In 1859, a solar storm now called the Carrington Event induced currents so strong in North American telegraph lines that operators disconnected their batteries and kept sending messages on the geomagnetic current alone, while auroras lit up the sky over Cuba and Hawaii
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Tau.Neutrino said:
A geomagnetic storm so powerful it turned the planet itself into a telegraph battery—and nearly nobody noticed.In 1859, a solar storm now called the Carrington Event induced currents so strong in North American telegraph lines that operators disconnected their batteries and kept sending messages on the geomagnetic current alone, while auroras lit up the sky over Cuba and Hawaii
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If the current becomes too strong at both grounded ends then why can’t they be automatically switched off instead off unplugging the battery or disconnecting the mains power?
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.
Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.
It would take out most satellites, communication networks, electrical grids, & most of civilised society as food and water become hard to get, law & order breaks down, then it’s a free for all battle for survival.
There was an even bigger event in around 730ad ish.
In such an event, an old school telegraph network would still send messages even when the power is disconnected.
Does government and defence have that fall back capability?
Kingy said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.
It would take out most satellites, communication networks, electrical grids, & most of civilised society as food and water become hard to get, law & order breaks down, then it’s a free for all battle for survival.
There was an even bigger event in around 730ad ish.
so redundant local renewable battery firmed microgrids would fix this
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.
Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
or one of these
SCIENCE said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
or one of these
phoaw, an analog digital tape.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
By disconnecting the batteries, a battery operated telegraph could still transmit the signals using the extra high current in the atmosphere which would by saturating the Telegraph wires.
Get it?
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
By disconnecting the batteries, a battery operated telegraph could still transmit the signals using the extra high current in the atmosphere which would by saturating the Telegraph wires.
Get it?
One key, not a keyboard.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
By disconnecting the batteries, a battery operated telegraph could still transmit the signals using the extra high current in the atmosphere which would by saturating the Telegraph wires.
Get it?
yeah so it’s good
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extremely_low_frequency
news for usukau when they finally arrive in 60 years hey
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing on one of these.
By disconnecting the batteries, a battery operated telegraph could still transmit the signals using the extra high current in the atmosphere which would by saturating the Telegraph wires.
Get it?
One key, not a keyboard.
well that should temper expectations
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:Typing on one of these.
By disconnecting the batteries, a battery operated telegraph could still transmit the signals using the extra high current in the atmosphere which would by saturating the Telegraph wires.
Get it?
One key, not a keyboard.
Probably did not have keyboards back then in 1859
Later, one of the first electrical telegraphs with a keyboard.
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Most people don’t know that the dinosaurs invented Google, but the asteroid wiped out all evidence.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:By disconnecting the batteries, a battery operated telegraph could still transmit the signals using the extra high current in the atmosphere which would by saturating the Telegraph wires.
Get it?
One key, not a keyboard.
Probably did not have keyboards back then in 1859
Later, one of the first electrical telegraphs with a keyboard.
Nup. I was wrongs, the electrical telegraph was invented before 1859 in 1837 and the Morse code system came one year later in 1838.
Sorry about that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_telegraph
The first commercial needle telegraph system and the most widely used of its type was the Cooke and Wheatstone telegraph, invented in 1837.
The second category are armature systems, in which the current activates a telegraph sounder that makes a click; communication on this type of system relies on sending clicks in coded rhythmic patterns. The archetype of this category was the Morse system and the code associated with it, both invented by Samuel Morse in 1838.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Typing over a natural Carrington Event would be cool.Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:Typing on what? Most electronics will probably be fried.
Typing on one of these.
Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:Typing on one of these.
Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
and how will you use when all the communication networks are down?
Bogsnorkler said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
and how will you use when all the communication networks are down?
pity they didn’t vote the voice though
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:Typing on one of these.
Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
FMD… Telegraph was transmitted on dedicated wires not just whatever metal cables you have passing by your house. You’d be tapping away till the cows come home and not have communicated with anyone. Short wave radio would be far more useful using dedicated sets hardened to survive solar storms for just this purpose.
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
FMD… Telegraph was transmitted on dedicated wires not just whatever metal cables you have passing by your house. You’d be tapping away till the cows come home and not have communicated with anyone. Short wave radio would be far more useful using dedicated sets hardened to survive solar storms for just this purpose.
Hams for the win!
I wonder if a Morse code keyer could transmit over the pstn network, the old copper network?
Bogsnorkler said:
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
FMD… Telegraph was transmitted on dedicated wires not just whatever metal cables you have passing by your house. You’d be tapping away till the cows come home and not have communicated with anyone. Short wave radio would be far more useful using dedicated sets hardened to survive solar storms for just this purpose.
Hams for the win!
Do Solar storms wipe out radio communications
Google AI
Yes, solar storms can disrupt or completely block radio communications, but they rarely “wipe them out” permanently. They cause temporary radio blackouts by overloading and changing Earth’s upper atmosphere.
How Solar Storms Affect Radio
High-Frequency (HF) Blackouts: X-rays from solar flares hit the sunlit side of Earth. They over-ionize the lower layer of the ionosphere, causing shortwave radio signals to be absorbed rather than bounced back to the ground.
VHF and UHF Disruption: Solar bursts interfere directly with very high and ultra high frequencies, affecting aviation, marine, and amateur radio operators.
Satellite and GPS Jamming: Charged particles from coronal mass ejections (CMEs) warp the ionosphere and damage satellites, scrambling GPS navigation and satellite phone links.
Duration and RecoveryTemporary Impact:
Most radio blackouts last from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the size of the solar flare.
Geomagnetic Storms:
When the physical cloud of solar particles arrives days later, it can trigger longer-lasting signal fading and static, but services return to normal once the ionosphere calms down.
The Carrington Event was a massive solar storm in September 1859. It is the most powerful geomagnetic storm in recorded history. British astronomer Richard Carrington first saw the solar flare on September 1, 1859. A fast coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth shortly after.
What Happened
Giant Solar Flare: A bright flash of light erupted from a large group of sunspots on the sun.Fast Travel Time: The solar storm reached Earth in just 17.6 hours instead of days.
Global Auroras: Bright northern and southern lights appeared near the tropics, including Cuba, Hawaii, and the Caribbean.
Telegraph Disruption: Electric telegraph systems worldwide failed. Operators received shocks, and some telegraph paper caught fire. Some lines even worked without batteries using power from the auroral current.
Modern Risk
Power Grids: A similar storm today could damage high-voltage transformers and cause long-term blackouts.
Satellites and GPS:
Satellites, internet cables, and radio communications face a high risk of failure.
Economic Impact: Repairs and downtime could cost trillions of dollars and disrupt global supply chains.
The bit that I’m interested in:
Some lines even worked without batteries using power from the auroral current.
Tau.Neutrino said:
The bit that I’m interested in:Some lines even worked without batteries using power from the auroral current.
I wonder if a signal could be transmitted directly into an auroral current in an aurora?
Without wires.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Bogsnorkler said:
Witty Rejoinder said:FMD… Telegraph was transmitted on dedicated wires not just whatever metal cables you have passing by your house. You’d be tapping away till the cows come home and not have communicated with anyone. Short wave radio would be far more useful using dedicated sets hardened to survive solar storms for just this purpose.
Hams for the win!
Do Solar storms wipe out radio communications
Google AI
Yes, solar storms can disrupt or completely block radio communications, but they rarely “wipe them out” permanently. They cause temporary radio blackouts by overloading and changing Earth’s upper atmosphere.
How Solar Storms Affect Radio
High-Frequency (HF) Blackouts: X-rays from solar flares hit the sunlit side of Earth. They over-ionize the lower layer of the ionosphere, causing shortwave radio signals to be absorbed rather than bounced back to the ground.
VHF and UHF Disruption: Solar bursts interfere directly with very high and ultra high frequencies, affecting aviation, marine, and amateur radio operators.
Satellite and GPS Jamming: Charged particles from coronal mass ejections (CMEs) warp the ionosphere and damage satellites, scrambling GPS navigation and satellite phone links.
Duration and RecoveryTemporary Impact:
Most radio blackouts last from a few minutes to a few hours depending on the size of the solar flare.
Geomagnetic Storms:
When the physical cloud of solar particles arrives days later, it can trigger longer-lasting signal fading and static, but services return to normal once the ionosphere calms down.
Depending on how long the storm lasts I was suggesting short wave usage after the event is over but before conventional communication is reestablished..
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy of the solar storm (the carrington event) on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy of the solar storm (the carrington event) on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs.
17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy of the solar storm (the carrington event) on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs.17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).
I guess there is a range where some solar storms don’t interfere with radio and some that do.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy of the solar storm (the carrington event) on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs.17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).
I guess there is a range where some solar storms don’t interfere with radio and some that do.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Tau.Neutrino said:17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).
I guess there is a range where some solar storms don’t interfere with radio and some that do.
Click on Coronal mass ejections and solar particle events and scroll down to see the Carrington Event and how it compares to the others in the list.
The main problem is that it would fry a lot of electrical power grid transformers.
These are very expensive and difficult to replace, and require power transformers to even be able to build them.
I’m sure that you can see the problem here.
Kingy said:
The main problem is that it would fry a lot of electrical power grid transformers.These are very expensive and difficult to replace, and require power transformers to even be able to build them.
I’m sure that you can see the problem here.
Yes transformers are a problem, however Google AI says the following about this.
Q. Are there ways to protect electrical transformers during a solar storm -
Yes, power companies protect electrical transformers from solar storms by blocking or reducing geomagnetically induced currents (GICs).
These DC currents flow through the ground and enter transformer neutral-to-ground connections during geomagnetic disturbances, causing core saturation, severe overheating, and permanent damage.
Hardware and Engineering Solutions
Neutral Blocking Devices (NBDs): Install capacitors or RLC circuits at the transformer neutral-to-ground point. These create a high-impedance path that blocks DC GICs while still maintaining the safety and fault-clearing ground connection via a rapid bypass switch.
Neutral Ground Resistors: Place specialized resistors in the neutral grounding connection to lower the amplitude of the induced current.
DC Diverters: Use alternative low-impedance paths to shunt the GICs safely around the transformer core.
Operational and Real-Time Strategies
Grid Reconfiguration: Power operators use real-time warnings from agencies like the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center to disconnect vulnerable high-voltage transmission lines or shift power loads.
Controlled Outages:
System operators may temporarily take specific long-distance circuits or transformers out of service if a severe (G4 or G5) storm is imminent, preventing cascading grid failures.
Relay Adjustment: Desensitize or adjust protective relays and monitoring systems so they do not misinterpret storm-induced harmonics as physical faults.
Q. do battery operated telegraphs use transformers.
Google AI – No, battery-operated telegraphs do not use transformers. They run on direct current (DC) from electrochemical batteries, while transformers only work with alternating current (AC).
How Telegraph Power Works
Direct Current: Early telegraph systems used wet-cell batteries (like Daniell or Grove cells) to supply a steady DC voltage.
Direct Connection: Pushing the telegraph key simply opens or closes the DC circuit to send pulses (dots and dashes) straight to an electromagnet at the receiving end.
Relays instead of Transformers: Long-distance lines used telegraph relays (switches driven by local batteries) to boost weak signals, not transformers.
This is the one we should be wary of.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyake_event
Very interesting the Carrington Event.
It would have been interesting measuring currents in the telegraph wires and currents reaching the ground.
Kingy said:
This is the one we should be wary of.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyake_event
Yes.
From the link
The events are named after the Japanese physicist Fusa Miyake who, as a doctoral student, was the first to identify these radiocarbon spikes and published the results with co-authors in 2012 in the journal Nature. The investigation at that time found a strong 14
C increase in the annual rings of Japanese cedars for the years 774/775. The event of 775 was independently discovered, using the low-resolution IntCal data.
In 2013, Miyake and co-authors published the discovery of another similar radiocarbon spike in the years 993/994. In December 2013, Miyake received her Doctor of Science degree from Nagoya University.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Kingy said:
This is the one we should be wary of.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyake_event
Yes.
From the link
The events are named after the Japanese physicist Fusa Miyake who, as a doctoral student, was the first to identify these radiocarbon spikes and published the results with co-authors in 2012 in the journal Nature. The investigation at that time found a strong 14
C increase in the annual rings of Japanese cedars for the years 774/775. The event of 775 was independently discovered, using the low-resolution IntCal data.In 2013, Miyake and co-authors published the discovery of another similar radiocarbon spike in the years 993/994. In December 2013, Miyake received her Doctor of Science degree from Nagoya University.
Good on her!
Kingy said:
This is the one we should be wary of.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miyake_event
The tree rings act like a 2 in 1, a cosmic sensor and a recorder.
More on the Carrington Event from wikipedia
The Carrington Event solar flare on the Sun lasted about 5 minutes, the solar plasma took 17.6 hours to reach Earth, and the resulting global geomagnetic storm and intense auroral displays lasted for several days from August 28 through September 3, 1859.
Breakdown of Event Timelines
The Solar Flare: Lasted roughly 5 minutes on September 1, 1859, when first observed.
Transit Time: Took 17.6 hours for the coronal mass ejection to travel from the Sun to Earth’s magnetic field.
Geomagnetic Storm & Auroras: Active across multiple days (main peak events occurred from August 28–29 and September 2–3), with individual intense auroral displays lasting for many consecutive hours.
Telegraph Disruptions: Major communication line outages and high-voltage anomalies persisted for 8 hours or more in affected regions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrington_Event
YouTube has quite a few videos on the Carrington Event.
Here’s a recent one from one year ago.
The Solar Storm That Fried Earth in 1859: What If This Happened Today?
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs. 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).71.1 zettajoules over 8 hours in watts 2.46875 × 10 18 watts. The value 2.46875 times 10 18) expressed in watts is exactly (2,468,750,000,000,000,000\) watts, which can also be written as 2.46875 exawatts (EW).
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs. 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).71.1 zettajoules over 8 hours in watts 2.46875 × 10 18 watts. The value 2.46875 times 10 18) expressed in watts is exactly (2,468,750,000,000,000,000\) watts, which can also be written as 2.46875 exawatts (EW).
Is the last one correct?
Witty Rejoinder said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Witty Rejoinder said:Okay. I’ll just grab mine out of my garage where I’m keeping it stored in case of geomagnetic disturbances.
We might get such a solar storm like that one, once every 500 years, so it’s a good idea to keep one around.
FMD… Telegraph was transmitted on dedicated wires not just whatever metal cables you have passing by your house. You’d be tapping away till the cows come home and not have communicated with anyone. Short wave radio would be far more useful using dedicated sets hardened to survive solar storms for just this purpose.
We need to organise this so everyone on the forum can keep in contact with each other in case such an event occurs.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy of the solar storm (the carrington event) on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs.
Would humans need to go underground?
ms spock said:
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy of the solar storm (the carrington event) on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs.Would humans need to go underground?
It’ll block a lot of the ionising radiation that will affect our modern electrical gear.
Which also still won’t work because it’s underground and so not getting any signals.
Tau.Neutrino said:
Yahoo News summary of contemporary reconstructions puts the released energy on the order of 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs. 17 billion one-megaton nuclear bombs release approximately 7.11 × 10²² joules of energy (about 71.1 sextillion joules or 71.1 zettajoules).71.1 zettajoules over 8 hours in watts 2.46875 × 10 18 watts. The value 2.46875 times 10 18) expressed in watts is exactly (2,468,750,000,000,000,000\) watts, which can also be written as 2.46875 exawatts (EW).
I assume we could fry electronics world wide if we airburst nuclear weapons high in the atmosphere around the flat earth globe
Divine Angel said:
Interesting, thanks.