JANET'S STAR TREK VOYAGER SITE

ABOUT THE CARDASSIAN SYMBOL AND PADD

 


 

The Cardassian seal, the symbol of the Cardassian Union, is the stylised silhouette of a Galor, a mythical hooded warrior, whose true origins have long since been lost to antiquity. A Galor-class warship is seen in [Caretaker], commanded by Gul Evek, as it pursues Chakotay and his Maquis raider.

Behind-the-scenes: The symbol was first seen in [TNG: The Wounded], and it was based on the top view of the Cardassian Galor-class warship for that episode. The [TNG] designers rationalised that the Cardassians might have based their warship design on the symbol. The Galor symbol was used extensively in [DS9], in which Cardassians feature in many episodes. The symbol appears in many canon sources e.g. Encyclopaedia, DS9 Tech.
I scanned the image from the following, which is this paragraph's text and image canon source: 'Star Trek: Sticker Book' by Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda and Doug Drexler (show staff members responsible for creating most of the designs).


I use the Cardassian PADD
as an image map for the
[Dreadnought] episode guide.

It is highly likely that the Cardassian term for this piece of handheld data equipment is not "PADD", which is the Federation term, but canon sources refer to it as a PADD. Presumably the Cardassians call it something equivalent (and in Cardassian language, of course). The device's function is, however, very similar to that of a Federation PADD.

The Cardassians are a martial race, and the militaristic regime is reflected in their design philosophy, including that for their PADD. The PADDs are slightly heavier and more angular than modern Starfleet PADDs, and are designed for routine use in the field as well as non-military functions. The Cardassian PADD is approximately 30 mm thick and 200 mm in length, with the narrowest part being at its base, where there is a rectangular slot. Cardassian symbols appear on the reverse of the PADD to aid identification. The PADD's outer casing is constructed from rodinium boronate, a tough material designed to protect the inner workings. The isolinear processors and type-2 memory rods contained within hold over 12 kiloquads of data. The PADD can be operated manually and also respond to voice activiation. The PADD interface comprises toiuch-sensitive controls and a viewscreen. The latter uses gas-field suspension technology and can display some holostereo data as well as two-dimensional images. The isolinear processors and memory chips fit into the outer casing via easily accessible slots in the left-hand side of the device. Different chips can be fitted depending on the situation.

The Cardassian PADD is powered by liquid isotolinium ampules which provide 29.3 hours of continuous operation. The PADD can easily be modified to take standard Starfleet sarium-krellide power cells.

The information is current in the 2370s, at least to approximately 2375 (the end of the Dominion War). The episode [Dreadnought] takes place during 2372.

Text source: TOSTFF. I scanned the image from TOSTFF. Dicing and image rollover code by me. The font used to alternate with "NAVIGATION" is that word transliterated into Cardassian using the font ST Cardassian, which can be downloaded at FONTS.


 

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