The Pedal Radio

Australia's population density is just 6.4 people per square mile. Eighty years ago, with almost no telecommunication infrastructure beyond the seaboard, the tyranny of distance loomed much larger in the Outback as the nearest doctor could be several thousand miles away, with no method of contacting them in an emergency.

Hearing that German WW1 soldiers had used hand-cranked radios for battlefield communications, Alf Traeger set about creating a radio powered by bicycle pedals.

The invention of the pedal radio in the late 1920s enabled the famous Royal Flying Doctor service (RFDS) introduced by the Rev John Flynn, and offered remote settlements access to telecommunications for the first time.

Flynn lived in the Outback for most of his life, setting up hostels and bush hospitals for pastoralists, miners, road workers, railwaymen and other settlers and families. Known as 'Flynn of the Inland', his dream of a 'flying doctor service' came to life when H V McKay, inventor of the McKay Sunshine Harvester left a large sum of money in his will, and when Traegar developed the pedal radio. This gave Outback people the voice they needed to summon a doctor if necessary and at least to be able to get a radio consultation with one.

Pedal radios also meant neighbours, families and friends, scattered over thousands of square kilometres, could exchange news and gossip after normal transmission hours. This time became known as the 'galah' session, after the noisy, chattering native bird.

The School of the Air was also established, using the Flying Doctor Service network, and supplemented correspondence lessons sent to Outback children.

In 2005 alone the RFDS attended more than 234,000 patients, with more than 33,000 aerial evacuations, bringing this huge continent just a little bit closer for people in the most remote areas of Australia and this was all built on the groundwork of Alf Traeger and the pedal HF radio.

http://www.rfdsse.org.au/

http://www.outbackinfront.com/

http://www.gizmag.com/go/5714/

Source: Wireless Institute of Australia