EMP attack, How to survive?

Ok everyone, lets suppose that a massive EMP attack has occurred and it covers the entirety of North America.

What electronic devices will still function?

What would be destroyed?

Would old cars still run?(Carb and points ignition)

Obviously it would be Chaos, but how could you possibly prepare for something like this?

If you were planning on driving to your safe house, in the boonies, but find that your vehicle is inoperable, then what?

I have thought about it quite a bit, and I think this would be far worse than the nuking of a few cities, and quite frankly, I think that we would be thrown instantly into the stone age, never to recover.

Thanks so much for this thread. I wondered this myself ever since I first learned about EMP's. Flagged, and waiting for an answer

Here is what the Wiki has to say: en.wikipedia.org...

Here is a chart showing an EMP scenario.

en.wikipedia.org...



Several major factors control the effectiveness of an EMP weapon. These are:

1. The altitude of the weapon when detonated;
2. The yield of the weapon;
3. The distance from the weapon when detonated;
4. Geographical depth or intervening geographical features.(Quoted from the wiki article above)

Another way of causing EMP without the devastating side effects of a nuclear detonation is the good ole "Explosively pumped flux compression generator"

en.wikipedia.org...

Which is pretty scary, because I think I could round up the nerd power needed to build one of these in about 15 minutes.

EMP attack, How to survive?



A very scary scenario indeed, and most folks (including first responders and others) do not understand it’s implications.

Lets first help those that do not know what this is about:

EMP is a large (E)lectro (M)agnetic (P)ulse, that will render most electrical equipment
Useless by way of basically frying fragile circuitry and erasing magnetically stored data. (computer and weak magnetic field stored data and chip instructions)

Take 15 seconds and think about all the items in your home and garage that would be affected by this!

From the alarm clock that wakes you to your TV, phone, all the way to the chips that control the fuel injection and ignition on your vehicle. And all of the infrastructure hardware/software that makes modern power and communication possible!



Not many. To establish and maintain communications, I have some older HAM radio
Tube type transceivers that would be somewhat immune to such a pulse. Kenwood TS-520’s all analog 150watt transmitters.


The power grid.(switched and controlled by computers)
Phones, TV, most vehicles that have electronic ignition or fuel injection chips.?(1980 on)
Satellites, water service (same as power grid) etc etc etc.



Yes I think they would, but I hope you have plenty of fuel, because none will be pumped from any gas station for a looong time.



Yep, The best you could do is use your skills to live off the land, and protect your stash.



I would kick start my old ‘49 Harley panhead, and ride my scoot there! Oh yeah, while armed too boot!




Yes, so have I! It is my opinion, if you prepare for this scenario, you will be ready for anything!

Good thread

Peace

If an EMP went off, will you have time enough to wave bye bye if you were dependant upon some kind of electronic medical device, such as a heart pace maker, or would it just short circuit and explode in your chest? And, what about all the planes in route, will they be dropping like fire bombs from the sky? And, what about nuclear power plants, do they mechanically shut down safely, or will we still have to head for the fallout shelter for the rest of our lives? And what about all the chemical processing plants and storage tanks, will they be safe, or will they blow up and/or release toxins of ALL kinds?

What would be destroyed? Probably everything imaginable.

We have an emergency crank radio. Would that be dead too?

Wouldn't ammo stocks go off en mass due to an EMP?

As I understood it Ammo would not go off, Just anything electronic. (such as the computer in our vehicals.

ok dont laugh, but is the emp a missile or just the effect from a missile like a nuke?

In 1880? An x sized sunflare caught many telegraph lines afire. Causing numerous brush fire. Anything with wiring would be toast, and possibly be a fire potential. I stilll think the NE blackout in 03 was some type of emp. In the 1800's they still used horses and rail. Telegraph was new tech.
Could you imagine the implications it would have in todays age?

[edit on 4/24/2008 by jpm1602]

[edit on 4/24/2008 by jpm1602]

methinks the only humans who will survive will be those who currently live the most "backward" existence - and don't depend on electricity or anything manufactured.
I think there still are a few such groups out there in the Amazon, or on Islands in the Indian Ocean, or maybe Northern Siberia.
civilization will be starting from scratch once again
hmmf -no more tv? drastic!

No more tv. I like it. That idiot box has stolen countless hours from my life. And I want them back.

Good topic.

Anyway, what i was curious about is how to protect your hardware for an EMP. My PC for example. Is there a way to do it or not?

Look at Faraday boxes for protection of electronic stuff.

Some controversy over the cars being dead after an EMP. A modern running car, yes. It will be affected. A parked and not running modern car, the body acts as a shield offering protection. Full sized tested has been done with mixed resulted. Only a real event will actually determine this aspect.

Computers and other microchip driven items hooked to electricity from regular power lines, toasted.

Stand alone portable radios, that do not have an internal antenna over 30" long, will be okay. The EMP needs a certain amount of "antenna" to do it magic. It's technical but basically because of the wave length involved, there is a minimum length needed for the effect to have a result.

Ammo has no response to this effect.

The real problem a person will have with protecting some communication gear, who are you going to listen to. In reality, most everyone to everyone will be off the air. There will be a ham network working, but unless you know Morse code, forget about listening in. (Too much power used for voice, Morse goes much further on less watts) There will be other satellite based emergency networks running, but unless you are running earth earth station and the proper software for this, you will be out of the loop.

One other thing to consider. Do not expect a nuclear war to be just a one time event. If someone uses this type of weapon, expect a full response from the USA. Nothing says "I love you" like another exchange a few days to weeks later after the population believes the war is over. There will be basically no way, other than word of mouth, to get information out.

reply to post by hinky

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Thanks . A simple faraday cage can be made with tin foil. Very nice . I'll just hop to the local supermarket and get a few boxes and tin foil. Should be cool, maybe i can faraday some drawers with small electric stuff in it.

www.unitedstatesaction.com...

Wow thanks for the input!!

So if your car is off, there is a chance it might be okay?



I heard one time that circuit board that were constructed of Germanium wouldb be able to withstand the harmful effects of EMP, is there any creedance to that?

Is military hardware hardened to withstand EMP?

reply to post by bamaoutlaw

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EMP is a side effect of a nuclear detonation. It can also be created by other means such as the "Explosively pumped flux compression generator".

Good thread! The only way to get around frying all of your electronics through a huge EMP attack is to bury the items under ground. The waves of elecricity will hardly be able to penetrate much, if any, soil. The only major delimma is the issue that all power grids and stations may most likely be render useless. Thus, anything that you bury should be battery operated, crank, or burried with a generator.

Older vehicles should work as long as you bury the battery as well. A major electric magnetic pulse would probably melt a battery above ground.

reply to post by Harman

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A "Faraday" cage/box would protect your electronic equipment. It surrounds the object which is in no way making contact with the outside. Then the pulse when received would travel around (not into) the box and if grounded, pass harmlessly into the earth leaving your electronics unharmed.

reply to post by downtown436

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Awsome idea for a thread

not enough people talk about this kinda thing

and it is very possible

probly more than a nuke

i think the stone-age might be a bit much

lead shielded eleoctronics would survive

so people might want to make some custom lead cases for computers if they would like to preserve any culture before the cataclysm

it might not take as long as you think to get things running again

at least on an individual basis

but re-organizing info structure on a city or state scale would take years

you might want to brush up on some tesla notes when it comes to re-establishing power, or even dealing with EMPs

you'd be surprised at what you might find


good thread , keep'm coming