Alfred Traeger
TRAEGER, Alfred, OBE (1895-1980)
Traeger was born in Dimboola, Victoria, but grew up in the Balaklava, SA. He studied mechanical and electrical engineering at the South Australian School of Mines from 1912 to 1915 and worked for the Metropolitan Tramways Trust and the Post Master General’s Department.
Traeger transformed the lives of many outback Australians through his development of the famous ‘pedal radio’ an essential underpinning of the successful operation of the Flying Doctor Service established by the Rev. John Flynn and a contributor to the success of the School of the Air. Intrigued by Marconi’s work Traeger became an amateur radio operator (VK5AX) and formed a company, Traeger Transceiver Pty Ltd. His genius was to develop, in 1928, a portable, high frequency radio transceiver that could be used by non-technical people. The sets were cheap, durable, small and easy to operate. Bicycle pedals drove a generator which produced about 20 watts at around 200 volts.
In 1931 Traeger went on to develop a Morse code keyboard which enabled people to send perfect code over the radio regardless of their skill level. In the mid 1930s voice transmissions became increasingly common. The first pedal sets, introduced into Queensland in 1929, revolutionised communications in outback Australia and linked people with essential medical, educational and social support - reducing the sense of loneliness so much a feature of outback life. Traeger was a member of the Institution of Radio Engineers Australia. He was appointed to the Order of the British Empire in 1944.
He was added to the Engineers Australia Hall of Fame in 2009.
