[R-390] EMP

[Samuel Letzring]

I do a lot of EMP experiments in my work at Los Alamos NAtional LAb- its pretty intense stuff!! I can generate fields in excess of megavolts/ micron ( thats > gigavolts/cm) at frequencies from 10's of MHz to THz! This is enclosed in a stainless steel sphere 1 meter in diameter and 10 cm thick but still the leakage fields kill electronics in the next room! Its quite a challenge to design electronics that will survive that- but it can be done! Solid state electronics- if not powered up- will sometimes survive- no solid state devices- inside the sphere survive- whether powered up or not! Even solid state devices- just lying in the sphere- with their leads shorted or not- do  not survive!

I also did a lot of EMP experiments in the Air Force back in the 70's at Kirtland AFB- this was when the USAF was trying  to figure out how to harden aircraft and missiles to EMP. We had HUGE EMP generators that you could park a 747 inside- the largest one was one called TRESTLE- a huge all wooden structure ( no metal- since the metal would heat up during the EMP pulse). B-52's were the hardest to harden- but we did it! In the first experiments- there were lightning bolts flying around inside the '52's- but with proper bonding- that was all controlled.

R-390s and other boatanchors will survive- powered up or not- but I really have my doubts about the grid- also at Los Alamos- we have very large programs studying the grid and figuring out how to make it more survivable- but it's expensive- and the "SMart GRid" program seems to be only to figure out how to make it more efficient- not more survivable.

My biggest worry is not that the Iranians or the North Koreans will launch a nuclear ground attack- but that they will figure out how to make an " enhanced EMP nuclear weapon" and explode it a 500,000 feet above the US and knock out everything! Or that the Chinese will knock out all our communication satellites and we don't have enough HF gear left for the Navy to communicate. We have become so dependent on satellites for  communications, navigation etc. that I don't think anyone left in the military knows how to run a sextant or communicate on HF with CW!

Just an old scientist's/officer's viewpoint on things.

Sam

KE5IRZ


> Date: Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:29:08 -0400
> To: R-390 at mailman.qth.net
> From: physicist at cox.net
> Subject: [R-390] EMP
> 
> 
> Maybe we should build rebar faraday cages to store all of our R390A's...;)
> 
> 
> Jeffrey L. Adams  KG4RZM  Physicist at cox.net
> 
> Mentor of the R390/R390A CD Archive
> 
> Motorola   R390A/URR 1956 14-PH-56    Serial 1409 w/ CY979
> Collins    R390A/URR 1952 14214-PH-51 Serial 979 w/ CY979
> Collins    R392/URR  1951 3075-PH-51  Serial 252 w/ T195 transmitter
> EAC        R390A/URR 1960 23137-PC-60
> Hammarlund SP-600-JX-26 1953          Serial 13432
> Hammarlund SP-600-JX-17 Diversity     Serial 12384
> 
> 
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