ToughBook Survive an EMP?

OK, having a debate with a friend - he thinks a CF 27/28/29/30/31 would survive an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse) because of the metal case, I say no way because the components touch the case, so it would not be a good Faraday cage.

Anyone know who is correct?

 

This calls for an EXPERIMENT!

Let's hook up the 10,000,000 volt Marx generator, position the TB under the discharge zone, and let 'er rip

X>--!--< X
X___*___X

 

As stated in its brochure somewhere... It IS Mil-Spec.... But NOT for EMP.... Might it survive? It would have a better chance than anything else short of Air Force One... Definitely better than any production laptop.... But it is not specifically made to withstand an EMP.... So get your lead box out or bury it 6 feet deep every night!

 

Ummm... yeah. NO.

Faraday cages protect against stray RADIO WAVES... EMP is a powerful MAGNETIC PULSE. To shield against it, you need multiple layers of ferrous metal wrapped around your tender little bits such that it folds the magnetic pulse around them, otherwise they'll get well and truly scrambled.

You want a simple empirical test? Take apart a magnetically shielded speaker and compare its construction against a conventional one.

mnem
No, thanks... I can make my own "special hat".

 

mnem
No, thanks... I can make my own "special hat".



Where did I leave that aluminum foil?

 

OP - great question.
I would go along with the others that a ToughBook would survive better than any others. But given that... I would certainly want some other protection for it if I really needed it to survive an EMP.

 

There is an interesting article on EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse; sometimes known as "NEMP": Nuclear Electro-Magnetic Pulse) on the 2012 Forum.

 

Interesting read, though I knew much of it already- maybe it would survive. Anyone have an EMP testing center handy?

 

TopCop - Thanks for the link to the EMP info. Link in the article goes back to an Australian survival site. Author is Duncan Long.
Seems to me the thinking has gone from "everything electronic will get fried" to "there's a good chance it won't" over the last several years. I hope we never find out for sure.

 

I heard that a single layer of the tin foil you cook with is enough to protect an electronic device against an emp pulse, I don't know how true this is though.

 

Here ya go!