[12fretter]

I'm really hoping someone will tell me I don't have to build a cage for my generator. Has anyone looked into this?

[vincent]

I have and came out as confused as I was when I started...

Apparently there is a lot of bad info out there when it comes to the EMP question so maybe someone here who we know to be knowledgeable will chime in...(C3 that's your cue!!! )

[TankTop]

I used to deliver for an electrical supply company. Did a delivery once to a "communications" site, the building with their backup diesel generators was shielded. If the government shields their generators you may want to as well.

[Eturnsdale]

By and large an EMP from a High altitude air burst will have little effect on small engines, cellphones, Computers that are not plugged into the grid, etc etc. By and large it is the infrastructure that would be damaged not small items like cars and trucks or generators and cellphones.

[dragunovsks]

Originally Posted by Eturnsdale

By and large an EMP from a High altitude air burst will have little effect on small engines, cellphones, Computers that are not plugged into the grid, etc etc. By and large it is the infrastructure that would be damaged not small items like cars and trucks or generators and cellphones.

I thought an emp would disable anything electronic, including cell phones cars/trucks and comms equipment? That's what has been discussed anyways.

[TankTop]

I wouldn't really worry about the EMP too much, it's the fallout and contaminated soil and water sources. The survivors would drop like flies from the flu and common cold. It isn't difficult to shield from EMP if it is planned into the construction ahead of time. Most of our power grid is already hardened, it's the same protection you would use for a lightning strike. When a high voltage power pole is put up there is a buried grid under it for grounding. You could just ground your generator, drive a 4 foot copper rod into the ground and attach it with a grounding strap. That would at least allow you to have light to watch your family die slowly. I'm kinda rambling but preparing for nuclear war probably isn't worth the effort, sorry, I'm kinda being an asshat.

[orangello]

Originally Posted by TankTop

I wouldn't really worry about the EMP too much, it's the fallout and contaminated soil and water sources. I'm kinda rambling but preparing for nuclear war probably isn't worth the effort, sorry, I'm kinda being an asshat.

I think they were talking about high altitude devices designed for EMP rather than traditional nuking.

[c3shooter]

Well........ there are two things- SGEMP and TREE (transient radiation effects on electronics) If a nuke is CLOSE enough to a solid state device, a PNP transistor briefly becomes an NPN transistor (bit flip). High energy particles (gamma, X Ray, neutrons) pass thru the device, leaving an ionized track that causes a glitch in the solid state device. And solid state stuff fries and dies. However, if you are close enough for THAT, you got other problems.

With EMP, it is how intense, how far away, AND what gathers the magnetic pulse and feeds it to the device. Things conencted to phone lines, national power grid, etc, have this huge antennae array to gather the force.

A generator NOT connected, NOT running at the time has a fair chance of surviving an EMP of moderate strength. The components are already SOMEWHAT inside a Faraday cage- the metal housing and frame of the generator.

Does DOD shield all their stuff? Hell yeah! They are looking for as close to 100% survival as they can get, knowing THEY are the target.

In the VERY long run, I would be more concerned with how you plan to fuel a generator for years (yeah, I said years) wind and//or solar will run longer- not indefinitely, but longer (stuff- including storage batteries- wears out)

[TankTop]

Originally Posted by orangello

I think they were talking about high altitude devices designed for EMP rather than traditional nuking.

Oh, that makes it better, I'm sure a high altitude nuclear attack wouldn't result in an escalated response. There's also the issue of an ICBM with a trajectory of COTUS, I'm sure we would wait for a detonation before a response just in case they were only attempting to knock out our electronic infrastructure. My head hurts, think I'll take some aspirin.

[Chainfire]

If we are subject to a high altitude burst, the last thing you will be worrying about is if you can power your fridge or TV........

Your chance of surviving such a situation would be less then you winning the Power Ball.

If we were subject to a high altitude burst, it would mean there would probably be hundreds of similar busts. In that case, the entire human race, may well perish within a couple of years from the effects of radiation/starvation and/or nuclear winter. Your best hope in that situation would be for you and your loved ones to be at ground zero when and where the first one popped. Here one second, gone, in a burst of vapor the next. A new species of insects could then rule the world and who knows, in a few hundred million years, they may be building amusment parks, and Atomic weapons....