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Donner und Blitzen [fried semiconductors]




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From:  Malcolm Watts [SMTP:MALCOLM-at-directorate.wnp.ac.nz]
Sent:  Thursday, February 26, 1998 2:09 PM
To:  Tesla List
Subject:  Re: Donner und Blitzen [fried semiconductors]

This reminds me.....

> From:  Bill Lemieux [SMTP:gomez-at-netherworld-dot-com]
> Sent:  Wednesday, February 25, 1998 12:38 PM
> To:  Tesla List
> Subject:  Re: Donner und Blitzen
> 
> Bill Wysock wrote:
> 
> > enclosure.]  I literally "fried" all semi-conductor divices, even
> > though they were not in any way connected to ground or any
> 
> Sounds like the story told to me by a fellow who used to work for
> Maxwell Laboratories.  They had built an EMP (nuclear electromagnetic
> pulse) near-field simulator for the Defense Nuclear Agency.
> 
> They did all their calculations and carefully protected and shielded all
> their measurement equipment... or so they thought.  The first time they
> fired it in the measurement area, not only did several components in the
> machine itself fail, but they toasted about a million bucks worth of
> Hewlett-Packard RF and magnetic field measurement gear that they'd been
> sure would be safe.
> 
> "Eureka, it works!"
> 
> "Uh, boss?  We got a problem, boss..."
> 
> -Gomez, wondering whether his magnetic metal forming machine will need a
> screen room...

...of the time I proudly tested my first Marx generator (using chokes 
as charging elements) on a workshop power supply in the middle of a 
workshop full of test gear and computer equipment. The damage kept 
coming out of the woodwork for weeks. The first I knew about it was 
when the power supply failed on the third or fourth discharge. It was 
an EMP generator par excellence.

Never again :( 
Malcolm