EMP safeI

[exavid]

This evening whilst cleaning up the kitchen after dinner it occurred to me that the tinfoil hat folks who're expecting an EMP attack have a safe place to store their small electronic items, the GPS, cell phone, tablets, and small laptops.
Their microwave oven is a fine faraday shield. If it's good enough to contain the RF from its magnetron it should keep their electronic toys safe from external RF pulses.
So if you're one of those folks you might want to collect all the defunct microwave ovens you can find, stack them up along a wall and voila! Lots of safe storage. Just remember to keep the doors on them shut.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

WOW!!!! That's a great idea. You never know when an EMP attack might be coming. :D

I used to have an old microwave in the garage that I used for melting plastic and stuff my wife didn't like for me to do in the house. Guess I will have to see if I still got it. :D

Oh ...nevermind, I don't have a cell or smartphone just this junky desktop and it ain't going to fit. I never was much of a prepper. :D

 

[exavid]

There's plenty of them around. Maybe I should be collecting old microwaves, cutting off the cords and painting them for sale to preppers as EMP safes. Might be a whole new industry there that would also do a good job of recycling the things.

 

[speedsixman]

Wonder if it would work without the cord plugged in ?
(Ground conductor ?)

Myron

 

[gramps]

Wonder if it would work without the cord plugged in ?
(Ground conductor ?)

Myron

It should.

A Faraday cage is essentially a metal box, surrounded on all sides by metal, and shielded from leaks. That should describe a microwave with the door shut, whether power is present or not.

Wouldn't the cord funnel stray electric harmonics into the interior? Maybe cutting the cord, then wrapping with electrical tape for insulation from the forces of evil. :)
gramps

 

[wizofwas]

One has to ask. How would you know if an EMP attack is coming so you'd be warned in enough time to put your devices into the microwave? If an EMP attack does happen, wouldn't all of the stuff that your devices connect to be fried by the attack, so they might work, but wouldn't be able to operate? And if you're such a prepper, why would you have these devices anyway? When all you have to do is turn them on and you can be traced to where you are if They are really looking for you?

 

[speedsixman]

Unless you can shield your vehicles, most of them won't work either.
The only ones that will are 'old school' vehicles built before computers controlled everything.

Myron

 

[wizofwas]

Unless you can shield your vehicles, most of them won't work either.
The only ones that will are 'old school' vehicles built before computers controlled everything.

Myron

Not sure if that is true. Maybe a strong enough EMP attack just might ruin the coil and starter. So even if everything else works, no coil= no spark, and no starter would make it hard to start a car anyway. I'm sure that someone will correct me if I'm wrong in my thinking. But you are right, it would make it easier to survive an EMP attack. Now to get a hand pump so you can syphon gas out of the tanks at the gas stations so you can drive.

 

[exavid]

Nah, the cord has RF filters on the conductors. Otherwise it would radiate those nuke waves everyone worries about from microwaves through the cord.

 

[Jeepnik]

One has to ask. How would you know if an EMP attack is coming so you'd be warned in enough time to put your devices into the microwave? If an EMP attack does happen, wouldn't all of the stuff that your devices connect to be fried by the attack, so they might work, but wouldn't be able to operate? And if you're such a prepper, why would you have these devices anyway? When all you have to do is turn them on and you can be traced to where you are if They are really looking for you?

Shortwave my friend. If the EMP doesn't get it, and you can then figure out how to power it, you can communicate across vast distances.

Hmm, maybe I should find an old industrial sized microwave and just use it as a cabinet to hold it. :mrgreen:

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Hey, listen to me, sounding like I know what I'm talking about on this topic. :lol:

That really hasn't slowed you down has it. What is that 5 or 6 posts on the subject?
...
...
...
...
...kidding. :D

 

[wolfsong]

Hey, listen to me, sounding like I know what I'm talking about on this topic. :lol:

That really hasn't slowed you down has it. What is that 5 or 6 posts on the subject?
...
...
...
...
...kidding. :D

Sounds familiar. How many posts did you masquerade in in the .357 self-defense ammo thread?

:roll: kidding.



Not.

 

[Jimbo357mag]

Wolfsong don't you have something better to do than to post about me personally in three separate threads?
It gets old being stalked on the forum all the time. :shock:

 

[Colonialgirl]

Wolfsong don't you have something better to do than to post about me personally in three separate threads?
It gets old being stalked on the forum all the time. :shock:

BUT, BUT, BUT, YOU ask for it.

 

[wolfsong]

Wolfsong don't you have something better to do than to post about me personally in three separate threads?
It gets old being stalked on the forum all the time. :shock:

Not really. I like to keep track of the varmints, pests and other potentially harmful critters in and around these parts that I call home. It's the prudent thing to do. Threats can wear many disguises and come in all shapes and sizes. Just being vigilant.

 

[finesse_r]

If it's good enough to contain the RF from its magnetron it should keep their electronic toys safe from external RF pulses.
So if you're one of those folks you might want to collect all the defunct microwave ovens you can find, stack them up along a wall and voila! Lots of safe storage. Just remember to keep the doors on them shut.

You are assuming that microwaves actually are good enough to contain the RF from their magnetron. That is a big assumption for some of us aluminum foil hat wearing folks that don’t trust microwaves in the first place. But thanks for the suggestion.

 

[toysoldier]

This is from my son, who has a PhD in computer science:

Two things important in a F-cage: the conductor has to be big enough to handle the current, and the mesh aperture has to be smaller than the energy wavelength. Are the wires in a microwave's mesh big enough to handle the energy from EMP blast? Beats me. Are the holes small enough? They've got to be smaller than microwave, which is centimeters, and that'll block radio, too. I assume that's the relevant energy, not gamma or x ray.


From what I've read, phones aren't so much the problem. It's cross-country power lines, which are miles of antenna picking up energy from a pulse.

 

[737tdi]

toysoldier: I think a little bit more study is required. When you start talking about amperage and wavelengths a lot of variables come into play. With wavelengths they aren't necessarily stopped by a certain sized grid, they just need to travel along a path around the protected area. Electricity will follow the path of least resistance and connected to a ground and if that path is say copper shielding, it doesn't matter the grid size the wave will travel along it. A way to look at it, if you are trying to receive a radio signal, and that signal's wavelength is 1 foot, a 1 foot antenna will receive it best, but a 2, 4, 8, 16, 32 etc. will also receive it. Sorry for the ramble, I have it straight in my head but am not very good at putting it on paper.

Karl

 

[98Redline]

As being someone who has worked inside an RF screen room (think really big faraday cage), you must have the ground connected for it to work correctly. Having the cage is great, however the energy absorbed by the mesh needs to go somewhere. Without a ground connection you are just charging it up like a big capacitor.