Biographical entry Traeger, Alfred Hermann (1895 - 1980)

Summary

Alfred Hermann Traeger designed a transceiver for the Royal Flying Doctor Service. In 1933 he also invented a typewriter Morse keyboard, which was widely used as an accessory to the pedal sets until the advent of radio telephony. He began his engineering career with the Metropolitan Tramways Trust and the Postmaster-General's Department (1915-1923) and later formed his own company Traeger Transceivers Pty Ltd. He worked for John Flynn on Northern Territory radio experiments from 1926 and is commemorated by a sports field, a plaque and the Royal Flying Doctor Service aeroplane at Alice Springs.

Details

Events

1915

Education - Associate Diploma completed at the South Australian School of Mines and Industries

1915 - 1923

Career position - Metropolitan Tramways Trust and the Postmaster-General's Department

c. 1923

Career position - Hannan Bros Ltd, Adelaide

1944

Award - Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE)

Published resources

Books

• McKay, Fred, Traeger: the Pedal Radio Man, Boolarong Press, Moorooka, Queensland, 1995, 108 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Behr, John, 'Traeger, Alfred Hermann (1895-1980), Engineer', in John Ritchie (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 12, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1990, pp. 251-252. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A120280b.htm. Details

Online Resources

• National Library of Australia, 'Traeger, Alfred Hermann', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1464925. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/scripts/tia-dynindex.php3?EID=P002691. Details