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Re: Don't trust the net too much
On Wed, 12 Jul 1995, Doug Hughes wrote:
> Go see Winn Schwartau talk about HERF guns sometime. He passed around
> a picture of a device for < US$500 that could crash any computer within
> 50 yards.. Then again, it isn't too good for the person firing the gun
> either.. (mega EM emissions).
That all depends on the power level, and the emission pattern of the
device, and the frequency. I've been working within 10 feet of a dipole
being fed by a 1kW amplifier before, and it didn't make me sterile (but
it might've loosened a filling or two <grin>).
> The parts are available if you know what to get. a VERY enlightening
> and frightening presentation. I don't think he personally has built one.
> His presentation contained a presentation on TEMPEST emissions, and
> low level EM field effects on sensitive equipment problems too (a PBS
> documentary - a VERY compelling presentation of why you should never
> use walkman/CD players/radios/electronics equipment on airplanes if
> they say not to, and you value your life)
This sounds like absolute propoganda. If you do the calculations, you'll
see that a 1 watt transmitter sitting 100 feet away from your target will
generate an EMF less than that 1000kW ERP TV transmitter array you just
flew over. If aircraft avionics were *that* sensitive, we'd have planes
falling out of the sky, and we don't. Add to that the HF and VHF
transmitting equipment in the cockpit, plus the microwave ovens in the
fore and aft, PLUS the phones they have on the plane, and it adds up to a
sizeable amount of RF bouncing around the cabin without you and your 2m
talkie with it's 6 dB loss rubber duckie.
Now, if every passenger fired up their 2m talkies, that might pose a
problem, but then again every passenger wouldn't be using one, would they?
Again, sounds like "we want to totally control your environment for your
safety (actually, to minimize our liability)" crap.
--
Ed Carp, N7EKG [email protected], [email protected]
801/534-8857 voicemail 801/460-1883 digital pager
Finger [email protected] for PGP 2.5 public key [email protected]
Q. What's the trouble with writing an MS-DOS program to emulate Clinton?
A. Figuring out what to do with the other 639K of memory.