I am very new to this forum.I just completed my 1st synthesis of AP and it worked out OK. With a little looking around I found all the info that I needed.I thank all who posted to help us newbies gather the knowledge to safely and confidently do our thing.

Now that I have the procedure for AP I am interested in remote detonation of AP caps.I know that I can use walkie talkies and by using he receiving unit wires to the speaker direct current into the cap.My questions are, How much current or how much voltage is needed to detonate an AP cap? Is a capacitor needed and how do I wire it to open the capacitor voltage to the system.I know very litle about electronics so I ask here and not in a normal forum? I would appreciate any input I can get on the road to detonation.Again thanks all.

I'm not sure what it takes to ignite AP, but I do know about radio.

Any radio receiver is subject to receiving spurious signals at any time. Interference can come from anywhere at any time. There are numberous reasons for this, with which I will not bore you. This is NOT good for the pyro. There are ways to minimize this risk of premature detonation, though. The cheaper the radio, the greater the risk. Choose an anused frequency if possible. UHF is not as subject to "skip" as HF and VHF. Remember, the more common the frequency, the more risk you take. If you use the FRS radios, there are lots of users on the same frequency. I know they have different "privacy codes" (CTCSS) that help to minimize interference, but don't count on it. For CRYING OUT LOUD DON'T USE CB! It is better to use a digital signal encoded at the transmitter and decoded at the receiver. A cheaper, easier way is to use DTMF (telephone key pad) or multitone system (fire dept. pagers). Add on circuits are available for 2-way radios. All mobile radios (your chief concern) use vertical polarization. You can use horizontal polarization, just turn the antennas horizontal to the ground and parrallel to each other, not pointed at each other. Televison is about the only horizontially polarized signal you can expect, unless you get into microwave. Another way to minimize risk is to use a low sensitivity receiver and powerful transmitter.

If you do not want to get into building circuits, there is a commercially available system called MDC you can get with Motorola radios. Which are quite pricey, but rugged as hell and work when others fail. You will still need to build a triggering device to drive a relay, but these are pretty simple. Talk to your local radio dealer to see what he can do for you. Forget radioshack.

Also, obviously, you will need to locate your expensive receiver far enough away from your charge, that it can be recovered intact, unless you are planning a one time "cost is no object" hit.

I don't know what the professionals use, but I would rather put my faith (and money) into a long piece of visco, or cheap spool of wire.

If this wasn't in the water cooler you would have been banned. :rolleyes:

My advice, learn to crawl before you can walk. You have just made AP for the first time, master AP synths and AP based charges before you get into more complex aspects of Explosives & pyro technics.

Remote detonation systems can be quite complex and time consuming, not to mention expensive for even the most experienced pyro. I would stick to using electrical detonation or fuses for the time being.

As for AP, well it is very sensitive and quite unstable, treat it with respect and use common sense and you'll remain a member of the 10 digits club. It doesn't take much to set it off, to demonstrate place a few grains of it on a flat surface and hit it with a hammer - it'll go off with a sharp crack. Lots of info on AP can be found by doing a search.

One obvious point is that there is no defined power required to set off an AP cap.

The power you will require will be however much it takes to heat up your bridgewire in the cap to at least the ignition point of AP. This will vary greatly depending on material type, thickness, length of bridgewire etc etc.