.

There is no quick fix, kid. Salvage what you can and start walking. You've just entered the TEOTWAWKI Zone. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

online storage not much good if a)internet is fried, b)electric grid is down, c)computer is fried, d)telephone lines fried -- perhaps this is the time to re-start the pony express, horse mail instead of email

EMP Electro Magnetic Pulse
By Rich “Raspy” Shawver

The way you make electricity require 3 things a conductor [Wire] a magnetic field and relative motion. A lightning strike generates an expanding [the moving] magnetic pulse or field that passes over power lines [the wire] generating a voltage spike in incoming services. The size of the spike is dependent on the strength of the field and the length of the wire involved. The resulting spike only has a duration of a very small fraction of a second but that is more than enough to damage electronic components. Circuit breakers are of no help. The spike is so short that it hits and does the damage long before the breaker has a chance to react and open. The spike resulting from a lightning strike can be 4 to 5 times as high the normal line voltage. The EMP of a nuclear weapon is exactly the same mechanism but with a much greater intensity. Depending on your distance from the detonation the field can be strong enough to generate damaging voltages in the internal wiring of the equipment.

If your equipment is hooked up but turned off, an incoming spike on the electrical power lines [and other attached lines, cable and phone] can arc over the switch if large enough. Also most electronic equipment now have circuits that have power running through them even when turned off for remote operation [even if it's not remote controlled]. Rather than building separate boards for each model companies have found it is cheaper to include many of the features on a common board. They just turn on the special features on the cheaper models.

The only safe way to keep equipment from being damaged is to enclose it in a metal structure that is grounded. The equipment has to be totally isolated from the cage and any outside connections. A structure of this type is called a Faraday Cage. A metal container [such as an ammo box] in which equipment can be stored if insulated from the container and the container is grounded will act as one. The way a Faraday cage works is the moving magnetic field strikes the cage. This starts to generate an electrical charge. As the electrical charge builds this in turn starts generating its own magnetic field that pushes back or repulses the original magnetic field. This then causes the original field to flow around the cage rather than through it. This is what keeps the EMP pulse from effecting the equipment inside the cage. While the best design for a cage is solid sheet it can be a fine mesh grid. The size of the openings in the grid is somewhat critical. If the openings or mesh size is too large the field the wires counter generate does not build up fast enough to block the field pulse. Something the size of chicken wire would be so large that there would be some leakage. The field on the cage has to build up fast enough to block the holes in the mesh. The cage does need to be grounded to dissipate the resulting electrical charge.

There are devices called lightning arresters among other names. That are sold on the market that are designed to stop or at least minimize the effects of such spikes. Many are good devices. But they are limited to the amount of protection they can supply. A large enough spike can overwhelm their capacity. While you can not shield wiring outside your own home. Inside it can and should be shielded. Some wiring is designed with shielding. This is a metallic or braided sheath surrounding the wiring. Another way is to run the wiring through EMT conduits. Both methods can be combined for better results. This shielding needs to be grounded. Just remember that this wiring is attached to wiring that is outside your control and probably not shielded.

The best way to build your shelter is to line the inside or outside with sheet metal. [Door included] The metal of the door must make electrical connection with the rest of the sheeting. For more reliability Line both inside and outside independently. A double Faraday cage. You do not have to do this for your entire house but should be done for a shelter, panic room, communication shack or a room that is a combination of any of the three. The best metal for making the cage is copper because it conducts better but any metal will work. [Gold and platinum would actually work even better but who could afford it.]

If you do run electrical or electronic conducting lines into your structure have them shielded but do not have your equipment connected to them except during actual use. I do not mean disconnected by a switch but physical distance such as pulling the plug out of the wall socket.

Remember if the moving magnetic field is strong enough the internal wires of the equipment itself can cause a voltage spike that will damage it. That is why most cars will be knocked out because the voltages would knock out any electronics. [Most cars are totally controlled by chips] That is why older vehicles [pre chip] are a better BOV. The voltages can be high enough to actually burn out the wiring itself.

I can see the question in your eyes. A car is basically a metal box wouldn’t that act like a faraday cage? If that is so how can a car be effected? Simple the box that is a car has some huge holes in it electrically speaking. That and many modern vehicles have gone to composite material mostly plastic for sheet material rather than steel to reduce weight. The engine compartment, that has much of the wiring running hither and yon to operate the engine. Plus you have the main power supply cables from the battery and alternator and they either hook into everything that uses electricity or that item does not have power. Look under the hood sometime even in the tight compartments today there are places you can see the ground. The passenger compartment has windows some real big holes in the box. Yeah, but the wires are under the dash. How much of the dash is plastic? Look at all the holes for gages and dials. In most cases the entire underside is open. Out your car in the bottom of your swimming pool. Just kidding. But if you did would the water be able to get to the wiring? If so then so could the pulse. While you could close off the engine area covering the windows with plate or mesh just wouldn’t be a workable solution. It would be difficult to say the least to see out and drive. But the local constabulary might have a comment or two.

If your only choice for a BOV does rely on electronics there is a remedy. On any car you could pull the entire wiring harness and up grade it. This would be with heavier gage wiring and using shielded wire. Get a spare set of the control modules needed for you car. Not just the computer control boxes but also the sensors and the items that are controlled by the computer. [They are also susceptible to pulse damage.] Wrap them in insulation [Electrical not temperature type I.E. rubber] and store them in a metal box. Attach the box to the frame so that it makes good electrical contact. Then do as they do to movie stunt cars. Attach a grounding strap to the frame. The strap is usually a braided copper cable that then drags on the ground. This is to dissipate and charge that builds up on the vehicle. The strap needs to be checked regularly and replaced as needed.

Yes the entire national power grid would be knocked out. While the most of the grid components them selves would be able to withstand such a pulse all the electronic control equipment would be fried. The means of operating and monitoring the system. Local power may be restorable but an inter linked grid would take a long, long time to restore.

Will your car or home equipment be affected? Mainly it will depend on luck. How far you are from the source and intervening obstacles. Even the angle that the local grid or house wiring is to the source can have an effect.

Sorry to be so long winded but it is not a simple subject and needs some explanation on the hows and whys.

Here are a couple of web sites that have a more technical explanation of how the field is generated.
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/5971/emp.html
http://www.geocities.com/HotSprings/Falls/1984/emp1.htm

the end of the world as we know it -- everybody is basically a walking circuit board now with all the gadgets, we'll all be a lot lighter it that emp event ever happens, talk about survival preparedness!

He's right. I'm in the marines. We have big, heavy stuff that in the civilian world are tiny. A GPS is a perfect example. We call our GPS's "Pluggers" - Pluggers are about the size of an average novel and just as thick. Correct again, its mainly designed for water proofness and rough use. The military's answer for all things nuclear related including EMP is to DIG! I guess they think it solves everything. See a flash from an explosion...if you didnt evaporate, DIG lol. No kidding. We have SOPs (standard operating procedures) for a lot of things pertaining to big events such as a nuclear explosion, biological attack and the like. But I think they will go where the SOPs in Iraq went, right out the window.