Pls. don't laugh !!! how do I protect your HT from EMP (1 Viewer)

[Jack Briggs]

Well, if you could find a portable generator to run a big, big power amplifier, you could use it for heating purposes after the nuclear winter begins.
We also need research into building components that can better withstand an asteroid impact. And, also, what if a star in this sector of the Galaxy should go supernova? Man, our electronics will be toast!
Finally, if this proposed war against Iraq goes through, Israel can take comfort in knowing that Saddam most likely does not have a nuclear device, and his offensive missiles can barely reach a target more than 300 miles away. What's bad news for Saddam Hussein is good news for Israeli home-theater enthusiasts!
This thread's originating post wins my award for Most Entertaining Post for the month of September. Your free smiley-face icon is on the way, Lior!

 

[Rich Allen]

Maybe he's just trying to warn us about something.

 

[Holadem]

If your home theatre equipment was destroyed by an electro-magnetic pulse from a nuclear detonation, you wouldn't be concerned about your equipment. You'd be lucky to be alive, and if you were, you'd be unsure of whether you'd survive for very long.

This thread is hilarious!
--
Holadem

 

[MikeAlletto]

Actually not for HT use but other uses the circuit boards and power supplies could be used for if they aren't totally destroyed. I'd want to have as much spare parts if I survived. But then you'd have to worry about the fallout, and not much will be able to protect you from that.

 

[David Sim]

I say get a radiation suit to protect yourself in the event of a nuclear disaster. (Preferably one with 7.1 ear holes in it.)
Then you will be alive to loot the local high-end HT store and upgrade upgrade upgrade.
Don't forget to hit a hardware store for a good generator and some gas cans.

 

[Grinnell]

Sadly, this is probably a serious question that deserves a serious answer and I actually know a little about this topic, from a former life.
1)EMP effects from a high altitude burst can travel a few thousand miles. So a single high altitude burst over Iraq that didn't kill anyone on the ground could be a problem for electronics in Europe not just Israel.
2)Avoid long input lines such as power lines and antennas. Your own local generator is far better than being on the commercial grid. Similarly, your cell phone may die, but it won't introduce large transients into your household like a telephone line.
3)While a Faraday cage and grounding have been mentioned, if you think of EMP as a direct or very close hit by lightning you are probably on a reasonable track for home protection.
4)Believe it or not tube equipment is generally LESS sensitive to EMP than solid state.
5)If things are getting tense, unplug, disconnect and decable any and all electrical equipment. Have a cheap portable battery operated radio or two that you can sacrifice to keep up with events.
6)Don't forget about your other electrical equipment and appliances. If the power company gets things restored in a few days or weeks, you wouldn't want to discover that your refrigerator or washing machine were fried.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

If your home theatre equipment was destroyed by an electro-magnetic pulse from a nuclear detonation, you wouldn't be concerned about your equipment. You'd be lucky to be alive, and if you were, you'd be unsure of whether you'd survive for very long.

Life ain't worth living without Home Theater, right guys?
Sanjay

 

[MikeAlletto]

If things are just not plugged in is that good enough to avoid them being fried? I always thought that everything electronic whether plugged in or not would just be toast?

 

[RichardMA]

How about converting all your equipment to tubes?
I think I saw a tube-based Pro-Logic decoder available
for about $20,000.

 

[Holadem]

If things are just not plugged in is that good enough to avoid them being fried? I always thought that everything electronic whether plugged in or not would just be toast?

IIRC, a varying magnetic field will induce current into a closed circuit that crosses it. There are many such circuits in any piece of equipement whether they are plugged in or not.

I guess unplugging stuff will protect from any gigantic surge created in the power lines (or generator) by the same principle, but not from the current induced in the device itself. I might be talking out of my arse here, don't quote me on this...

--
Holadem

 

[Dan Lindley]

Heck, I guess with my sig and location, I'd better chime in:

isn't it amazing how many on this board reply knowing stuff about EMP. When I say EMP to my undergrads, it's more like a lecture on vegetables or something....

That said, my two bits can in part be deduced from the above: an explosion with max emp effects is quite high up, so one of these, and you and your cared fors may well survive, but electricity and your precious HT may not.

I believe a nuke test around Johnston Atoll fried some electronics and power on parts of Hawaii, back in the old days. I think the dist was 800+ miles (this is all from memory; see Glasstone and Dolan, Effects of Nuclear Weapons for more (it comes complete with the circular bomb effects calculator as seen on Dr. Strangelove -- talk about product placement.... well before its time!!!)).

But really, think about the big picture: if you have any money invested at all, a nuke explosion will wipe out your (and mine and all of ours) portfolio for awhile. Assuming you have any reasonable amount of money in savings, and assuming your portfolio to HT ratio isn't crazy in favor of HT, your losses in your portfolio following a nuke attack will far outweigh your HT losses....

Heck, any massive terrorism, and trade will contract worldwide and stockmarkets will crash....you know, a nuclear war could well lead to layoffs and job losses!

But those who can make their HTs run will at least have some solace....

At least that is what I tell my wife when all these DVDs and the SVS come dancing through the front door....

(actually, I just mumble...)

Dan

 

[KyleK]

I hear that undead radiation zombies don't care much for HT...so don't worry, you wont care about HT!

 

[Rich Allen]

Well, looking at where he's from, and the situation in that area of the world...

It could very well be a real concern. And more than just for his HT.

 

[Tom Boucher]

The last thing I'd think about was my Home Theater gear if an EMP from a Nuclear blast was anywhere near my home.

The type of sheilding you would need to build would cost probably 10x, if not 100x more than your gear. I'd be more concerned with building a shelter where my family and I could reside to get rid of the worst of the fallout.

It's no use to me to be watching The Matrix on DVD in 7.1 Surround if my baby girl is bleeding from everywhere because of radiation poisioning.

 

[Ferran Mazzanti]

@LiorM,
such an optimistic guy! But otherwise... don't you think that there would be more important things to care about if the
big one strikes near your house?
Just kidding... I was only surprised by the kind of problems people may think about.

 

[RichardMA]

A limited nuclear exchange between Israel and some
Arab country that might possess the bomb wouldn't mean
the world is coming to an end. Worrying about the
state of your home theater would be as legitimate as
worrrying about anything else. Having said that, high
altitude tests didn't destroy all electronic products
when they were done so I wouldn't worry too much about
the bomb damaging the home theater when it went off.
For those interested, get the DVD "Trinity and Beyond, the
Atomic Bomb Movie" by Robert Curran.

 

[Adil M]

I believe filling your speakers w/ cat litter and rubbing some clockwise on the electronics will protect them from dirty shifts in the electromagnetic spectrum along w/ tightening the bass and bringing out lower treble, however the educated palette will notice a dangerous hint of quiet afterwards.
Until Lior replies again I'll take it as a joke.

 

[Nils Luehrmann]

EDIT (wrong thread) reply was for the following thread:
Any electronics that will survive an EMP blast?

 

[Leo Kerr]

I'm afraid I don't have anything terribly useful to add to this rather... macabre and black-humor thread, but my CD player rolled over into Narnia's cut: The Stone Table as I was loading the thread....

Leo

 

[Jerome Grate]

The phrase, duck, cover and roll comes to mind but it will be kind of hard to do that with your HT. But on a serious note certainly after a nuclear blast, you may want to make sure you are in tune with the Almighty and not the transitory things that you can't take with you. Just my opinion.