As I understand it, any equipment you want to survive an EMP had better be inside a Faraday cage that's actually a solid electrically conducting case with no gaps. The ideal would be a packing crate sheathed in copper and soldered shut, not sure if you'd have to go all the way to that extreme or if a tight fitting copper lid would be OK (I'm sure there's been military research done on exactly how tight the seal would need to be). I'm pretty sure that lead-acid wet plate batteries would survive an EMP OK, most of what seems to get fried in EMP events is wire coils and semiconductor junctions due to the enormous induced voltages (a good sized spool of wire in the crate wouldn't be a bad idea, spooled up wire exposed to an EMP tends to fuse into a solid block of copper if I remember corrrectly).
I'd say enough space to house a more or less universal Extra-class coverage HF radio, a versatile and low loss antenna tuner that can load up whatever you can scrounge (probably a random wire or dipole), and a good sized spool of suitable antenna wire if you can fit it in there, and count on leaving this setup packed away ready for use at all times (i.e. treat it as "emergency use only" and don't be tempted to dig it out and put it in the shack except for periodic functionality tests). Probably better to use a less feature-rich but more rugged radio that will get you on the air with just the basics, to reduce the temptation. :)
I wouldn't count on there being too many people out there to talk to after an EMP event, though, and I'd expect there to be really tight restrictions on who was and was not allowed to transmit even on ham frequencies for some time afterward. So having a working transceiver may be of very limited use unless you're on record as belonging to a local ARES chapter and are handling disaster relief traffic ..
On Dec 14, 2007, at 1:11 AM, [email protected] wrote:
Has anyone thought about the idea/need/way to safeguard a few ham radio sets in an area in case of EMP? A nuclear device set off above ground will wipe out all modern electronics (ham sat radios) within a large distance from the epicenter. Even if the radios are outside the blast and radiation areas they would be useless because of the EMP (electro magnetic pulse). I would think that HS might be willing to fund a way to create some safe rooms to store some ham gear around the country. Perhaps even a large "safe box"? Ham satellite gear should be in this category.
Les W4SCO
HAH, YES. HE ACTUALLY SAYS IN HIS LETTER, "I BET YOU DON'T EXIST 'COS EVERYONE KNOWS ITS YORE PARENTS." OH YES, said Death, with what almost sounded like sarcasm, I'M SURE HIS PARENTS ARE JUST IMPATIENT TO BANG THEIR ELBOWS IN TWELVE FEET OF NARROW UNSWEPT CHIMNEY, I DON'T THINK.
(: HAPPY HOGSWATCH :)