I have, however, worked with military equipment that is designed to work in an EMP environment so I do have some background in this area. In the case of a military radio the only thing that is required to provide EMP protection is a couple of diodes shunting the antenna and possibly other inputs. That's it. That's all you need.
Also, the way an EMP pulse is delivered is via a high altitude nuclear blast and the effectiveness of the pulse will fall off as the square of the distance from the point of detonation. I'm really doubtful that a single weapon could affect unprotected electronic equipment over the whole United States.
And lastly, it is not in the cards that the North Koreans or the Iranians or their like are going to have the technology to actually build and deliver an EMP weapon that would have to be detonated high over the U.S. The Chinese could do it. They probably have EMP weapons. The Russians could as well. But we are (or were) well on our way to building a defense system that can protect us against such an attack. And also note that much of our military gear is designed to withstand an EMP attack.
Bottom line: Relax. Have a beer. Enjoy watching Van Jones and his former boss squirm and starting thinking about which Czar will be next.
I don’t mean to rain on your parade but what you say may be true for military equipment designed specifically against EMP burst.
There are millions and millions of civilian stuff that will go poof in that event! Plus all that financial stuff in the Wall Street and Banks!
A couple of diodes across an antenna will not protect the gear! What about the power line surges?
It is something to think about and try to do a better job of protecting ourselves.
Relaxing with a beer ain’t goin’ to do it!
How high can small airplanes go? Could they get high enough to do evoke an emp response?