I've been watching the TV series Jericho and also been reading news stories of terrorist groups who might explode a high altitude nuclear weapon that would fry all our electronics and communication.
Does anyone know how to make today's cars (e.g., 2004 Maxima) resistant to an EMP (would parking in a basement garage provide enough shielding etc) attacK? Interesting discussion point.
Cars are very susceptable to EMP... as are all home electronics.
Lead shielding would protect against certain types of radiation, but isn't needed for EMP protection.
If you are really concerned about it you can make your own Faraday cage for your car inside a garage... basically, make a 2x4 open frame that surrounds your car and cover it with metal screening... like copper or galvanized steel screen. All the sheets of metal screen have to be very well electrical bonded approximately every 3" or so (spot solder) along the seams. You could also buy one of the all-metal vehicle storage sheds and store it in that, again making sure there are no gaps and all individual pieces of metal are well bonded together.
The hardest part to close gaps and ensure it's bonded will be the door.
The cage doesn't have to be grounded to work as a Farady cage, but it is recommended in case it should come in contact with line voltage (like a frayed extension cord). It would be better to blow the fuse/circuit breaker than create a giant piece of uninsulated metal at
115v AC!
You can also buy rolls of plastic sheeting that has a metal film vapor deposited on it. Your can then heat-seal the sheets together to form a giant airtight bag around the car. Throw a couple pounds of dessicant in there, suck out the air and back fill it with nitrogen and you can preserve the car for a pretty long time too!
Survivalists have already thought this one through... check out some of their web sites and you'll get much better ideas than mine.
But actually there's a very good probability (if you're half lucky and located upwind and/or half smart and stay in a shelter) that you will survive for quite a while afterwards. What's far more likely is the other surviving mobs will kill you for the car you carefully protected. There ain't no cop to call even if your cell phone worked.
And one tactic was to light off monster hydrogen bursts exo-atmospheric above population/power/communication centers specifically for the purpose of exploiting EMP effects without the brick and mortar damage and radiation poisoning effects.
Actually, my idea was to preserve the car to use as a power source -- eg., electical power to charge batteries etc. I agree that driving around after any type of disaster would be disasterous with unruly mobs etc.
was out looking at my Maxima, thinking, what could I eat ...??
Thinking that the head liner might be mighty tasty...-:)
and that tire jack the car comes with - nice for wacking your (tastey) nieghbors in the head with,,,-:)
Lets all pray that something like this never happens.
and Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year to all - even if you are not smart enough to own an EMP proof, Maxima, with a edible head liner, and multi purpose tire jack -:)
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