Galt's Gulch

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    Posted by $ Radio_Randy 2 years, 6 months ago
    A Faraday cage is pointless, since our power grid will probably be the first thing to fail...

    Radios will be of some use, for a while, but computers and such will be useless without an Internet to connect to.
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  • Posted by $ Olduglycarl 2 years, 6 months ago
    I have followed Ben since the beginning and I am glad to see him talking on other venues. The disaster is close and although we carry on, it's this knowledge of the future that weighs heavy on the mind.
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  • Posted by $ Commander 2 years, 6 months ago
    We're pretty well set excepting a huge Faraday Cage. I do have about 2 miles of copper wire stored though.
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    • Posted by saucerdesigner 2 years, 6 months ago
      I made a Faraday Cage years ago out of a 31 gal. galvanized steel round trash can with a lid, some 1/4" hardware cloth sandwiched between 2 layers of cardboard out of a dumpster for insulating the can from the hardware cloth and it's contents. It works OK for small stuff.
      I haven't tried to see if my most valuable possession, the PC with all the saucer CAD files on it, would fit.
      I'd certainly have to dump out most of what's in it now.
      The real question is: Will I be able to get the PC to run after the grid is toast, assuming I'm on the night side of the sun when it goes boom (again) and survive the initial blast of radiation, or the impactors blown this way, or from the mile-high surge of the Pacific as it hurtles Eastward over the continent due to the stoppage of Earth's rotation.
      I'm 73 now, it (the periodic solar micro nova) is predicted to occur again in 2046. I tend to think given the rapid decay of Earths magnetic field strength and the accelerating movement of the poles that it'll be sooner than that. I'm not sure if the magnetic pole reversal triggers the micro nova or vice-versa.
      I'll be 97 if I manage to live until 2046.
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      • Posted by freedomforall 2 years, 6 months ago
        Nice! 👍
        Buy a ~$100 used laptop and load your OS and files (e.g., Dell Latitude e6430,e6330,e6230, etc.) That will fit easily and run w7 or linux. A used mac will cost ~$1,000 more. ;^)
        An extra battery might be useful, too. Laptops are power misers. The Dells mentioned use about 30 watts in normal activities. Models with newer cpus are even lower wattage.
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        • Posted by saucerdesigner 2 years, 6 months ago
          Yessir! I traded some computer nerd time for a used Dell Lattitude e5330 and put dual-boot Ubuntu Linux and Windows 7 on it. When the new 1TB replacement HDD arrives, I'll be migrating the OS's and files from the stock 380 GB HDD to the 1TB drive. Extra battery is definitely on the wish-list.
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      • Posted by CaptainKirk 2 years, 6 months ago
        That's a lot of trouble. I have to ask...
        Can't you just take what you want to protect and double wrap it in Mylar, I would FOLD it on the open end (to close it), and then leverage my seal-a-meal to seal it (not to remove the air).

        For small stuff, I would toss it in a microwave, close the door, and tape it closed. (I know my cell phone will not get any signal inside the microwave, which is effectively a faraday cage).

        Thoughts?
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      • Posted by $ Commander 2 years, 6 months ago
        I'll be your age at that time. Have a place to shore a big pond and water wheel. Only a couple jack shafts and gears and belts ...I'm in business. My mills, lathes and saws are easy to convert mechanically. Only things I'd need to protect are motors, relays, etc. (can always rebuild them) Have all that wire! Now, powering up a 400 amp, non-rotary welder is another story. Gotta find me an old Hobart.
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