Old 05-13-2011, 17:25   #1
Bill Harsey
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EMP Proof Box

Question after my cursory search didn't come up with much...

Does anyone know of an EMP proof box that a laptop would fit in?

I'm asking on behalf of friend who is a radio station manager.
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Old 05-13-2011, 17:33   #2
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Faraday cage/box - I believe that is possible to make one - others with more knowledge on the subject can correct me - but you might Google Faraday cage or Faraday box to start.

I hope this helps.

Can't vouch for the web site at all but found this:

http://faradaybag.com/faraday_bag_laptop_shield.html

Last edited by tonyz; 05-13-2011 at 17:39.
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Old 05-13-2011, 17:36   #3
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Quote:
Does anyone know of an EMP proof box that a laptop would fit in?

I'm asking on behalf of friend who is a radio station manager.
Does he know something that we should know about?
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Old 05-13-2011, 17:57   #4
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Does he know something that we should know about?
He played too much fallout 3 and wants to be "Three Dog" after the balloon goes up.
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Old 05-13-2011, 19:53   #5
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Solution

PM sent.

Hope I can help.
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Old 05-13-2011, 20:25   #6
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My understanding is that an ammo can is a decent protective covering for EMP.

If it is, would grounding the box help make it any better?

TR
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Old 05-14-2011, 00:35   #7
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Originally Posted by Bill Harsey View Post
Question after my cursory search didn't come up with much...

Does anyone know of an EMP proof box that a laptop would fit in?

I'm asking on behalf of friend who is a radio station manager.
Does he for sure mean EMP vs EMR in general? The latter is something that could be a regular issue at a radio station if his laptop has magnetic based media (platter HD) vs say a SSD (Solid State Drive). EMPs as we know are not a very common thing these days... Las Vegas and surrounding areas during '51-'62 on the other hand...
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Old 05-14-2011, 00:56   #8
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Originally Posted by Bill Harsey View Post
Question after my cursory search didn't come up with much...

Does anyone know of an EMP proof box that a laptop would fit in?

I'm asking on behalf of friend who is a radio station manager.
Does he require EMP shielding, or EMR shielding (ala Faraday & TEMPEST?). In other words, is he trying to protect the equipment from an electromagnetic pulse, as from a nuclear blast, or simply shield the equipment from eletromagnetic radiation (eg. radio waves)?

For EMP applications, I wouldn't trust anything but "mil spec" (aka surplus) equipment. From my military experience, it usually involves several layers of copper screening, each layer separated by a thin layer of non-conductive material (such as fiberglass sheeting). He could probably manufacture this himself, but without proper testing gear, who knows if it will be sufficient.

For EMR applications, a single layer of copper screening should be good enough. If you have the bucks, look up military surplus faraday junk or TEMPEST junk (which does make it out in public, for a pretty penny).

Edit: I'm going off on a atanget here, but if he's looking to shield it for a SHTF scenario, I would ask him to re-evaluate why he's wanting to nuke harden a laptop. It'd be much easier to either print out the required data and store that, or store it on a digital medium (a few copies on thumbdrives) and shield those. In a SHTF scenario, there'll still be plenty of usable mobile computing equipment around.

Preppers tend to overthink scenarios, it kind of reminds me of a joke in crypto circles: http://xkcd.com/538/

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Old 05-14-2011, 23:21   #9
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Originally Posted by Bill Harsey View Post
Question after my cursory search didn't come up with much...

Does anyone know of an EMP proof box that a laptop would fit in?

I'm asking on behalf of friend who is a radio station manager.
LOL, Now that I know you're talking about a CME vice EMP the last thing your friend needs to worry about is his laptop.
A CME with the intensity to knock out an unprotected laptop will also bring down the power grid, transportation systems, the internet, etc etc etc.

The up side, predicting solar flares is like predicting hurricanes, we don't possess the technology to do it yet. The down side is it's like the earthquake that just hit Japan, if and when we do get hit with a CME with intensity it's going to be real bad. Nothing electronic will work, nothing.
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Old 05-16-2011, 08:24   #10
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Team Sergeant,
I had thought that a Coronal Mass Ejection produced among several things a natural form of Electro-Magnetic Pulse which can vary in degree.
Am I wrong?
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Old 05-16-2011, 16:37   #11
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Team Sergeant,
I had thought that a Coronal Mass Ejection produced among several things a natural form of Electro-Magnetic Pulse which can vary in degree.
Am I wrong?
This already happened 144 years ago and it did knock out all telegraph lines in the United States and Europe. (see below) If it occured today it will shut down the entire power grid for months maybe a year. When it hits it will overload "every" power cable and "fry" every transformer currently hooked to the power grid. How long do you think it will take to replace every transformer in the United States?

Tell your friend he will not need his laptop if this happens, he will need a gun and ammo. There will be maybe 24-72 hours of warning before we are hit, maybe. Speed of light travelling 93 million miles and that's if we're "watching".




http://science.nasa.gov/science-news...ct_superstorm/

In scientific circles where solar flares, magnetic storms and other unique solar events are discussed, the occurrences of September 1-2, 1859, are the star stuff of legend. Even 144 years ago, many of Earth's inhabitants realized something momentous had just occurred. Within hours, telegraph wires in both the United States and Europe spontaneously shorted out, causing numerous fires, while the Northern Lights, solar-induced phenomena more closely associated with regions near Earth's North Pole, were documented as far south as Rome, Havana and Hawaii, with similar effects at the South Pole.

What happened in 1859 was a combination of several events that occurred on the Sun at the same time. If they took place separately they would be somewhat notable events. But together they caused the most potent disruption of Earth's ionosphere in recorded history. "What they generated was the perfect space storm," says Bruce Tsurutani, a plasma physicist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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Old 05-16-2011, 08:54   #12
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LOL, Now that I know you're talking about a CME vice EMP the last thing your friend needs to worry about is his laptop.
A CME with the intensity to knock out an unprotected laptop will also bring down the power grid, transportation systems, the internet, etc etc etc.

The up side, predicting solar flares is like predicting hurricanes, we don't possess the technology to do it yet. The down side is it's like the earthquake that just hit Japan, if and when we do get hit with a CME with intensity it's going to be real bad. Nothing electronic will work, nothing.
When I awoke the morning of Jan. 1, 2000 I noticed my wood burning stove in the blacksmith shop still worked. Oh, and the oil lamp worked also. And the cow still gave milk, and the chickens were walking around, and the dog was asleep on the porch, and....
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Old 05-16-2011, 09:28   #13
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Bill - Your friend needs to take into account that a CME has a significantly longer duration at much higher energy levels than an EMP. There is some literature out there describing the differences (can't access it right now, Google should do the trick though). IIRC the last really severe CME was in the 1850's. What was essentially a non-event then, would cripple anyone affected today. Bottom line - your friend has cause to be concerned. Not sure how useful it'll be to have the only workable laptop on the continent though.
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Old 05-16-2011, 16:41   #14
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Bill - Your friend needs to take into account that a CME has a significantly longer duration at much higher energy levels than an EMP. There is some literature out there describing the differences (can't access it right now, Google should do the trick though). IIRC the last really severe CME was in the 1850's. What was essentially a non-event then, would cripple anyone affected today. Bottom line - your friend has cause to be concerned. Not sure how useful it'll be to have the only workable laptop on the continent though.
Only because we didn't yet "depend" on electricity .....
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Old 05-16-2011, 17:19   #15
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Only because we didn't yet "depend" on electricity .....
And none of that micro amp, milliwatt, nanometer, 1.35v. chip and transistor gear existed.

The old vacuum tube stuff might survive, it is much harder to protect equipment that a static electic carpet shock will literally kill.

TR
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