On Thu, 2003-10-23 at 23:36, John Wilson wrote: > On October 23, 2003 07:17 pm, Lyvim Xaphir wrote: > > I just heard on Fox news that a pseudo-solar flare has erupted on the > > sun, and we now have a massive wave of electromagnetic energy and > > particles headed our way. It's due to hit tommorrow. No kidding. > > > > Supposedly the max rating for such a storm is "G5", this storm is > > supposed to be "G3" or so. Satellite communications might be disrupted > > and they say cell phone communications are at risk as well. Anything > > that's wireless may be affected. I will probably definitely be affected > > since my internet connection is satellite uplink. > > > > Anyways, watch out for voltage spikes and stuff like that. > > > > > > LX > > > Dunno what Fox was on about but you can no more get a voltage spike from solar > flares than you can from making tea. :-)
http://www.hsb.com/thelocomotive/Story/FullStory/ST-FS-SOLAR.html http://www.theinternetfoundation.org/Notes/Y2K/defense/SolarMaximum.htm (old in that it refers to the flares of 89 but accurate.) for example. Solar flares are a tremendous source of HEMP (High Energy Magnetic Pulse) induced voltages. Since a Solar flare is a great source of Magnetic Flux http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/google_referrer.taf?article_product_code=NATURE&fulltext_filename=/nature/journal/v394/n6693/full/394552a0_fs.html&_UserReference=C0A804F846519B16967379CA89833F9A0CE7 The appearance of the waves from a solar outbreak works a lot like a magnet and a coil in that it can induce voltage into an antenna. Now you may say "My computer doesn't have an antenna". Actually it's got lots of them. Ethernet cable, keyboard cable, mouse cable, Ribbon Cables, wires, etc etc etc. Not to mention the really long antenna it's connected to. House wiring, Transmission lines etc. Not also that the voltage spike/reaction you may see could quite well be as the result of a reaction to the flares not a direct result. (A friend of mine in LA lost his cable modem due to an induced electrical backflow today. They had to replace his and about a dozen others around him.) James BTW making tea can indirectly cause a voltage spike. (in a negative direction) You turn on the electric burner. It pops the circuit breaker, you unplug it and reset the breaker. Upon resetting the breaker the resulting spike from restoring power blows your monitor because you forgot to turn it off before restoring power. This isn't a direct cause and effect but rather an indirect one. > > What you do get is messed up satellite communications and the probability of > all communications running through the air of messing up at some high point > and at some frequency levels. As cell phones operate in a vulnerable > frequency range it's a good bet. > > There is every possibility, depending on the severity of the storm that some > broadcast fequencies will be messed up as well. Things like Short Wave, for > example. > > AC voltage operates at the relatively sluggish rate of 60Hz, far below the > 10000 GHz and higher range that these things generally affect. Remember too that RF interference is but a single component of a solar flare there is also IR interference and Magnetic Flux to name a few of the additional components. Either that or NASA is lying to me when specking out the computers that hopefully I will be building soon for them. (Please God Please, cause if we don't start soon I'm seriously going to be moving under a bridge for Christmas.) > > What those like Femme may be able to see is a spectacular display of the > Northern Lights, assuming it's a clear night. Sadly, I won't see much. Too > much light from the city and far too many large mountains in the way. :) Oh yeah... I would love it I could see those for sure. > > For those of us in the telecom biz it means we get to cover a monsterous > number of sins of ommission and commission by blaming it all on the sun. :-) Yeah, and you might even be right when you think you aren't *grin* > > ttfn > > John > > > ______________________________________________________________________ > Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? > Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
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