I just looked at all the solar sites I knew of...they all talk about what might happen today/tomorrow, but I couldn't find anything about how to prevent damage to things. Anybody know?

-- Bordergirl (Bordergirl@nottooquick.iguess), February 20, 2000

Answers

Bordergirl:

If you're asking about electronic equipment then you don't have to do anything. There's no solar flare coming that will affect something like your home computer. There's a chance that a really big flare could cause power problems but nothing I've seen indicates this. Remember also that these flares occur on a pretty regular 10-12 year cycle and they really haven't caused many problems I'm aware to home equipment.

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), February 20, 2000.

Ditto Jim Cooke! The energy from a geomagnetic storm is mostly down at really low frequencies. Unless you have miles of electric fencing somewhere, you have nothing to worry about. (Rural phone co's and power companies with 1000 mile transmission lines that's another problem. But for the customer, it's generally less than 1/4 mile to the nearest transformer)

BTW the really BIG swings in the Kp index happened last monday BEFORE the current event. I'm waiting to see if there are anymore tomorrow or the day after.

See the Kp index readings... http://www.maj.com/sun/noaa.html http://www.haarp.alaska.edu/haarp/cgi.data.fcgi

(haarp site has a good low freq power display.)

Latest pictures and GIF Movies (yes this solar flare business isn't just an urban myth) http://sohowww.estec.esa.nl/data

-- quasimodo (hunchback@belwtor.com), February 20, 2000.

Jim,

You're prolly right, but you need to consider that "home equipment" that is in vogue TODAY was only available in the DREAMS of the BRIGHTEST technologists and futurists 12 years ago.

Chuck

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), February 20, 2000.

What about someone who does have miles of electric fencing???

What would be the concerns and what type of electric fencing???

Is equipment in danger or animals?

-- granny-TX (westamyx@bigfoot.com), February 20, 2000.

Chuck,

Yep, there is a lot of equipment that wasn't around last time but there's not much that's actually new. We had IC's and such then too and I don't think there were any problems. A solar flare is really low frequency electromagnetic pulse and typically needs a lot of conductor to cause a problem.

BTW, I see a certain post is gone. Thanks.

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), February 20, 2000.

Disconnect your shortwave radio antennae - long wire.

-- Y2kObserver (Y2kObserver@nowhere.com), February 20, 2000.

I don't think this one is a very big one, not like the one last june that went the other way and nasa called a "planet buster" (whatever that was supposed to mean).

But, if it does arrive and start knocking things out on the ground I am going to unplug, from the wall, all my computers, and big screen tv, fridge, etc.

Cause if your elec. co. power goes boom in a big way the transient spike down the line can blow up a lot of electric and electronic devices in the house.

And if really, really got bad you could put some stuff like an emergency radio and maybe a pc or two in a metal garbage can and put the top on (that is good for a nuclear blast also).

Enjoy - we have had at least half a dozen miss us since last june.

-- dragonslayer (dido@ithinki.know), February 20, 2000.

Also,

This solar maximum is doing things the scientists have never seen before, in a bigger and far more frequent way than ever before.

Anyone who thinks this is "solar cycle as normal" has not been following what has been happening on the sun everyweek for the last couple of years.

There are NASA scientists and others who quite frankly don't know what the sun might do in the next 4 months, but they are worried.

And by the way, big power companies have hundreds and thousands of miles of wire strung all over the world. I just spent three years working for one of them, in the computer support dept.

Things could go boom here on the ground, if we got hit with a big one, or a series of them. And the weather could also go - well, even more insane that it has been.

The difference between a pessimist and an optimist is that the pessimist is better informed.

But, nothing may happen. Or, like Y2K, millions of little bombs leading to???????

Enjoy.

-- dragonslayer (dido@ithinki.know), February 20, 2000.