Category: NBC

Letter Re: Steel Buildings

HJL, The writer of this letter has a few things wrong with regards the electrical properties of materials. Dielectric is a property of insulators, and there is no insulator between the zinc coating and the steel base of galvanized steel. Therefore, all the resulting claims that assume that the zinc and steel form a capacitor are false. The biggest problem with the shell of a metal building acting as a Faraday cage is the gaps between the panels that make up the surface. To act correctly as a Faraday cage the conductive surfaces need to make good electrical connection between …


Letter Re: Steel Buildings

Hugh, The key is the galvanized steel used in metal building construction (galvanized to prevent rust). Galvanized steel with the difference in electrical conductivity between zinc and iron makes a primitive capacitor but more importantly exhibits dielectric properties. From Wikipedia (to make it a simple explanation): A dielectric material (dielectric for short) is an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an applied electric field. When a dielectric is placed in an electric field, electric charges do not flow through the material as they do in a conductor, but only slightly shift from their average equilibrium positions causing dielectric polarization. …


Letter Re: EMP Shielding

HJL, Hi! Can anyone tell me why parking your vehicle in a metal building will not provide the same EMP shielding as a metal ammo box or trash can? If my building is all steel, with no windows and has a metal roll up door, then where is the wave penetration? I was wondering if any experts out there knew the answer. Thanks. – R.M. HJL Responds: The key to a Faraday cage is that the construction has good electrical conductivity across the entire surface and that there are no “holes” that are large enough to allow significant leakage through …


Letter Re: Android Geiger Counter

Thanks for the reference to the $30 android counter; I bought one! Also, note that Radioactivity Counter is an Android ap that I have used that detects gamma radiation just using the app; there’s no external devices needed! You’re wondering how? You tape over the camera lens and the camera itself detects gamma radiation sensitivity depending on phone models. I’ve used it, and it works. – M.R.


Letter: The Lack of Police and Fire Training or Preparation For the Aftermath of An EMP

I have been visiting west coast fire departments and law enforcement agencies, and none of them, including LAPD, LA Sheriffs, Seattle PD , Oakland PD, or Portland PD, have or plan on scheduling any EMP training drills, and they are not even thinking about how their police or fire agency is going to deal with the aftermath of an EMP. Everyone talks about how devastating an EMP could be and how the aftermath will affect everyone, but no one from Police and Fire is talking about what and how are they going to react to a catastrophic EMP event. Has …


Protecting Both Tube and Transistor HF Communications Equipment From E1 EMP Pulse- Part 2, by PrepperDoc

Transistor / QRP Equipment The solutions shown so far may not adequately protect computer-based software-defined radios, hybrid transistorized-vacuum tube radios, or fully solid-state QRP or low-power stations, or transistorized shortwave radios. These radios will need to use protection that clamps at a much lower voltage than 700 volts! While transistor transmitters may use power amplifier transistors that may have breakdown voltages in the scores to hundreds of volts, the input circuitry of many QRP transistorized receivers will likely be fried with voltages well under 100 volts. There are a couple of solutions that can offer lower-voltage clamping more appropriate to …


Protecting Both Tube and Transistor HF Communications Equipment From E1 EMP Pulse – Part 1, by PrepperDoc

Introduction and Tube Radios Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) is a serious national threat with growing public awareness. A high-altitude atomic/nuclear explosion sends electrons plowing through the earth’s magnetic field lines and thus generates powerful radio waves that impact the earth below the explosion within a radius of many hundreds to thousands of miles. The peak field strength is immense, on the order of 50 kilovolts per meter, and covers a very broad frequency spectrum, from very low frequencies, past 100 MHz; but the first wave (named E1) is evanescent, over in a mere microsecond or so. There are additional, slower incident …


Letter Re: Question on generators and EMP

HJL, We have been considering having a whole house generator installed at our house, since we occasionally lose power in our neighborhood for days at a time. Additionally, the threat of an EMP pulse damaging the grid and our being without power for a lengthy period of time is an even greater concern. My question is: is a whole house natural gas powered generator, like a Generac 22kv unit (along with the associated auto switching panel), susceptible to EMP? If so, what would be the best way to protect it? When I ask the electrical contractors bidding on the job, …


Letter Re: EMP-Hardened Ham Radio Communications, by PrepperDoc

Being a prepper and a Ham I found the article “EMP-Hardened Ham Radio Communications” by PrepperDoc very interesting but also somewhat over my head with regard to tubes and the like, so I put it out to more experienced members of our ARC (amateur radio club) for comment. The response from one Ham is not a slam but rather additional information for the like-minded. “There was no mention of electrolytic caps and the frequent need to replace them when using older gear. Also, tube rigs are power hogs; where are you going to get the power? Alternate power sources (inverter …


EMP-Hardened Ham Radio Communications, by PrepperDoc

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EMP attack is often considered the most rigorous of survivalist situations, due to the likely complete loss of electrical grid, many vehicles, and many transistorized/computerized products. Our group worked to provide post-EMP communications that would allow effective communications post-event. We had two major requirements: Short Range Communications. Two, separate, defense-hardened homes that were approximately 30 miles apart had to be able to communicate across a medium-sized city, and Long Range Communications. Both homes had to be able to receive news from in-state and out-of-state sources. These were considered necessary to receive adequate advance warning of defense issues, such as advancing …


What Can We Expect and Do Now To Prevent a Nuclear Power Plant Meltdown in an EMP Scenario, by B.Z.

I was prompted to write in response to the reader who commented on the recent article entitled “Six Common Misconceptions About EMP”, by G.P., which was published in December 2014. The reader asked specifically: “Can we expect the 100+ nuclear power plants in the country to have meltdowns when the grid can no longer supply the power these plants need? In particular, what about the spent fuel pools?” Let me first say that I personally have met the author of this article, and I can attest that he is one of the foremost experts on EMP in the world. My …


The Good News About Nuclear Destruction, by S.C.

What possible “good news” could there ever be about nuclear destruction coming to America, whether in the form of dirty bombs, terrorist nukes, or ICBM’s from afar? In a word, they are all survivable, at least for the vast majority of American families, IF they know what to do beforehand and have made even the most modest of preparations. Tragically, though, most Americans today won’t give much credence to this good news, much less seek out such vital life-saving instruction, as they have been jaded by our culture’s pervasive myths of nuclear un-survivability. Most people think that if nukes go …


Scot’s Product Review: MobileSec Cellphone Blocker and Laptop EMP Shielding

I always liked the line that states, “Just because you’re paranoid, doesn’t mean that someone isn’t out to get you.” These days, in addition to physically trying to “get” you, there are also those who are trying to virtually get you by stealing your information for misuse. There are those who might want to wipe out everything with an EMP event so that not only do you not get to use your own stuff, you can’t even get a backup from someone else. It could be a foreign government, a criminal consortium, or even your own government doing the deed. …


Letter Re: What Haven’t I Thought Of For Nuclear Survival?

Hugh, I spent 15 years in the nuclear industry working at a nuke plant and was the site Radiochemist most of that time. I have never seen any sort of functional anti-C that will “stop” or even attenuate gamma radiation. In fact, nothing will “stop” gamma rays. Shielding (lead, concrete, water) can attenuate gamma rays, but it will not “stop” it. Some measurable energy still gets through all shielding. So I am not sure what the author is referring to, but any anti-C that isn’t meant to be disposed of has to be deconned after each use. Of course when …


What Haven’t I Thought Of For Nuclear Survival?, by D.K.

It’s easy to prepare for a specific disaster and then forget about it. Whether it’s an economic collapse, power grid failure, or nuclear attack, gathering supplies just isn’t enough. There are a spiderweb of choices to be made after each event, and this article will focus on options you may not have thought of yet, if a nuclear strike were to happen. Aside from knowing the foundations to nuclear survival, there are other important topics, such as owning protective suits, location decisions, and community goals. As with most survival situations, nuclear survival is a system of Q/A– questions and action. …