Solar flare is suppose to hit earth Tuesday morning. Ranked a 3 out of 5 on NASA's scale. High altitude Flights near polar regions warned.
Solar Flare
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K9WG
Member
Dang! I haven't had time to bury by equipment in tin cans and aluminum foil.
Neither have I...lol
I wonder what it will do to radios and antennas? Anyone have any ideas?
thomast77
Member
If it is strong enough it will fry your radios. This is going to be a border line X class flare which is the strongest we can get. And it is headed directly for us. I have a few of my radios in a faraday cage already just in case. I don't think this one will be big enough to do it though.
There are a whole range of "X" class flares, from just above the strongest "M" event , to X28, the strongest flare measured with modern instruments to date, in 2003. Then there was the "Carrington Event" of Sept. 1, 1859, but was only measured at visual wavelengths, but was probably a good deal stronger than the one of 2003.
"X" class flares while strong, vary immensely in strength and the strongest "M" class, which the current one seems to be is nowhere near the same class as a really big "X" flare.
ka3jjz
Wiki Admin Emeritus
It will have absolutely no effect on radios or antennas - however it will play havoc with HF propagation for a few days, and if you're inside the area where auroras are common, you're likely to have quite a light show. DXers who fool around with aurora based propagation (hams, too) are going to have a field day.
In addition the folks on the Space Station have good reason to be concerned - likely they're going to have to practice whatever precautions they've been trained for in the case of radiation exposure.
There's SO much garbage that gets put out in the lay press about flares and such....best regards...Mike
In addition the folks on the Space Station have good reason to be concerned - likely they're going to have to practice whatever precautions they've been trained for in the case of radiation exposure.
There's SO much garbage that gets put out in the lay press about flares and such....best regards...Mike
firefighter89
Member
Not sure if it has anything to do with the solar flare or not but I'm receiving VHF and UHF frequencies from 150+ miles away full signal on the stock portable antenna.
thomast77
Member
I use the double faraday method. I put the radio in its box and wrap that with foil. Then I place that box inside of a Galvanized Steel trash can. Make sure you line the inside of the trash can with cardboard to keep the foil wrapped boxes from contacting the metal trash can.
A file cabinet is not ideal because it has so many cracks around the doors. But it could be modified to work with some foil tape or something. You could test it by putting a radio or cell phone inside. If the radio quits working or the phone does not ring when you call it then it is not allowing RF in.
This seems like pointless overkill to me. A Faraday cage does NOT require solid metal, and indeed Faraday himself demonstrated his first cage made of open wire mesh. See the article at Faraday cage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, for example. A double Faraday cage will perform no better than a single one.
A small crack will make no noticeable difference.
And the storms seen so far are not big enough to justify even this. The big event of 2003 didn't fry many computers or radios, it was far larger than the current ones. Far more damage was done by the great electrical blackout in the northeastern part of North America which was unrelated and happened months before the big flare.
Lightning is a far bigger hazard in most of the world.
thomast77
Member
Copper mesh does indeed work just as good, But it is very expensive. Galvanized trash can costs $25 and works just as well. A Double Faraday is just extra protection. I see no harm in it.
If RF can make its way through a small crack in a filing cabinet then so can an EMP. That's why I told kc0usq that he should test to see if RF is getting through. If RF is getting through it will not work.
What's wrong with being prepared. The big one is coming it is just a matter of when and from where.
God Bless You and Best Regards
Tom
K9WG
Member
Hello, hello. Testing 1, 2, 3...
Yep, all my technology is still working.
My HF still receives and transmits
My VHF/UHF handhelds and mobile still work...
GPS still GPSing
Heck even by cheap $25 prepaid cell phone still makes calls....
I am really disappointed
Yep, all my technology is still working.
My HF still receives and transmits
My VHF/UHF handhelds and mobile still work...
GPS still GPSing
Heck even by cheap $25 prepaid cell phone still makes calls....
I am really disappointed
It is not extra protection, a single Faraday cage offers perfect protection. Adding another one does nothing but waste money and/or time that could be spent doing something actually useful. The harm is admittedly slight, but it is not zero.
But if it is an all metal cabinet with the drawers closed, the energy will be totally blocked, cracks or no.
If a really dangerous CME happens we now have spacecraft that will warn us one or two days in advance. Plenty of time to wrap our electronic devices in aluminum foil and disconnect them from everything.
Just keep checking SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids every morning and you'll have lots of warning.
Yesterday's magnetic storm was a 1 out of 5, officially classed as "minor". To see what the scale means see http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales/index.html#GeomagneticStorms
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What's all the hubbub, bub? You make it sound like The Day The Earth Stood Still but no satellites fell from the sky, no power failures, no telephones melted (oh, that was Failsafe) and Gort was nowhere around for me to tell him Klaatu barada nikto.
Speaking of The Big Fizzle, during the same period the NWS predicted glaciers swallowing New Jersey (heavy snow warning actually) accompanied by earthquake, fire and flood but all we got was a sharp rise in temperature and a mild fog.
"Not sure if it has anything to do with the solar flare or not but I'm receiving VHF and UHF frequencies from 150+ miles away full signal on the stock portable antenna."
No, it was a bit of tropo caused by the same funky weather pattern.
Speaking of The Big Fizzle, during the same period the NWS predicted glaciers swallowing New Jersey (heavy snow warning actually) accompanied by earthquake, fire and flood but all we got was a sharp rise in temperature and a mild fog.
"Not sure if it has anything to do with the solar flare or not but I'm receiving VHF and UHF frequencies from 150+ miles away full signal on the stock portable antenna."
No, it was a bit of tropo caused by the same funky weather pattern.
But there were some spectacular auroral displays if your skies were clear.
http://spaceweather.com/submissions...4395.jpg?PHPSESSID=rukq3b3qkng801j02k80euplc6
thomast77
Member
I am not going to argue back and forth with you in a public forum So we will have to agree to disagree on these two points.
God Bless and Best Regards
Tom
My apologies for unfairly using actual facts and evidence.
thomast77
Member
Its Ok. I accept your apology.
Tom
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