5 ms·

How about something like an Explosively pumped flux compression generator, I'm thinking there must be bits of EEPROM or equivalent in the phone that hold import

How about something like an Explosively pumped flux compression generator, I'm thinking there must be bits of EEPROM or equivalent in the phone that hold important info like the imei number, that if damaged, would render it unusable?

jacquesm 10y ago
I'll upvote the article if you build and test it :) (On your phone, in your lab). That has a chance of working due the very fast rise time you might be able to induce a sufficiently large voltage to cause some actual damage, it will be a 'one shot' affair though. But anything involving regular coils and some push button arrangement will likely cause it's own insulation to break down long before it will do damage to a phone. That's one of the reasons the spark gap is there in the first place, without it you'd hit the limits of the coil insulation very quickly. Spark gaps are a pretty nasty way to generate EM interference so there is some truth to the story. But even with my plasma cutter (12.5 KW, so not the smallest in the catalog) and stick welder I never managed to crash a cell phone. The plasmacutter did have the habit of resetting the controller until I properly decoupled all the lines into it.
- bigiain 10y ago
  A friend of mine did some back of the envelope calculations at Burningman one year when the megaphone guys were being particularly annoying - he came up with (from memory) 1km of fine copper wire wrapped round 100g of plastic explosive in the right configuration would probably let you take out a typical megaphone at 20m... (Note: all memories and calculations are from Burningman a decade or so back - and should be treated with an entire playa-ful of grains of salt.)
  - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
    Give me the 100g of plastic explosives, and I could take out the megaphone without needing the copper wire. (Though it might be a bit rough on the megaphone operator. On the other hand, that copper wire is going to create some pretty nasty shrapnel...)
    - bigiain 10y ago
      Well yeah - nobody ever said it was gonna be a good idea ;-) (This was the same crew of people where the discussion one night went "We're all on mushrooms, you've just been drinking tequila all night - that means you get to fix the flamethrower"...)
      - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
        That quote just went into my permanent database...
- deutronium 10y ago
  If only I had such a lab :) That's really interesting with respect to your plasma cutter.
  - jacquesm 10y ago
    Nasty little toy. Don't point it at anything you want to keep.
M_Grey 10y ago
"People will say it's a booooomb..." to the tune of People Will Say We're in Love Seriously though... can you imagine how many laws you'd break using that? The FBI would hang you up by your pubic hair, tar, and feather you.
- venomsnake 10y ago
  Only if you do it in US.
  - M_Grey 10y ago
    Where could you do it that wouldn't take it badly?

jacquesm 10y ago

I'll upvote the article if you build and test it :) (On your phone, in your lab). That has a chance of working due the very fast rise time you might be able to induce a sufficiently large voltage to cause some actual damage, it will be a 'one shot' affair though. But anything involving regular coils and some push button arrangement will likely cause it's own insulation to break down long before it will do damage to a phone. That's one of the reasons the spark gap is there in the first place, without it you'd hit the limits of the coil insulation very quickly. Spark gaps are a pretty nasty way to generate EM interference so there is some truth to the story. But even with my plasma cutter (12.5 KW, so not the smallest in the catalog) and stick welder I never managed to crash a cell phone. The plasmacutter did have the habit of resetting the controller until I properly decoupled all the lines into it.

bigiain 10y ago
A friend of mine did some back of the envelope calculations at Burningman one year when the megaphone guys were being particularly annoying - he came up with (from memory) 1km of fine copper wire wrapped round 100g of plastic explosive in the right configuration would probably let you take out a typical megaphone at 20m... (Note: all memories and calculations are from Burningman a decade or so back - and should be treated with an entire playa-ful of grains of salt.)
- AnimalMuppet 10y ago
  Give me the 100g of plastic explosives, and I could take out the megaphone without needing the copper wire. (Though it might be a bit rough on the megaphone operator. On the other hand, that copper wire is going to create some pretty nasty shrapnel...)
  - bigiain 10y ago
    Well yeah - nobody ever said it was gonna be a good idea ;-) (This was the same crew of people where the discussion one night went "We're all on mushrooms, you've just been drinking tequila all night - that means you get to fix the flamethrower"...)
    - AnimalMuppet 10y ago
      That quote just went into my permanent database...
deutronium 10y ago
If only I had such a lab :) That's really interesting with respect to your plasma cutter.
- jacquesm 10y ago
  Nasty little toy. Don't point it at anything you want to keep.

M_Grey 10y ago

"People will say it's a booooomb..." to the tune of People Will Say We're in Love Seriously though... can you imagine how many laws you'd break using that? The FBI would hang you up by your pubic hair, tar, and feather you.

venomsnake 10y ago
Only if you do it in US.
- M_Grey 10y ago
  Where could you do it that wouldn't take it badly?