tube technology and EMP

Heinz> wasn't there some urban-tech legend about the Americans Heinz> getting hold of a Cuban MIG fighter and laughing at the Heinz> low-tech electronics they found? Purportedly - the Russians Heinz> were using tubes! ..that are claimed to be EMP proof. ... Heinz> Now, perhaps tubes could be EMP tolerant, but they wouldn't be Heinz> radiation tolerant, would they? After all, isn't that how Heinz> Geiger-Muller rad counter tubes work? G-M tubes are gas filled, and have very thin envelopes. The basic mechanism is that radiation ionizes the gas, and the electric field is large enough that an avalanche results, producing a current pulse. Vacuum tubes don't do that because there's no gas in side. Also, alpha particles won't go through the glass (it's much too thick). Betas might, but so what -- those are electrons. Gammas are photons, they won't do a thing unless they hit an electrode, in which case you might get some electrons, again no big deal. paul