It's a good thing more and more of our communications infrastructure is built on fiber optics.

A very interesting study was just released, that shows a correlation between the latitude of a torsional oscillation or "Jet Stream", and the beginning of the new Sunspot cycle.

"We had some nice sunspots earlier this week, but the disk is blank again today."

#1 | Posted by Roy_Batty at 2009-06-26 09:22 AM | Reply

Another low scoring Field Day is at hand.

Another low scoring Field Day is at hand.

#2 | Posted by Zatoichi at 2009-06-26 09:28 AM

I don't know.

20s been pretty good to me these past few weeks, and with the international shortwave stations off 40 now, it could be nice for the overnight.

"20s been pretty good to me these past few weeks"

It' getting better. I've had South Pacific and Mediterranean maritime mobiles check in lately.

It seems that this and the electromagnetic pulse from nuclear weapons pose the greatest potential for disaster to our electronics driven society.

Just out of curiosity, what can be done to safeguard against this?

Just out of curiosity, what can be done to safeguard against this?

#5 | Posted by LIVE_OR_DIE at 2009-06-26 01:19 PM

Honestly...

Tubes.

Tubes do not suffer when there is an EMP from a nuclear bomb, or a geomagnetic storm from the sun.

Just out of curiosity, what can be done to safeguard against this?

#5 | Posted by LIVE_OR_DIE at 2009-06-26 01:19 PM

It is possible to shield modern electronics from the effects of a geomagnetic storms and EMP.

The big problem with either event, is the long wires that are run over the surface of the earth. They act like antennas, and large amounts of energy can be induced into them.

That's why I made the comment in my first post, that it's a good thing we have a lot of fiber now, fiber optic cable isn't affected by either EMP or geomagnetic storms.

Interesting, didn't know that about fiber optic.

I didn't understand the tubes reference however.

Tubes do not suffer when there is an EMP from a nuclear bomb, or a geomagnetic storm from the sun.

But to get tubes to do what a single IC does would require a a bulding the size of a large house. Literally. And this doesn't even consider the power needed for them or the power to run the cooling plant that keeps them from burning up.

And that is only ONE chip. Tubes aren't a viable solution. It would make more sense to shield the chips.

Visualize a laptop made with 12AX7s.

No?

I can't either.

Maybe Nuvistors ...

That's why I made the comment in my first post, that it's a good thing we have a lot of fiber now, fiber optic cable isn't affected by either EMP or geomagnetic storms.

That's true, but fiber is used mainly for transmission. The electronics at each end of the fiber would still be susceptible to an EMP, so it doesn't matter if the transmission medium was fiber or copper.

But we do use fiber in daily applications to counter the effects of EMF as it does not carry current as is induced in copper data lines running parallel to power lines, e.g.

Computing equipment changes out so fast. My experience is that an IT group typically swaps out their equipment every 3 years. If we started making protecting parts standard in new computers / servers we could be better off than we are now in a few short years. Can't say how much extra cost that would be though.

Sorry zat but that fiber is for lighting.

"Sorry zat but that fiber is for lighting."

Nope.
Guess again.

"Nope.
Guess again."

That looks like plastic fiber. The diameter is to large, there is no plastic coating, they are not color coated and it looks like there are coming from a light box.

I was part of the team at Sprint that built the first coast to coast fiber network. I was on the switching end of it.

The first words over a phone were "Watson, come here. I need you"

The first radio transmission was a single electric 'pop' on a primitive collector

The first televised image in a lab was Felix the cat.

The first words from the West coast to the East coast on 100% fiber optic cable were, "We have light".

There is a book Sprint Produced called "We have light" that details the challenge of building that fiber network. I am accredited in it as part of the team.

It's wavelength shifting fiber being inserted into scintillator strips through Teflon tubes. The fiber's the little green strand in the student's hand. The blocks hold the fiber ends in front of photomultiplier tubes. It's a cosmic ray tracking detector.

Goat, note the Toshiba laptop

Is that the one you've had for 5 years?

"The fiber's the little green strand in the student's hand."

Sorry, did not see that. I was looking at the clear tubes and they look an awful lot like light transmission fiber for lighting. I am used to dealing with these

And that is only ONE chip. Tubes aren't a viable solution. It would make more sense to shield the chips.

#9 | Posted by goatman at 2009-06-26 02:06 PM

I hope you understand I was being somewhat facetious.

It is true that tubes are impervious to EMP, but they are in no way a practical alternative.

Proper shielding is the only way to go.

But that being said, a lot of the trouble that happens to equipment in an EMP or Geomagnetic storm, happens because it is connected to copper cables that get large amounts of energy induced into them.

Are we ever "ready" for the next disaster?

I could use some peace and quiet for a few days that is for sure. My wife would be quite happy if the cable never came back at all...she is such a Druid. But unfortunately, (speaking of druids) I need power for my Ag room. Guess I best be gettin a generator soon anyway.