Time for launch

CJGibson

CJGibson

ACCESS: Top Secret
Senior Member
Joined
26 May 2011
Messages
2,114
Reaction score
2,705
I'm on the hunt for an intrinsically safe electronic calculator, but while rummaging around the 'net looking for one, I recalled a story from my distant youth.

The reason I need one is that electronic devices are verboten where I work, but this reminded me of a story from way back in the era of the LED watch.

Remember them? Early 70s? Press a button to see the time? Huddled around a rich mate in the playground, full of wonder at the red figures. But enough of the Ron Managerisms

I recall a story in which a bloke on a flight line, possibly a Phantom unit, who checked the time on his LED watch and - FIZZ-WHOOOOOSH! Off went a missile across the airfield.

Is this bolleaux or is there any substance to such a tale? Is is feasible that a watch could trigger a missile launch?

Chris

Yes, I have seen the Curta. Very nice, but I need square roots and trig functions, and my name's not Carnegie.
 
A watch can only generate a tiny amount of RF interference, it would be lost in the background noise at an air force base. Things like radar, radio and car ignitions are much stronger sources (by ~10 orders of magnitude).
If a watch were enough to trigger a spurious missile launch, every missile would launch as soon as it was armed.
 
Faraday cage?

Explaining who Faraday was, never mind his cage, to my colleagues would be most entertaining. They think electricity is ju-ju

A slide rule could be used to batter me as I explained the Faraday cage.

Chris
 
CJGibson said:
Explaining who Faraday was, never mind his cage, to my colleagues would be most entertaining. They think electricity is ju-ju
Click to expand...

Don't explain... demonstrate. Put a cell phone in a zip-lock bag; wrap ziplocl bage with aluminum foil or put ina sealed aluminized mylar bag. This should cut the phone off from the system, which can be demonstrated by trying to call that phone.

For a calculator, put in ziplock bag, then wrap bag with copper foil. This should work as well, while still letting you see the screen. If you want to go nuts, vac-form a thin polyethylene form around the caclulator, then tighly wrap the calculator with thick aluminum foil, except for the screen, which you cover with the copper foil. Put a decal on the aluminum foil over the keys showing each button. Now you're the nerdiest prepper in a five-block radius.
 
You kids today are WAY too dependant on electricity. when I was you age...

odhner-mechanical-calculator.jpg
 
Cell phone? Banned, and confiscated at the heliport.

Bill, your calculator would be too heavy for the chopper and they'd break it unloading the bags.

Chris
 
try this http://education.ti.com/en/us/products/calculators/

but you can find something like this one too :D
 

Attachments

  • 6.JPG
    6.JPG
    252.5 KB · Views: 92
I have the joy of working in a cellphone-free zone and Bill's calculator might be useful to the blokes up front on the chopper, but won't help me do my head-nipping sums on the plant.

The significant words are "intrinsically safe" and since Piko's suggestion has a standard plug, won't be. TI don't make one and the only place that did (near Farnborough funnily enough) stopped doing them.

Chris
 
Thanks for that, I had looked at the Ex-rated PDAs, but don't need the other features and it needs to go in my coveralls pocket otherwise it'll go "Plop!". I'll drop them a line and see if they can sort me out.

There was a Ex-rated version of a Casio calculator (the industry standard) but the firm stopped making them and I've tried in vain to source a used one, hence my appeal to you chaps, many of whom work in high technology industries.

Thanks

Chris
 
Have you tried contacting this company? They may be able to point you in the right direction.


http://www.extronics.com/products
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom