5

In a well-known Youtube channel there is a scene where a scooter had some kind of short circuit caused by magnetron used as a weapon from a distance. I never saw this channel to have fakes but one guy does not believe, saying:

OK, rough calculations erring on the side of the fake one. The real one shows a magnetron from a microwave oven, so let's say that's a really shitty one with 650W output. Let's assume you need the same amount of power to fry a bike's electronics as you do to light up a fluorescent tube. You would actually need a hell of a lot more, but we are being (very) generous and lazy when it comes to research.

In terms of distances, I'd say the tube video is about 1 metre and the bike one about 100 m. But let's be generous and lazy and call it 64 metres. For each doubling of distance, you need to increase the power by 4 to get the same field strength. So 2 metres would need 2,600 watts, 4 metres needs 10.4 Kw, 8 metres needs 41.6 Kw, 16 metres needs 166.4 Kw, 32 metres is 665.6 Kw and finally, the distance from the device to the bike, 64 metres would require a power supply that can generate 2.662 Megawatts of power. So, for a 9V battery that would require it to supply a current of almost 300,000 Amps. A decent PP3 can probably just about manage 1 Amp, maybe?

HD moment from video

Community
  • 1
Nakilon
  • 153
  • 7
  • 2
    I won't judge the credibility of the video, but the argument that you need the 'same amount of power to fry a bike's electronics as you do to light up a fluorescent tube' is way off. You can fry electronic circuits with a petty static discharge. – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Mar 14 '17 at 18:37
  • 3
    @Tor-EinarJarnbjo: Delicate, unshielded electronics. If a static discharge was enough to fry a bike's electronics there wouldn't be any bikes, they would be totally impractical from their electronics constantly failing. – TheBlackCat Mar 14 '17 at 19:48
  • @TheBlackCat I am not sure what you are trying to point out. Are you saying that the electronics in a cheap scooter is shielded against microwave radiation? – Tor-Einar Jarnbjo Mar 14 '17 at 21:09
  • 1
    @Tor-EinarJarnbjo: No, I am saying that the simple analog electronics in a cheap scooter are inherently less sensitive to damage and interference than sophisticated digital electronics. – TheBlackCat Mar 15 '17 at 01:21
  • 3
    You don't think the fact that everyone is wearing tin foil hats is a clue about the veracity of this scene? – DJClayworth Mar 15 '17 at 15:53
  • There is an old story (possibly propaganda) about the US laughing at valve technology used in captured Russian MIG avionics. Until it was pointed out that a MIG would still be controllable following a nuclear explosion, where IC based US fly by wire systems would be destroyed. The point is that high current systems like valves or primative HT ignition systems on motorbikes are more or less impervious to electrical noise. You could theoretically fry a modern ECU with a domestic magnatron, but not at range. – Richard May 14 '17 at 22:02
  • Interesting question: Is the field level capable of harming electronics below the field level that can harm the cornea? Or does the tin foil cover the eyes of the driver as well? Somehow I'm guessing the production company that made this video does not follow the legal standards required of human subject committees in university research, and so you are unlikely to find any high quality journal publications from universities on this, err, topic. – Paul May 20 '17 at 03:50

0 Answers0