please help with small EMP project

[scramble]

Hello!
My interest in EMP (and related electronics) was triggered by recent posts on the web. I wanted to know how to make a strong handheld EMP device able to distrupt small electronic devices like calcs, mobiles, radios and bulbs.

My interest is in seeking the realization of the idea and not to be troubling others.

 

[BradtheRad]

An EMP is a sudden powerful burst of all kinds of radiation, at all frequencies of the spectrum. To duplicate it you would need something powerful.

About the closest thing I can think of, that we are able to make, is a brief electric arc. It can disrupt or destroy electronic circuitry which it touches. I believe the most it can do at a distance is to generate static in radio reception.

One fellow who works with Tesla coils states that he has to remove all electrical devices and appliances from the area. But I have never heard that the arcs damage circuitry at a distance. (An EMP disrupts at a distance.)

I do not think that much power can be carried in a handheld device.

 

[scramble]

can you post some links from where i can start?

 

[BradtheRad]

There are lots of websites about making giant Tesla coils. However I have never seen someone claim that they will put out anything like an EMP.

I have never heard of any way to create an EMP other than an atomic blast. (Unless you count the Matrix movies which are fictional.)

 

[godfreyl]

I think a Tesla coil may be the wrong approach. For EMP, you need a brief high energy pulse, whereas Tesla coils provide extremely high voltage output, but with low power.

I don't remember seeing any DIY EMP devices on the web, but I have seen things like rail guns, magnetic can crushers and magnetic coin shrinkers. If you can find some of those, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a link on one of those websites to an EMP project. They all share the same key ingredient - a capacitor bank that can store a huge amount of energy and release it extremely quickly.

Plan B is just to google DIY EMP and see what comes up.

P.S. Now that I think about it, I seem to remember seeing some ideas for smallish explosives-based EMP weapons, but I'd avoid those. Aside from legal issues, a high energy capacitor bank based solution is likely to be (at least marginally) safer. Unlike a stick of dynamite, a capacitor bank isn't supposed to explode. If it does, the result is likely to be similar though, so... serious safety precautions are needed whatever approach you go for.