AndyH wrote: Sat Oct 20, 2018 10:28 pm
koolaidblue wrote: Sat Oct 20, 2018 9:03 pm
AndyH wrote: Sat Oct 20, 2018 8:25 pm
koolaidblue wrote: Fri Oct 19, 2018 6:34 am
At this point I think it would be preferable
But my understanding is that if an EMP was detonated or earth was hit by a massive CME (like the Carrington event) it would also fry off grid solar systems and anything with circuits/semi conductors within line of sight.
The idea of localised solar off grid sounds great for 99% of the time but if one of the above events occurr that would also be lost.
Hmm... Its a tricky situation that I worry about. I can only imagine how people would (or wouldn't) behave in something like that.
This is something I want to understand better. Microgrids are more resilient every other time so should be implemented rapidly anyway in our age of runaway climate change and global weirding.
It appears that microgrids are the best option even if we had a CME or EMP, at least because they would limit the cascade failures that take down the conventional grid.
http://www.govtech.com/computing/Space- ... -Life.html
https://2o9ub0417chl2lg6m43em6psi2i-wpe ... RT36-1.pdf
Thanks for those links I had not read them before.
I'm still skeptical for a home solar setup being able to survive an EMP.
once the E1 and E2 waves from the ionosphere reach the solar system on the roof I believe the circuits would be fried as a result. Now by some stroke of luck your home off the grid solar system was not in line of sight to the detonation point then your good to go and will live like a king. So for the threat of EMP/CME maybe it will work, Maybe not.
Where it really shows value is not being connected to the grid so you would not be subjected to a cascading failure in some sort of grid down scenario. (either a well coordinated and larger scale kinetic attacks like the Metcalf substation attack) a cyber attack, system failure etc..
This was interesting and ominous as it just quietly went away. If this happened to multiple critical substations in a coordinated attack it wouldn't be good.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack
An interesting book than really made me decide were screwed was Ted Koppel "lights out"
I'm sure you have also heard of "one second after" by William Forstchen
Apparently, at least based on some of the .gov EMP reports geared more towards communications (I'm a ham), equipment doesn't need to be in a Faraday cage the way many prepper sites suggest is necessary. Equipment can be hardened so that it isn't destroyed during the event even if it's in use. Here's one useful guide especially if one is a ham:
https://www.amazon.com/EMP-Hardened-Rad ... 154077760X
We have an astrophysicist here - I hope Bucolic fills in the blanks for us!
ETA: Here's a 2008 report "Report of the Commission to Assess the Thread to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP): Critical National Infrastructures", April 2008
http://empcommission.org/docs/A2473-EMP ... on-7MB.pdf
kab - thanks again for bringing the EMP topic up again. I finally read the hardened radio book I linked (it's been on my to-do list for a couple of months). The book breaks down the stages of an EMP and then shows how to protect radio equipment from things coming in from the antenna and from things coming down the power grid. The same techniques (essentially RF low-pass filtering and surge suppression) work on solar gear. The beauty of it is that the parts cost less than $20. The .gov reports recommend that the techniques should be used on the entire power grid, but so far only Maine has done anything...and the DoD.
Surge arrestors, faraday cages and other devices that prevent EMP from damaging electronics, as well micro-grids that are inherently less susceptible to EMP, have been used by the Defense Department for more than 50 years to protect crucial military installations and strategic forces.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-wool ... 1407885281
Separately, in Grant Cunningham's book "Prepping for life", he starts with the recognition that while "anything" can happen, most of the scariest things are less likely. Since resources are finite for most of us, focusing on the 'likely' problems seems a good start before moving to the 'plausible' - and 'possible' is farther away. I guess I personally put EMP from a air-burst nuke in the possible but improbable category, while CMEs move into the 'likely' to 'plausible' area somewhere. The sun apparently has CMEs often enough but most of the time we're not in the line of fire.
This is damn sobering, though (from the EMP-Hardened Radio Communications book):
If an EMP attack or significant CME event occurs, and the population is unprepared (as it is now), the consequences are likely to be cataclysmic beyond any known historical effect, even beyond that ofa conventional world war. Woolsey & Pry, in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, stated the 2008 commission had estimated a die-off of up to 90%..., due to inability to create and distribute food and water, maintain law and order, and provide medical care. Such a mortality is far beyond that of the world wars. Anarchy is the commonly-expected outcome, absent a miracle.
What would a successful EMP attack look like? The EMP Commission, in 2008, estimated that within 12 months of a nationwide blackout, up to 90% of the U.S. population could possibly perish from starvation, disease and societal breakdown.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/james-wool ... 1407885281
Gonna need to build a bigger battery...and get more ammo...
ETA... This piece on EMP Myths is worth the time.
http://futurescience.com/emp/EMP-myths.html