[Boatanchors] How much is too much?

[Ian]

I remember 45 years ago when I was an engineer at a company doing AEC
contract work that there were serious concerns about the survivable of solid
state gear from the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear detonation.   I
wasn't working in that group but was party to some of the concerns and
testing and theoretical work that they were doing.

I never did find out what the conclusions, maybe no longer classified, were
but I wonder about the survivability of any of the new gear under those
conditions.   Wonder if in an emergency involving a nuclear burst our tube
gear would become so valuable that we couldn't resist selling it???

Ian, K6SDE

>-----Original Message-----
>From: boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net [mailto:boatanchors-
>bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Glenn Little WB4UIV
>Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2011 4:27 PM
>To: Jack Antonio; boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
>Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] How much is too much?
>
>In Desert Storm the troops blew up the Harris solid state receivers
>right and left from sand static.
>The blowing sand charged the antenna past the point the front end
>could survive.
>Many years ago, I lived in Jamaica.
>I helped with the 6Y0A operation.
>We need a TR switch for the 160M rig.
>I was it.
>I had to move the antenna from the transmitter to the receiver and back.
>The 80M antenna ran parallel to the 160M antenna.
>I received a few RF burns from the coupling of the 80M antenna into
>the 160M antenna.
>
>I have seen many 3 MHz front end coils burned up in R-390 series receivers.
>They almost always had a 3 MHz transmitter up and receivers tuned to
>other parts of the 3 MHz band.
>
>I have seen a neon tube placed across the antenna lead of receivers,
>possibly a NE-2 to reduce front end burn out from close transmitters.
>
>I would highly recommend that all receiver antenna connections be
>grounded when not in use.
>
>73
>Glenn
>WB4UIV