Firedrake

Firedrake, in Teutonic mythology, is a fire-breathing reptilian creature, occasionally winged. It is much like the dragon.

Usage in fantasy

In modern fantasy, "firedrake" is widely used for any fire-breathing dragon. From this usage, various other terms have been formed, such as "icedrake" for an ice-breathing dragon and "shadowdrake" for a dragon that controls darkness.

In the Chronicles of the Shadow War universe, firedrakes are creatures which more closely resemble fire elementals shaped as dragons, than traditional dragons. [Chris Claremont & George Lucas. "Shadow Moon". Bantam.]

Radio jammer

Firedrake (also known as "Firedragon") is also the name given by amateur radio operators to radio signals intended to jam reception of various out-of-country shortwave broadcasts directed into the People's Republic of China. These jamming signals are made by Communist interests from Hainan Island and other transmitters in China, usually in the form of continuous traditional Chinese music. The shortwave transmitters appear to be fed the Firedrake music via a digital audio link on the Chinasat 6B satellite. [Satdirectory. "Firedrake - The source of China's Radio Jammer found on Chinasat 6B." http://www.satdirectory.com/firedrake.html Accessed 16 June 2008.] [The Amateur Radio Relay League. "Firedrake Jammer on the Loose Again in Asia." http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/06/11/10154/ Accessed 16 June 2008.]

ee also

* Firedrake is the name of a comic book character created by Alan Moore in the series Miracleman.
* HMS "Firedrake" has been used as the name of seven Royal Navy warships.
* USS "Firedrake" (AE-14) was a ship of the United States Navy.
* "Firedrake" is a 2002 fantasy book by Ann Ewan.
* "Firedrake" is a 1982 fantasy book by John D.Hederman.
* "The Firedrake" is a 1965 book by Cecelia Holland.
* Firedrakes are enemies in the First-Person Shooter Legendary (video game)

External links

* [http://www.satdirectory.com/firedrake.html Information about Firedrake Chinese radio jammer] with WMA sample of Firedrake radio jammer
* [http://www.arrl.org/news/files/firedrake.mp3 MP3 sample of Firedrake jamming content]

References