John Vincent Atanasoff Inventor of the Digital Computer

Is there a device more important to everyday living than the personal computer?  

Well, did you know the inventor of the personal computer, the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC), was John Vincent Atanasoff, and was buried at the Pine Grove Chapel in Mount Airy, MD in 1995?

And that the principles of John Atanasoff's computer are the basis of millions of computers and the information revolution, without which modern society would not exist? 

The big breakthrough was made by John Atanasoff who abandoned mechanics and designed electronic circuits for calculating by use of a binary system of numbers.

That you do not know may not be an accident given that Atanosoff’s invention plans was stolen from him in 1938 and used by Sperry Univac. 

He had to sue for years to prove in court that he, and not Sperry Univac, was the true inventor of the personal computer.

In 1937, a professor of mathematics and physics went for a long drive to Illinois during which he conceived several ideas that still change the world. 

These ideas led Professor John Vincent Atanasoff (together with his PhD assistant Clifford Edward Berry) to invent and build the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC), the first DIGITAL electronic computer.

They built it in the basement of the physics building at Iowa State College during 1939–42. He was driven by the need to solve physics problems using long numeric equations.

Among the breakthroughs that John Atanasoff made were the following ideas, all of which he jotted down on a napkin in a tavern.

-     Electricity and electronics, not mechanical methods

-     Binary numbers internally

-     Separate memory made with capacitors, refreshed to maintain 0 or I state

-      Direct 0-1 logic operations, not enumeration

From these ideas, he was able to successfully build the ABC. The ENIAC successor, and all subsequent computers, are based on these ideas.

For memory, the ABC used electrostatic store-drums made up of 1600 capacitors each. 

These capacitors are used to store a small charge representing the 1, or on, state. The off, or 0, state was represented by no charge. 

Therefore, binary numbers could be stored onto the drums. 

This is the first use of the idea now known as DRAM, a modern day technology used in today’s computers.

The ABC was a specific-use computer, designed to solve systems of linear algebraic equations, and was capable of solving systems with up to 29 unknowns. 

What is remarkable about John Atanasoff’s computer is that he created it on his own, with no real financial backing from companies or the government like future projects such as the ENIAC, EDVAC or UNIVAC.

In 1942, John Atanasoff was called on duty and he started a defence-related position in the Naval Ordnance Laboratory in White Oak, MD, as a theoretical physicists to work on various projects related to mines disarming, underwater bombs, and rockets. He participated in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll n 1946.
John Vincent Atanasoff's papers are archived here. 

Between 1942 and 1966, most of his scientist work was related to the dynamics of sea vessels. 

He holds patents to over 30 different devices (for a device for capturing and recording seismic sound waves, a post office sorting system, automated systems for package preparation and others).

In 1973, after a Federal patent judge voided a patent owned by Sperry Rand Corp. on ENIAC, the Atanasoff-Berry Computer was credited as the first electronic digital computer. 

This decision put the invention of the electronic digital computer in the public domain and granted legal recognition to John Atanasoff as the inventor of the first electronic digital computer.

Following World War II, John Atanasoff remained with the government and developed specialized seismographs and microbarographs for long-range explosive detection. In 1952, he founded and led the Ordnance Engineering Corporation, selling the company to Aerojet General Corporation in 1956 and becoming Aerojet's Atlantic Division president. 

In 1960, he and his wife Alice moved to their farm in New Market, MD. In 1961, he started another company, Cybernetics in Frederick that he operated for 20 years. In 1970, John Atanasoff was invited to Bulgaria (his father John emigrated to the U.S. in 1889 at 13 from Bulgaria) by the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and the Bulgarian Government conferred to him the Cyrille and Methodius Order of Merit First Class. President George H.W. Bush awarded him the National Medal of Science and Technology in 1990. 

John Atanasoff’s father, Ivan, was a Bulgarian immigrant. On October 4^th, 2003 on the 100^th birthday of John Atanasoff, Bulgaria named him the “electronic Prometheus” who gave birth to digital computing, and dedicated a monument to him in Sophia, noting that his creation incorporated several major innovations in computing including the use of binary arithmetic, regenerative memory, parallel processing and separation of memory and computing functions.

Inventor of the digital computer, father of the modern computer, WWII war research victory contributor, company founder, husband, father, immigrant’s son…the man who quietly revolutionized the world…and then for years had to defend the theft of his invention from very powerful companies in multiple lawsuits. 

His life and work contributed mightily to the American Dream. 

An immigrant’s son who knew genius required grit to succeed. We all, especially everyone who has used a computer, owe him a huge debt of gratitude.

New Market's John V. Atanasoff helped spark the computer age

February 21, 2002, Gazette, Karen Beck, Staff Writer.

The next time you send out an e-mail or play a video game, you have a former New Market resident to  thank. John Vincent Atanasoff lived in a home on the east side of New Market for over 30 years, watching the countryside change just like everyone else in Frederick County. Unlike everyone else, however, Atanasoff happened to have invented one of the key technological advances of the modern age. His calculating machine, created over 60 years ago at Iowa State College (now University), was ruled in 1972 to be the first in a long line of evolution that most recently has churned out Pentium processors and G4s. For that reason, Atanasoff is credited with being the computer's inventor, and today, seven years after his death, is called its forgotten father. So why, then, is Atanasoff not a household name? The reason is that Atanasoff only got credit for his original idea after decades of other people claiming it as their own. According to some of the many biographies of Atanasoff, the highly-contested inspiration for his rudimentary computer came to Atanasoff in 1937, when he was a professor at Iowa State College.  One night as he struggled with the problem of designing a device that could quickly solve complex math problems, he went for a long drive and ended up a tavern in Illinois. Over a shot of bourbon, he realized some of the inherent principles of his invention: he could use electronic, rather than mechanical, components for the device, and use the base-2, binary system. For three years, Atanasoff worked on this new computer with a graduate student, Clifford Berry. By December of 1939, they had built a promising prototype of the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC), which intrigued many people, including one scientist named Dr. John Mauchly. Atanasoff readily talked with Dr. Mauchly about the prototype, and even had him as a houseguest at his home in Iowa. In the following years as World War II erupted, Atanasoff was sent to Washington to do research for the Naval Ordinance Laboratory.  He tried to get a patent for his device, however because of high turnover, the documents were "shoved back in a drawer and forgotten," said William O'Toole, computer science professor at Mount St. Mary's College and long-time friend of Atanasoff. Submitted photo taken by Carolyn Kaddis John V. Atanasoff, New Market resident and inventor of the computer, at age 80 Meanwhile, Mauchly and Dr. Presper Eckert Jr. developed the now-famous machine called ENIAC and sold it to the U.S. Army. As time went on, Mauchly and Eckert gained the patents and the credit for the first electronic digital computer. From that technology evolved many of the modern devices we use today, from cell phones to Imacs, while the ABC was dismantled to make more space in the Iowa State lab.  Atanasoff got other jobs, and in 1963 Berry was found dead in Coney Island, a case O'Toole said the court ruled was a suicide. It was three decades after the idea's fruition when the matter mushroomed into a three-year-long court case. One computer industry giant, Honeywell Corp., sued another corporation, Sperry Rand Corp., trying to invalidate the Mauchly-Eckert patents it owned.  During those deliberations, Atanasoff gave testimony that brought all of Mauchly and Eckert's ideas into question. After a massive investigation, the judge found that the ENIAC computer relied on innovations made in Atanasoff's prototype, in other words, that it was Atanasoff who invented the first computer. However, this was not news to Atanasoff's wife, Alice. During all the years in which his invention went unrecognized, she said they thought it was "just the way life was."  This disappointment did not stop Atanasoff from further accomplishments and inventions. Alice said that he held 32 patents, some of which came from his days working for the government during WWII.  Of those, some are still classified. He worked successfully at a number of jobs and operated a engineering business called Cybernetics, Inc. in Frederick for almost 20 years. Once the announcement was made that the computer was his idea, Alice Atanasoff said that they had hoped for more fanfare. Only with time was he was decorated with awards and accolades, including the National Medal of Technology, presented at a ceremony at the White House. Iowa State University named a hall after him, and in 1997 rebuilt his ABC computer at a cost of $300,000. "He really opened up the computer industry, competition came in at that point," O'Toole said. O'Toole listed five specific developments that Atanasoff was responsible for, four of which were stolen by Mauchly and Eckert.  The only one of those five that they did not use in ENIAC was using a binary system for calculations, which O'Toole said is now the industry standard. In spite of those accomplishments, the Atanasoffs were never to see any of the financial benefits of such a wide-sweeping invention, and even today many textbooks still list Mauchly and Eckert as the original inventors. According to Alice Atanasoff, that is because once people had their beliefs established, they were not going to change their minds. Still, what people think does not change her husband's impact on technology, and on the people around him. When the lawyers searched his background as part of the suit, she said that they had talked to many of his old acquaintances.  "Most thought he was the most brilliant man they ever knew--but fun," she said. O'Toole listed a bevy of great qualities Atanasoff had, including his humor and warm-hearted nature. "I am happy and proud to say we were good friends," O'Toole said. Alice Atanasoff moved with her husband after his retirement to their farm in New Market in 1960. They chose the area because they both liked the peace of a farm, and the people and atmosphere of Frederick County. Alice Atansoff still lives in their hilltop home, whose modern architecture was partially designed by her husband. Although the Atanasoffs were never active in the town government, she said that they had good friends in the area. Alice said that it was interesting for them to watch the changes in the area, as the landscape went from no houses on the horizon to the current development.  After Atanasoff died from a stroke in 1995, he was buried in Pine Grove Cemetery in Mount Airy, where a monument to him still stands. That cemetery should be the site of some festivities next year in honor of what would have been Atanasoff's 100th birthday in October of 2003, according to Alice Atanasoff. At the same time, a huge celebration is to be held in Bulgaria. Since Atansoff's grandfather was a Bulgarian patriot, that country has a special tie to his accomplishments.  As a result, the Bulgarian government will be dedicating a monument, a commemorative coin, and a postage stamp as celebrations are held across the country at the same time as local tribute is paid to the former New Market resident.

Sources:

http://jva.cs.iastate.edu/jvabio.php

http://paul.luon.net/essays/HoC-Atanasoff.pdfhttps://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/science_and_technology/years-after-death-computer-inventor-still-celebrated/article_3afbb911-fee1-5722-b51a-3159bd92a0b1.html
https://www.thocp.net/biographies/atanasoff_john.html

Emergency Preparedness Expo

Find a few simple necessary civil defense supplies (like potassium iodate)  at the American Civil Defense Association store here.

On September 23, 2017 I attended the Carroll County Emergency Preparedness Expo. It was hosted by the Carroll County Department of Public Safety.

There were police, emergency medical services, public safety, fire companies, electric companies, and static displays. The photos  provide a good representation of who participated.
Given the state of the world and the current threat matrix, every community should host an emergency preparedness like this once a year. 

Facebook: To keep up with Carroll County Emergency Preparedness on Facebook, go to: facebook.com/CarrCOMDPubSafeTwitter. 

To connect on Twitter, use: @CarrCOMDPubSafe.

The Responder Safety Institute serves as an informal advisory panel of public safety leaders committed to reducing deaths and injuries to America's Emergency Responders. They represent the best of American volunteerism aimed at saving lives through education. Visit their website: http://www.respondersafety.com/

Preparedness App: To download an iPhone or Android app by the Carroll County MD Emergency Management Department,  search Prepare Me Carroll.

Shelter from NBC or EMP

Read the USAF LeMay Papers Electromagnetic Task Force Defense 2018 Report.
It may be that the U.S. Government is finally waking up to the EMP threat after ignoring it for 70 years. Read about their sudden awaking here. 

I provided an Applied Physics Laboratory scientist with a variety of EMP background from TACDA and my personal files. 

Maybe some made it to this hearing. 

Read the PDF of the hearing here.
For one analysis of the effect of EMP on the US, see here. 

Here is another from the American Legion magazine.
Since 1986, Utah Shelter Systems has been America's leading builder of shelters for nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) and by extension, electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack. They have been at this for decades, unlike the fly-by-night nuclear survival companies that have sprung up lately. 

Five years ago, Paul Seyfried (the owner of Utah Shelter Systems) did this podcast on this subject. 

What he says here is even more relevant today.

EPISODE-743- PAUL SEYFRIED ON NBC UNDERGROUND SHELTER CONSTRUCTION

Posted on September 13, 2011 by Modern Survival| 11 Comments

Utah Shelter Systems shelters for protection from nuclear, biological and chemical (NBC) weapons can be constructed of either corrugated steel or steel plate and can withstand blasts up to the 150 psi range.  The shelters are manufactured in North Salt Lake, Utah and transported throughout the entire United States and Canada.

 Episode-743- Paul Seyfried on NBC Underground Shelter Construction [ 45:55  Hide Player | Play in Popup | Download

Today we are joined by Paul Seyfried, President of Utah Shelter Systems. Paul has been building shelters since 1986, and incorporated Utah Shelter Systems in 1998 along with his partner, Sharon Packer.

Paul joins us today to discuss civil defense in the US and in other nations, the continued threat of nuclear war, chemical attack and biological weapons.  He also explains the value of shelters for storm protection, storing supplies and more.  Shelters seem like an “extreme prep” to many but today we take a balanced view of their practical applications.

Join us today as Paul Answers Questions Such As…

What other countries have shelter programs for civilians?
• Why build a shelter now, that the Cold War is “over”?
• What are the main criteria for a proper shelter?
• What can shelters do other than protect you in a NBC attack?
• Why does Switzerland continue to build 100s of shelters monthly?
• Why did the U.S. choose not to build shelters?
• What are some current nuclear threats including EMP?
• What are some current chemical weapons threats?
• What are some current bio weapons threats?
• What is the cost of a fully installed shelter?
• What are some ways people can save cost or self build?
• What is the best type of door for a shelter?
• What equipment do you need for air handling?

5.03 High Altitude EMP (HEMP): Any nuclear detonation above 25 miles will cause a high altitude EMP called HEMP. A nuclear weapon detonated at an altitude of 200 miles could affect all unprotected electrical equipment within the continental United States. Nuclear weapons at that altitude could be detonated from a satellite or from an intercontinental ballistic missile. 5.02 Electro Magnetic Pulse (EMP): An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a strong electrical field, associated with all explosives. Induced currents and voltages from EMP cause malfunctions of electrical equipment. An EMP, the intensity of which is dictated by the yield, type and height of the detonation, accompanies nuclear explosions of all types.Many disasters, both man-made and natural, will cause a failure of our power system. Local power failures are manageable, as outside help should arrive within hours or days. In the event of short-term outages, few, if any, deaths would be expected from starvation.The Swiss are the best in the world at building and using shelters.  And a brief discussion of the history of the nuclear threat may be found here.
TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 1 5.
EMP & POWER FAILURE 5.01 Short & Long Term Power Failures:

Extreme weather, however, is an immediate threat. Other associated factors from the disaster may also complicate the problem. Widespread power failures, on the other hand, will be devastating for those who have failed to prepare.
Help from outside sources may take weeks, months or even years to arrive, depending on the cause of the failure.



Warning: Depending on the location and size of the blast, the effect would be to knock out the power grid across most, if not all, of the continental United States.

5.04 Risk of HEMP: Numerous terrorist organizations and countries have the ability to deploy nuclear weapons via smaller range missiles at altitudes capable of causing devastating consequences. Both Iran and North Korea have reported tests describing mid-flight detonations of such missiles.
Intelligence analysts have stated they believe these tests were designed to exercise HEMP capabilities.
The United States is at significant risk from even moderately sized weapons. A terrorist country or organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead "on target" with a Scud, but it could easily launch a missile from a freighter in international waters, and detonate a crude nuclear weapon in the atmosphere high above one of our coastal cities.

In a recent briefing to the congress, Senator Jon Kyl said, “A single Scud missile, carrying a single nuclear weapon, detonated at the appropriate altitude, would interact with the Earth's atmosphere, producing an electromagnetic pulse radiating down to the surface at the speed of light. Depending on the location and size of the blast, the effect would be to knock out already stressed power grids and other electrical systems across much or even all of the continental United States, for months if not years."

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 2
5.05 Consequences of a HEMP: In a recent briefing to the House Armed Services Committee, a congressional commission reported that “HEMP is one of a small number of threats that can hold at risk the continued existence of civil society within the United States, and our ability to maintain national security and project military power anywhere it is needed . . .This threat also places our national economy and worldwide military forces at risk.” Another distinguished scientist said, "An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the American homeland, is one of only a few ways that the United States could be defeated by its enemies – terrorist or otherwise, and it is probably the easiest.”
The report stated, “The loss of power beyond emergency power supplies may well cripple financial systems, telecommunication, health care, emergency response, government control, water and food supplies and other critical societal functions -- a potentially escalating rather than diminishing situation”. The commission said a blackout of the power grid would be “virtually certain” following such an attack.
Moreover, the briefing states, the panel predicted a “high proportion of computers” and other systems would be affected; major telecommunications would be interrupted; many high frequency, VHF and UHF receivers would be damaged; and cell phone, satellite and Internet communications would be hindered. Other infrastructure impacts could include damage to fuel supply and refineries, the transportation system, water supply and sanitation, chemical plants, financial systems, health care, emergency response and “government integrity.”

After the briefing Senator Jon Kyl reported, “Few if any people would die right away. But the loss of power would have a cascading effect on all aspects of U.S. society. Communication would be largely impossible. Lack of refrigeration would leave food rotting in warehouses, exacerbated by a lack of transportation as those vehicles still working simply ran out of gas (which is pumped with electricity).
The inability to sanitize and distribute water would quickly threaten public health, not to mention the safety of anyone in the path of the inevitable fires, which would rage unchecked. And as we have seen in areas of natural and other disasters, such circumstances often result in a fairly rapid breakdown of social order…. Not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment.”

5.06 EMP Protective Measures:
Listed below are seven anti-EMP actions that should be considered:
1. Maintain a supply of spare parts for radios and automobile computerized ignitions.
2. Always keep ham radio base stations disconnected from their power source when not in use.
3. Purchase several inexpensive CB and short wave radios and store your radios and other sensitive equipment in a faraday cage such as a metal drum with tightly fitting lid.
4. In an escalating crises, shift to emergency power at the earliest possible time.
5. If radio communication is essential during threat period, use only one system at a time. Disconnect all other systems from antennas, cables and power.
6. Purchase 40 to 80 meter amateur radios. These frequencies do not rely on relay stations and would continue to function if protected in a Faraday cage.
7. Protect your generators by placing metal wire screen under and around the generator. Keep the cords wound and inside the wire cage.

5.07 Building a Faraday Cage:
Build a simple Faraday cage from a small metal garbage can and lid. The lid must fit snugly over the can. If the lid does not make good metal-to-metal contact, the open area could act as a ‘slot antennae’ and allow EMP to damage your equipment.
To further protect your equipment, purchase a metal screen about 6 inches wide and as long as the circumference of the can. Fold the metal screen in half-length wise and place it around and over the lip of the garbage can. The lid should then fit snugly against the screen and can, protecting all equipment contained inside the can. Any metal can act as a Faraday cage.
However, good metal-to-metal contact is imperative. Remove all gasket material from the lid. If the can has been painted, make sure to remove the painted area around the lid with sand paper.

5.08 Full-scale Nuclear War with HEMP: In the event of a full-scale nuclear war, the enemy would most likely initiate the attack with a high-altitude EMP weapon. This type of weapon would be deployed from an ICBM or by satellite. The HEMP from the detonation could affect an area of several thousand miles in diameter. Neither blast nor radiation damage would be associated with the detonation. The obvious purpose of the HEMP attack would be to hinder or cripple our retaliatory capability.

5.09 EMP as an Early Warning System:
The flight time of a missile from a submarine varies with the distance from the coast. Washington D.C. may only have a two minute warning. Mid-continent states would receive about 8 minutes warning time before the first submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) could arrive. The ICBMs would arrive in that area about 25 minutes later.
These few minutes should be used to find expedient sheltering if away from home, or to quickly access a permanent shelter. Since the end of the cold war, Soviet submarines are seldom seen in our coastal waters; therefore, SLBMs would have a flight time similar to the ICBM's. However, all haste should be made to reach shelter as quickly as possible.
An EMP can act as an early warning system. Commercial power is likely to be lost, so every instance of power failure should be suspected as a possible attack warning.

Certain simple tests will quickly reveal an EMP:
1. You may see an unusually bright light, which lasts longer than lightning. If this light is associated with a power failure, it should be considered as a possible EMP detonation.
TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 4 not look directly at the light, as it may damage your eyes. Not all areas of the United States would see the light. 2. Check the telephone for a dial tone. A telephone usually does not fail in a simple power failure, but it would most probably fail in an EMP. However, some phones do fail regularly and test #3 should be used to confirm this failure.
3. Only 5 percent of the radio stations in the nation have been hardened against EMP. After an EMP most of the radio stations would loose transmission. Whenever there is a power drop, a battery-powered radio should be used to check for loss of transmission.
A simple lightning strike could take out one station, but only an EMP would take out a large numbers of the radio stations. This transmission failure would be a good indication that an attack is eminent. Small transistor radios (with antenna down) will most probably survive the EMP, but as an extra precaution, keep the emergency radio wrapped in aluminum foil.
4. If several vehicles on the roadway should quit running at the same time, you should consider the possibility that an EMP has occurred. Vehicles with computerized ignitions could be damaged by an EMP. Older vehicles manufactured before 1965, and most new vehicles manufactured after the year 2000 would probably remain functional, but some models may be affected.
EMP simulations have indicated that if your car does quit running during an EMP, you may be able to restart your car if you remove the battery cables from the battery for a few moments to allow the computerized ignition to reset itself. Keep a properly sized wrench for removing battery cables in your automobile at all times.

5.10 Power Drop Alarm: If the EMP were to occur during the night or early morning, people may not be aware of the resulting loss of power. A simple power drop alarm can be constructed from a 12-volt battery, a relay switch and a motorcycle horn. Do not use any solid-state electronics in the alarm, and store all of the components of the alarm in a Faraday cage (such as an ammo box). Keep the alarm plugged into the house current at all times, and check the charge on the battery at regular intervals.

5.11 Consequences of long-term power failure:
o There is no safe drinking water.
o Food is no longer available in stores
o There is no ability to cook or refrigerate food o Toilets, sinks, & showers do not operate o No furnace or air conditioning o No lights o Computers, radios, televisions and phones may stop functioning. Communication ceases.
o Gas stations stop functioning and transportation ceases.
o The Emergency Medical System would fail and hospitals and doctor’s offices would close.
o No Police response

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 5 5.12
Consequences of a HEMP Possible Effects
o No potable drinking water
o Thirst, Disease, Death
o No food o Hunger, Illness, Death
o No Power to cook or refrigerate food
o Hunger, disease
o No sanitation system
o Filth, Disease
o No furnace or air conditioning
o Discomfort, death o No lights o Fear, Danger
o No Communication System o Frustration, anxiety, danger
o No transportation
o Isolation
o No emergency medical system
o Illness, Disease, Death o No Police o Crime, Danger, Injury

5.13 Solutions - Concepts to be taught in coming lessons:
o Lesson 8 - Food Storage (Basic food list, alcohol stove, wide mouth thermos, etc.)
o Lesson 9 - Water & Sanitation (Importance of water storage, clarification, and purification)
o Lesson 10 - Cold Weather Survival (Foam clothing, and making patterns and articles of clothing)
o Lesson 11 - Evacuation & 72 Hour Kits (Importance of always having car half-full of gas, basic items for 72-hour kits, etc.)
o Lesson 12 - Alternative Energy (Transistor radios, flashlights, etc.)
o Lesson 13 - Medical Preparedness (importance of having medical first aid training, extra prescription medicines & eyeglasses)
o Lesson 14 - Communications (Amateur (HAM) Radio and antennas, power supplies, etc.)

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 6 5.14
What to do before, during and after a power failure: Before the Power Outage:
o Learn location of fuse box or circuit breaker
o Store candles, flashlights, extra flashlight bulbs batteries, CB and shortwave radios.
o Know the location of all camping equipment (stove, lantern sleeping bags). Make sure equipment is operable.
o Keep adequate supplies of fuel on hand. Propane, white gas, gasoline or briquettes should not be used in the house or garage, as they are volatile. Kerosene and cooking alcohol may be used in the house with proper ventilation. o Store cooking alcohol and purchase an alcohol burner.
o Purchase a good pressure cooker to economize cooking fuel.
o Dress warmly to conserve fuel.
o Consider purchasing a generator & use a stabilizer when storing gasoline or diesel. During the Power Outage:
o If there has been an EMP, retrieve your flashlight and go directly to your shelter. o Ascertain the safety of your location and leave if necessary.
o If there is no indication of an EMP, turn off all major appliances, as the surge of power that comes when power is restored could damage your appliances.
o Turn off all but one light switch. Do not allow small children to carry candles or lanterns.
o If the power outage persists, call the power company and report your location. Report any downed power lines.
o Start your generator or alternative power systems.
o Retrieve your emergency supplies.
o Use refrigerated food first, frozen foods second, canned foods last.
After power has been restored:
o To prevent an overload on the system, plug in appliances one by one, waiting a few minutes between each one. There may continue to be ‘brown outs’ for several hours. Wait to turn on major appliances until power is steady. o Examine your frozen food. IF IN DOUBT, THROW IT OUT! If the meat still contains ice crystals, it may be refrozen. If meat is off-color or has an odd odor, throw it away.

5.15 In conclusion: The threat of an EMP is a real and present danger. There are irresponsible terrorist organizations and government leaders throughout the world that have both the intent and the capability to initiate a high altitude EMP against the United States. This threat is acknowledged by the highest government agencies. The consequences of a HEMP would be devastating, creating total and long-lasting power failure of electronics and electronic systems. A HEMP against the United States has the potential to destroy our existence as an independent nation and our capability to support our population with the most basic of needs. There are protective measures that must be taken. It is essential that we plan, equip and prepare for this eventuality.

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 7 Practical EMP Protective Measures By Sharon Packer, TACDA President The electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a strong electrical field, associated with all high explosives. These induced currents and voltages cause malfunctions of electrical equipment. Nuclear explosions of all types are accompanied by an EMP, the intensity and duration of which are dictated by the height of the detonation.
The energy from an EMP is collected in any long runs of wire, exposed cable runs, piping or conduit, large antennas, power and telephone lines, or long runs of electrical wiring in buildings and can be of the order of 60,000 volts per meter. The collectors act to magnify the weak EMP just as a magnifying glass does to sunlight. The longer the collector, the greater the amount of energy collected.
The energy collected is sufficient to cause damage to attached electrical and electronic equipment. All unprotected solid- state electronics systems are vulnerable. It is possible that some of the computerized ignitions in our vehicles would fail. Most relay stations required by 2-meter amateur radios and mobile phones would cease to function.
It is likely that a large yield, high-altitude EMP weapon would be detonated during the first minutes of a nuclear attack. It could affect an area of several thousand miles in diameter. This type of weapon could be deployed on a ballistic missile or by satellite. Neither blast nor radiation damage would be associated with a high altitude electro magnetic pulse (HEMP).
It is also possible that a smaller range EMP attack could come via terrorists. Several rogue nations and terrorist groups have or will soon have this capability.

Listed below are seven anti-EMP actions that should be considered:
1. Maintain a supply of spare parts for radios and automobile computerized ignitions.
2. Always keep ham radio base stations disconnected from their power source when not in use.
3. Purchase several inexpensive CB and short wave radios and store your radios and other sensitive equipment in a Faraday cage such as a metal drum with tightly fitting lid.
4. In an escalating crises, shift to emergency power at the earliest possible time.
5. If radio communication is essential during threat period, use only one system at a time. Disconnect all other systems from antennas, cables and power.
6. Purchase 40 to 80 meter amateur radios. These frequencies do not rely on relay stations and would continue to function if protected in a Faraday cage.Protect your generators by placing metal wire screen under and around the generator.
Keep the cords wound and inside the wire cage. Build a simple Faraday cage from a small metal garbage can and lid. The lid must fit snugly over the can. If the lid does not make perfect metal-to-metal contact, the open area will act as a ‘slot antennae’ and allow EMP to damage your equipment. To further protect your equipment,

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 8
Purchase a metal screen about 6 inches wide and as long as the circumference of the can. Fold the metal screen in half-length wise and place it around and over the lip of the garbage can. The lid should then fit snugly against the screen and can, protecting all equipment contained inside the can.
Any metal can will act as a Faraday cage. However, good metal-to-metal contact is imperative. If the can has been painted, make sure to remove the painted area around the lid with sand paper. EMP can act as an early warning system. Commercial power is likely to be lost, so every instance of power failure should be suspected as a possible attack warning. Certain simple tests will quickly reveal an EMP.

1. You may see an unusually bright light, which lasts longer than lightning. If this light is associated with a power failure, it should be considered as a possible EMP detonation. Do not look directly at the light, as it may damage your eyes.
Not all areas of the United States would see the light.
2. Check the telephone for a dial tone. A telephone usually does not fail in a simple power failure, but it would most probably fail in an EMP. However, some phones do fail regularly and test #3 should be used to confirm this failure.
3. Only 5 percent of the radio stations in the nation have been hardened against EMP. After an EMP most of the radio stations would loose transmission. Whenever there is a power drop, a battery-powered radio should be used to check for loss of transmission. A simple lightning strike could take out one station, but only an EMP would take out a large numbers of the radio stations. This transmission failure would be a good indication that an attack is eminent. Keep a small transistor radio wrapped in aluminum foil for this purpose.
The flight time of a missile from a submarine varies with the distance from the coast. Washington D.C. may only have a two minute warning. Mid-continent states would receive about 8 minutes warning time before the first submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) could arrive. The ICBMs would arrive in that area about 25 minutes later. These few minutes should be used to find expedient sheltering if away from home, or to quickly access a permanent shelter. If time permits, gas lines to the home should be turned off and curtains or drapes closed to protect against the thermal pulse.
Since the end of the cold war, indications are that the Soviet submarines are no longer at close range and the SLBM's would have a flight time similar to the ICBM's. However, all haste should be made to reach shelter as quickly as possible. If the EMP occurs during the night, it would be difficult to observe. A simple power drop alarm can be constructed from a battery and horn to awaken those who are sleeping. Look for directions for this alarm in coming issues of the JCD. [Source: The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA)] TACDA ACADEMY –

CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 9
Unready For This Attack Senator Jon Kyl Saturday, April 16, 2005; Page A19 Washington Post Recently a Senate Judiciary subcommittee of which I am chairman held a hearing on a major threat to the American people, one that could come not only from terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda but from rogue nations such as Iran and North Korea. An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the American homeland, said one of the distinguished scientists who testified at the hearing, is one of only a few ways that the United States could be defeated by its enemies -- terrorist or otherwise. And it is probably the easiest.
A single Scud missile, carrying a single nuclear weapon, detonated at the appropriate altitude, would interact with the Earth's atmosphere, producing an electromagnetic pulse radiating down to the surface at the speed of light. Depending on the location and size of the blast, the effect would be to knock out already stressed power grids and other electrical systems across much or even all of the continental United States, for months if not years.
Few if any people would die right away. But the loss of power would have a cascading effect on all aspects of U.S. society. Communication would be largely impossible. Lack of refrigeration would leave food rotting in warehouses, exacerbated by a lack of transportation as those vehicles still working simply ran out of gas (which is pumped with electricity).
The inability to sanitize and distribute water would quickly threaten public health, not to mention the safety of anyone in the path of the inevitable fires, which would rage unchecked. And as we have seen in areas of natural and other disasters, such circumstances often result in a fairly rapid breakdown of social order. American society has grown so dependent on computer and other electrical systems that we have created our own Achilles' heel of vulnerability, ironically much greater than those of other, less developed nations.
When deprived of power, we are in many ways helpless, as the New York City blackout made clear. In that case, power was restored quickly because adjacent areas could provide help. But a large-scale burnout caused by a broad EMP attack would create a much more difficult situation.
Not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment. Transformers for regional substations, for example, are massive pieces of equipment that are no longer manufactured in the United States and typically take more than a year to build. In the words of another witness at the hearing, "The longer the basic outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery of any [infrastructure system] will be.
It is possible -- indeed, seemingly likely -- for sufficiently severe functional outages to become mutually reinforcing, until a point at which the degradation . . . could have irreversible effects on the country's ability to support any large fraction of its present human population."
Those who survived, he said, would find themselves transported back to the United States of the 1880s.

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 10
This threat may sound straight out of Hollywood, but it is very real. CIA Director Porter Goss recently testified before Congress about nuclear material missing from storage sites in Russia that may have found its way into terrorist hands, and FBI Director Robert Mueller has confirmed new intelligence that suggests al Qaeda is trying to acquire and use weapons of mass destruction.
Iran has surprised intelligence analysts by describing the mid-flight detonations of missiles fired from ships on the Caspian Sea as "successful" tests. North Korea exports missile technology around the world; Scuds can easily be purchased on the open market for about $100,000 apiece.
A terrorist organization might have trouble putting a nuclear warhead "on target" with a Scud, but it would be much easier to simply launch and detonate in the atmosphere. No need for the risk and difficulty of trying to smuggle a nuclear weapon over the border or hit a particular city.
Just launch a cheap missile from a freighter in international waters -- al Qaeda is believed to own about 80 such vessels -- and make sure to get it a few miles in the air. Fortunately, hardening key infrastructure systems and procuring vital backup equipment such as transformers is both feasible and -- compared with the threat -- relatively inexpensive, according to a comprehensive report on the EMP threat by a commission of prominent experts.
But it will take leadership by the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense Department, and other federal agencies, along with support from Congress, all of which have yet to materialize. The Sept. 11 commission report stated that our biggest failure was one of "imagination." No one imagined that terrorists would do what they did on Sept. 11.
Today few Americans can conceive of the possibility that terrorists could bring our society to its knees by destroying everything we rely on that runs on electricity. But this time we've been warned, and we'd better be prepared to respond.
The writer is a Republican senator from Arizona and chairman of the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on terrorism, technology and homeland security.

TACDA ACADEMY – CIVIL DEFENSE BASICS 11 POWER FAILURE
Potential causes of power failure:
o Power Surges or brown outs o High Winds, Hurricanes or Tornadoes
o Lightning Storms
o Wild Fires or Floods
o Earthquake
o Pandemics
Terrorist EMP or War Effects of long term power outages:
o There is no safe drinking water o Food is no longer available in stores
o There is no ability to cook or refrigerate food o Toilets, sinks, & showers do not operate
o No furnace or air conditioning
o No lights o Computers, radios, televisions and phones may stop functioning…communication ceases o Gas stations stop functioning and transportation ceases o The Emergency Medical System would fail and hospitals and doctor’s offices would close
o No Police response Solutions
o Water storage & purification methods
o Food Storage & hunting skills
o Solar Ovens & Alcohol Stoves o Outhouses, septic tanks and hand pumps for wells
o Ability to survive cold or hot weather and to find safe shelter from the elements o Flashlights, batteries, generators, solar panels, kerosene or oil lamps & alternative fuel sources o Ham Radios, CBs, Shortwave (all battery powered)
o Bicycles, horses, scooters o First Aid Training, storage of medicines o Home and personal security measures