After watching the clip it doesn't fully explain the effects. The car he was driving was either a Sable or Taurus, by turning the ignition switch you are telling a computer to engage the starter which also turns on the fuel system and ignition system of the engine. But the windows still worked which are not part of the computer system, they run through a series of relays connected to the battery and the mechanical portion of the ignition switch. What I am discerning is that only the computer will die, the electro-mechanical portion of the car will remain intact ie the physical wiring and mechanical relays/solenoids etc. If this is correct then my diesel Ram would still operate since the computer only controls the gauges, I can disconnect it and the truck will still start and run just no voltage/temp/fuel/oil press/pyro/boost gauges. As to the rest of the electronics I think I'm relatively safe since I don't own an MP3 player, can't get any radio stations where I live (so no radio's), and only listen to CD's. I would lose Satellite, computer, music and my well but with a mtn stream running 150' from my house losing the well would be a minor inconvenience. I guess there is a benefit to refusing to enter the 2000's

I think that's pretty much correct: It's the electronic components that get fried rather than electric/electro mechanical bits. I wonder how the old valve radios would fare if subjected to an EMP event. We've got lots of those gathering dust in sheds all round the country - though many are still used to listen to the footy while dad is tinkering in his workshop - and my bet is that they'd fare pretty well.

If I understand right, there are somethings like your Ram pickup that will work after a bit of tinkering. The problem is to find the parts after an event. Same with radios and such...tubes and crystals should work I am told.
Likewise, I understand, things that have minimal electronics, like a generator. Lots of basic simple things might work fine, IF you can get some kind of power to them. But, you know, man was around a long time, living just fine without electricity, longer then they have had it!
A good "Back to Basics" type book will come in very handy. When I look at things not, I think "can I use it without electricity or minimal power" (such as can be gotten with solar power or such. I worry about the techno junkies in my family, as any generator use would have to be conserved and video games, movie and such would be unavailable. I know I have several members of my family who would have a very hard time after the "game" of no electricity wore off.

I know it's an old post, but I just saw it and thought I'd contribute a little something to it.

My dad worked for Raytheon at one point, and was contracted to work on the F-18s' landing and navigational systems for the military. He related a story to me once about one time long ago when the government first got their hands on a Russian MiG. He told me that when they first started to dissect it, the engineers discovered that they were still using vacuum tubes for their electronics. The engineers all laughed, and ridiculed the Russians for having such antiquated technology in their prized jet. After a while, one of the engineers stopped, and said, "What would happen to this jet if it were hit by an EMP?" All of the engineers immediately stopped, thinking it through for a minute, and realized, that absolutely nothing would happen to it--it would have no problems. The US Military's jets at the time, on the other hand, had solid state electronics, and no real EMP protection. An EMP would cause it to drop out of the sky like a rock--even the flight stick was electronics-based.

Which is a good reason to keep that old valve radio in the shed, where I can listen to the football while having a cold home brewed beer or two... or three. (It's also an AM, rather than an FM set, and can pick up signals in the most unlikely areas.)

Pretty good EMP scenario story:
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... ut1-10.pdf

Just finished reading it, Sarge. Really good, but it felt like it had finished mid story. Do you know if there's any more to it?

Its my understanding, from eSearches, that all EFI vehicles will only be good as small ugly greenhouses after an EMP event. Anyone have a different take on this?

O.K. Has anybody had problems with their car's computer malfunctioning? It does happen occasioanlly. So is the whole car a write-off? Of course not. What do you do? Simple: You get it repaired or replaced, albeit at some cost.
If you are really concerned about an EMP event, perhaps it would be a good idea to contact your car's maker or service dept and find out what spares you would need to have on hand to make the required repairs, and keep those in your EMP-proof safe.

Bidadisndat wrote:Just finished reading it, Sarge. Really good, but it felt like it had finished mid story. Do you know if there's any more to it?

the rest can be found on survivalmonkey.com
Good story but long
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t11-20.pdf
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t21-30.pdf
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t31-40.pdf
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t41-49.pdf
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t50-59.pdf
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t60-69.pdf
http://survivalmonkey.com/SF%20books/Li ... t70-73.pdf
http://www.survivalmonkey.com/SF%20book ... ilogue.pdf