4 May
2005
4 May
'05
6:55 a.m.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1996/apjemp.htm
For more information, scan the 1996 report found here regarding
non-nuclear EMP devices of the coaxial FCG / Vircator type. Basically
you've got a small chemical explosive which ramps up in series and
either directly affects the source in the 1ghz range or is pumped
through a Vircator to target a range of frequencies.
The two points of entry are "front door" antennas, dishes, etc.; and
"back door" comm cables, electrical lines, etc. Like previous posters
mentioned, a Faraday cage, fibre network connections, and good design
can contain a significant fraction of the damage. A good EMP hardened
server design can be seen, as well.
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/report/1996/faraday.gif
-dhbarr.
PS: Ever since that Popular Mechanics article on the subject, I've
been intrigued. I don't know why.
On 5/4/05, Allison <ajp166 at bellatlantic.net> wrote:
Subject: OT: EMP and Equipment
From: Al Hartman <alhartman at yahoo.com>
Let's say that tomorrow, and EMP weapon is
employed
over a major city in this country.
Is there anything an average citizen can do to protect
their Computers (Classic or otherwise)?
Yes.
Would having them unplugged help?
Yes.
Or must they be shielded in some way?
It would help.
The reason for the terse questions is your asking a broad
question. Basically EMP is a sudden expansion then contraction
of a magnetic field. From basic electronics there are two ways
to generate power using magnets (or their fields) one is to move
the wire and the other is to move the magnet.
The amount of energy induced into a wire is dependent on how many
lines of force you traverse and thats related to how strong the
magnets field is (also how close).
We get EMP from two sources, one common. The nuke version can
be very strong but if your close enough for EMP then you may be
too close to worry. The other common source is lightinging, every
bolt we see represents a momentary huge current that collapses
very quckly with the attendent magnetic fields. There are two
protection methods applied for lightining. One being electrostatic
and the other recognizes the electromagnetic. Protection for the
latter is simple most of the time. Disconnect the power cord,
antennas, and any control lines. In short remove any "wires" that
can have an induced field and transfer that voltage inside to the
sensitive parts. Ideally for complete protection a iron or steel
case with no breaks is best protection against near misses. In
both cases distance fromthe event is a really good thing as
magnetic fields are squarelaw IE: at twice the distance it's
one quarter strength.
So yes you can protect your hardware, assuming your far enough
away to survive. You still ahve to worry about high energy
particles (neutrons, beta and gamma particles) and other
radiations ( Xrays and infared).
Allison