Tag Archives: Firedrake Jamming

Paul discovers Firedrake in an unexpected place

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(Photo: Satdirectory.com)

(Photo: Satdirectory.com)

Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, Paul Walker, who writes:

From time to time, I get some interesting shortwave catches here in Alaska.

Sometimes on 10 MHz, I get WWV. Sometimes I get WWVH. Sometimes I get BPM China. And from time to time, I’ve heard all three at once.

Well this clip is something a bit different…

From April 20, 2016 at 1707 UTC here is my Tecsun PL880 connected to a 225 foot long wire with audio set at 3.5 kHz while tuned to 10,000 kHz (10 MHz).

This time, I am hearing WWVH Hawaii and […] the Chinese Firedrake jammer. What’s happening is Firedrake is jamming the Sound of Hope on 10005 kHz and the signal is so wide, it’s [competing with] WWVH.

I am making no adjustments to the dial tuning or audio settings as this happens. Listen to how things fade in and out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt1p3JwbPQM&feature=youtu.be

Click here to view on YouTube.

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Mark’s studio version of Firedrake

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(Photo: Satdirectory.com)

(Photo: Satdirectory.com)

As I suspected, the unidentified broadcast I recently posted was the Chinese jamming service, Firedrake.  Thanks to all who confirmed.

Mark Fahey even commented with a link to an article explaining how he made a studio recording of Firedrake from Chinasat 6B. Read Mark’s article here.

Mark also has the full 60 minute studio copy of Firedrake available as a 90MB MP3 file.

 

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Shortwave Radio Recordings: Firedrake?

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"Who can this be?"

“Mum, this sounds like Firedrake. Quick, make a note of it in the logs!”

I’ve noticed a broadcaster that routinely transmits weekends at 11:00 UTC on 6,970 kHz.  Some mornings, it’s much stronger than others. Saturday morning, my time, I managed to record it in its typical format: music. Specifically, Chinese folk music, at least so it sounds to my untrained ear.

I searched through logs and in the WRTH, and I could find no mention of a broadcaster on 6970 kHz. It doesn’t help that the 27 minute broadcast contained no audible IDs.

So, I’ve come to the conclusion that my initial hunch is correct–that this is the Chinese jamming service, Firedrake.  Using Firedrake, the Chinese government transmits music on top of broadcasts they wish to block. It’s fairly effective (and annoying). While I’ve heard Firedrake a number of times over the bands, I can’t say I’ve ever tried to listen to the one-hour production.

The following recording contains a 27 minute broadcast of what I believe may be Firedrake on 6,970 kHz, starting around 11:00 UTC, Saturday January 26, 2013. Click here to download the MP3, or simply listen via the embedded player below. Note that the first two minutes have some digital noises (in the lower side band) that affected my receiver’s AGC.

If you can confirm or correct my supposition, please comment!

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