| From: | paulcollins paulcollins@*******.com |
|---|---|
| Subject: | EMP. (Rambling a bit) |
| Date: | Mon, 10 Jul 2000 11:11:19 +1000 |
<tzeentch666@*********.net> =====
>From: paul collins <paulcollins@*******.com>
>As for EMP weapons in the back of a van I assume you are referring to the
>ever-popular RF weapons. It's NOT something you can go to Radio Shack and
>whip up in your spare time. I'd suggest watching the 20/20 episode where
True, but if you are a terrorist who can lay there hands on the tonne or so
of a C4, then getting the rest of the bits shouldn't be that much of a
problem.
>As for EMP shielding/hardening.. well its all well and good but noones sure
>how well it will work (if at all). Best bet is to have everything encased in
>a Farraday Cage or use only vacuum tubes. Failing that, standard EMP
>mitigation techniques would be effective against an RF attack (but who knows
>how much).
Shielding is an interesting concept. They did an experiment in England (Must
be over 10 yrs ago now) with a digital telephone exchange. They had someone
walk down the isle between 2 rows of equipment. An increase in the error rate
from those 2 rows occured. Just from the static caused by a walking person.
Of course shielding has come a long way since then, but it's still a noticable
effect.
These days, to work in a digital exchange, you are supposed to turn off your
mobile phone before approaching within 1 meter. (Our mobiles work on .3A up
the antenna. Even pissy little fields can have an effect.
As for having an RF EMP pulse do permanent damage. Who knows. Let alone the
effects on your spare parts. I remember blowing cards by touching them the
wrong way, and I also remember kicking (by accident) a $10,000 panel for a
digital radio system accross the floor, and it still worked perfectly.
I also remember the molten steel that occured when someone shorted the
exchanges power bus (I got the jumper with the burn marks to prove it, and no
it wasn't me). How much equipment was damaged, and surprisingly, what wasn't.
The truly dificult thing with EMP pulses and things, is the randomness of it.
It's almost impossible to predict what damage will be done, and where. That's
before taking shielding and hardening into account. (Sure, make the pulse big
enough, and you'll burn through everything)
Annachie
(Rambling slightly, with only 1½ days to go before I'm unemployed)
