Turning a Microwave Oven into an Electromagnetic Weapon

How to turn your microwave oven

into a directed-energy weapon

March 14, 2005

We could go on forever listing human foolishness, but this one takes the cake. There's an American website where you can find absolutely every conceivable stupid thing you could possibly do. You can even order kits. Here's the URL, pointed out by Frank Nadaud:

http://www.bugsweeps.com/info/electronic_harassment.html

"Officially," this site presents ways to fight "Electronic Harassment"—that is, electronic harassment. But you'll also find plans for a wide variety of gadgets allowing you to bombard your neighbors with microwaves, pulsed or not. Today I found, for sale, microwave rifles:

EMP Rifle (Electromagnetic Pulse Rifle, or electromagnetic pulse weapon)

The site noted that only three were left in stock. It seems to be selling fast. The magnetron in the device above produces pulses of 50 kilowatts. Range: 300 meters. Operates at 9.2 Gigahertz. Capable of frying electronics remotely, erasing data from hard drives, making mayonnaise spin, causing cows to miscarry, and so on. It's clearly stated that, of course, you wouldn't be allowed to use such a device without first consulting local authorities to determine whether such activities would comply with federal or state laws. There's probably a country—like the United States or its equivalent—where the constitution grants every citizen the right to own and carry a microwave weapon. In the U.S., the issue doesn't arise, since the constitution contains no prohibition against carrying one...

Back to homebrew tinkering. The power of a typical microwave oven easily reaches a kilowatt (900 watts is standard, though some go up to 1200). Otherwise, you couldn't cook with it. Microwaves are generated by a klystron (in any case, some device ending in "-tron"). These waves are channeled through a "waveguide" (they correspond to radar frequencies). The diagram below shows how you "flood" a chicken with a beam expanded in various ways to evenly cover the chamber. As a bonus, there's a rotating turntable so everything receives radiation of equal intensity. You've probably noticed the oven's window is "grilled." This is a kind of miniature Faraday cage, and the mesh, tuned to the operating wavelength, keeps radiation contained within the chamber. You'll also notice the oven stops immediately when you open the door.

Microwave Oven

It's extremely easy to dismantle an old microwave oven and redirect the beam using a "horn." At this frequency, these waves reflect like light. A flat metal surface behaves like a mirror toward them. Below is the oven properly modified:

Modified Microwave Oven

And here's the setup suggested on the aforementioned website.

Translation: Here, a microwave oven has been modified into a directed-energy weapon.

Of course, this is the weapon a malicious neighbor might build—not something you'd construct to harm someone. But with such a device, your neighbor could cause you skin diseases, redness, blisters, internal injuries, internal bleeding, trigger or stimulate cancer, induce cataracts, or cause boiling within your bodily fluids. Naturally, you could also disrupt your neighbor's computer, crash it, or even destroy it through several walls.

Captions: A microwave oven has been converted into a weapon, with an output power of 800 watts.
As the beam passes through successive walls, its power decreases,
but it remains dangerous to health. Prolonged exposure can be harmful.

The danger increases if these microwaves are pulsed at very low frequencies (a few hertz). This can be easily achieved by mechanically rotating a shutter at the beam's exit. Effects on brain waves and DNA (hence cancer, etc.). For information, the first experiments were conducted by the Russians on the staff of the American embassy in Moscow, at a distance. You can also use these microwave beams to create auditory, visual, or even olfactory hallucinations. Believing they're suffering hallucinations, people may then think they're losing their minds. Perfect for reclaiming a neighbor's apartment, for example.

The military and police possess such "radar guns," with power reaching three megawatts, capable of killing people at a distance or cooking their brains. I refer you to the catalog—it's positively fascinating. Below are systems the Americans are planning to deploy very soon to inflict "maximum pain" but in a "non-lethal" way.

Captions: Intolerable suffering, but minimal damage (portable models exist for "intensive interrogation" sessions).
These systems produce unbearable burning sensations—but without actually burning the skin. Could be used to disperse crowds or create impassable barriers. 1 - Electrons are accelerated in a vacuum chamber, producing the radiation. 2 - A mirror directs the beam. 3 - These waves penetrate only half a tenth of a millimeter deep, but heat the water in the skin to 130°C. Nerve sensors perceive this as a burn. 4 - The "target" flees.

Personally, about twenty years ago, when I had set up a makeshift lab at 9 Aude Street in Aix-en-Provence (where I still managed to achieve some MHD results presented at international conferences, including the one in Moscow in 1983), I used a very low-power microwave weapon against one of my neighbors—a very unpleasant restaurateur who habitually played his TV at full volume with all windows open. After a failed attempt at negotiation, I resorted to action using a simple Ruhmkorff coil. Frequency: 1 megahertz. Effects at a distance of several tens of meters: creating interference on a TV screen. Whenever my neighbor turned his set up loud, I disrupted his reception. He’d get up and bang on the set, and I’d immediately stop transmitting. But as soon as he returned to his chair—visible from my window (I was in a room directly opposite his living room, but in darkness)—I’d resume my emissions immediately. The situation became comical when he started watching TV with his wife. She also tried to improve reception by hitting the set, but her gesture had no effect. The same went for other family members. Over time, the restaurateur eventually convinced himself he had "the" right way to hit the...