Contact when SHTF and there is no web...

[ZachOmega]

If an EMP attack happens, lets hope you have a basement full of vacuum tubes and a stack of tube radio manuals.

I know I do...

Supposedly, (I have no idea if this is true) Russian Mig jets used to have tube front ends on all of the equipment in the event of a nuclear detonation. Tubes are rather good with surges in power while anything Solid State or digital is toasted pretty much instantaneously.

-Zach

just incase of EMP attack, is there a way to protect electronics, such as a radio? I have heard of faraday cages, but never tested one. i read the story "lights out" that was linked to another thread not too long ago, BTW kick ass novel for anyone who hasnt had the time to read it. anyway, if there was an emp attack and most electronics went down eccept for those who were prepared and took caution, we could potentially be the only ones with comm gear.....great advantage for us.

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asmo is right about code, we need good stuff within our sectors, as well as connecting with other sectors

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What about those crystal radio kits? Good stuff since they require no power. Just need to have a way to broadcast on those frequencies which should be pretty easy and straightforward.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_radio

-Zach

[CommonHighrise]

Faraday cages will sheild just about anything from an EMP, the only trouble is it shields all signals, in and out, and the device has to be within the cage at the time the EMP reaches it. So, unless you're willing to dedicate your radio to being useless unless it's taken out of the cage, they're not too helpful.

I do need to pick up an old tube CB unit, if for nothing else than to have one more contingency.

If the power plants go down...everything goes down.

Actually, neat thing about the 'grid', is that it's all inter-connected. Some of the power being supplied to your wall outlet here, originated at the Hoover Dam. So, if the local coal stations go down (I've heard anywhere from 6-36 hours), the nuclear stations can pick up the slack, assuming there will be less power draw, since most will either be dead, or running for their lives.

The more likely source of a power failure is a substation or lines going down. I'm sure plenty of panicked drivers will be hitting poles, or wild gunshots taking out transformers.

They did have a Mythbusters though, on how to pull usable power down from high--tension lines. Those will be the last ones still running hot, so it might play a factor in base selection. Nothing beats taking a soak in the de-com jacuzzi after a rough day of zombie killing.

[mcmcallister]

i was thinking about putting some buble pack radios or a cb in faraday cages....small investment in case of emp...hopefully it doesnt come down to that though

[nepawolf]

I have 7 tube cb units, but they all need work done on them.

[ZachOmega]

What is wrong with them?

-Zach

I have 7 tube cb units, but they all need work done on them.

[nepawolf]

No idea. Most of them power up, but after that I'm not sure. Haven't spent that much time fiddling with them.

[YukonDon]

No idea. Most of them power up, but after that I'm not sure. Haven't spent that much time fiddling with them.

My father used to work on all kinds of tube radios. If you ever feel like driving to central PA (Camp Hill), maybe he could check them out.

[Asmodeus6]

Now that's what I like to see. ZRT members helping each other out!

[nepawolf]

Thanks for the offer, but that's close to 4 hours round trip. I'm going to try the local CB shop when I have freed up funds for it.

[CommonHighrise]

i was thinking about putting some buble pack radios or a cb in faraday cages....small investment in case of emp...hopefully it doesnt come down to that though

Neat thing about EMP is that it requires line of sight. Dirt absorbs the pulse. So as long as you have a basement to store electronics, and the EMP doesn't go off right over your house, you should be ok.