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Originally Posted by DarkScribe
Controversy might draw attention if you have a reputation as a good writer. To be controversial won't lift you above the ranks of the trolls and freaks who haunt most forums if you don't.
I had a glance at your book - an interesting plot. I am a survivalist, not a theorist, I have lived on a ketch for nearly twelve years - well away from civilisation for much of it. Every year or three I will take six to twelve weeks and go into the real bush in the Northern Territory or Far North Queensland (tropical rain forest - big snakes and very large salt water crocodiles) taking nothing but an old Swiss Mauser 98 and what I can carry in a backpack. Sometimes I will take a Kevlar Kayak and stick to rivers. I haven't been since I got my Kindles, but they will definitely be going on the next trip.
One error you already have is that no computer will function after a major EMP event. A car computer uses "limp" mode to protect the engine, and requires a fully functioning computer, it doesn't just drop into it if its computer is partially damaged. The only vehicles that would have a chance of working would be old style, very simple vehicles, those that are carburetor fed with basic Kettering ignition systems. Say an old Jeep or seventies or earlier pickup truck. No electronics at all, not even a CDI ignition. Be wise to carry a spare coil and capacitor in a mu-metal case. (You can find Mu-Metal cases protecting the Hi Voltage supplies in old valve colour TV sets.)
I will read through the rest a bit later and let you know what I think of it.
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The effects of EMP on a car are not well known, at least after tons of research I couldn't find any results of tests that were dispositive. There was one test performed by the govt that used govt owned cars, and these cars had to be returned in working condition. So they limited their testing and got limited results. Then too there are thousands of variables involved with each car's peculiar setup, where they happen to be located when the pulse hits - such as in a possible partially shielded area, and with a CME there may be possible localized variations in intensity. If a CME caused EMP took out one or more of the sensors that feed info to the car's computer, but that computer wasn't itself critically damaged you could end up in limp mode. I've had limp mode happen from a bad sensor before, no EMP involved of course..
I agree that the older (fifty's and sixty's) cars would be the most likely to survive, and the coil is a likely item to get burned. Possibly the distributor as well since it is connected to the plug wires which could pick up induced current and then arc across the contacts in the distributor. If I had one of those cars I would want a protected spare for points, condenser, plug wires, coil, starter motor, generator/alternator and distributor cap. Wouldn't cost that much, wouldn't take up much space. They could all be vulnerable.
If you have resources that are more definitive on the effect of EMPs on cars I really would like to read them. I have searched and searched and found mostly ambiguous information.
Also, CME driven EMPs are somewhat different from nuclear EMPs in some aspects, (T1, T2, and T3) and they may not relate too closely in their overall effects to each other, so that test results from an imitation nuclear EMP might not correlate well. There is much that isn't known about very large CME effects on our modern technology. Too much unfortunately.
Looking forward to your thoughts on the book.