Obituary: Trevor Baylis Inventor whose wind-up radio brought information to Africa's rural poor

[OnDoutside]

Trevor Baylis, who died last Monday aged 80, was the inspired creator of the "clockwork radio"; his simple yet effective design won him recognition as one of Britain's foremost inventors. Baylis got the idea for the wind-up radio in the early 1990s after seeing a television report on the spread of Aids in Africa, which also showed how basic radio communication was an impossibility for many rural Africans.

"My only motivation," he said in 1997, "was the pure mechanical challenge of getting a clockwork radio to work." From his garden shed on Eel Pie Island, Twickenham, he soon developed an elementary concept and built his Freeplay Radio, powered by a spring energy dynamo, an idea inspired by the old-fashioned wind-up gramophone. (Later versions stored the energy in rechargeable batteries.) But Baylis found it difficult to get commercial backing, or even to persuade companies to pay attention, something which only fuelled his determination.

Philips, Marconi and Richard Branson's Virgin all turned him down, and Baylis was laughed out of an office in Glasgow, after travelling for five hours to be told that no one would meet him. Eventually, in 1994, an appearance on the BBC's Tomorrow's World programme gave his radio the springboard it needed.

It was instantly recognised as a winner by Christopher Staines, an accountant, and Rory Stear, a South African entrepreneur. They took the design to South Africa, where it was manufactured by Baylis's newly formed company Baygen in factories staffed as much as possible by disabled workers. When he was first taken to see the operation, he was overcome with emotion and wept.

more at

https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/obituary-trevor-baylis-36691923.html

[shenmue]

1. Rest in peace

[ret5hd]

2. A man who wanted to good...and succeeded.

[GusBob]

3. Hate to ask, but going to

Radio was one of the primary movers in African genocide in the 1990's

Hope his humanitarian project wasn't the exact opposite

[hunter]

5. sigh... I share your skepticism about radio, especially here in the U.S.A.

[GusBob]

6. Things were a little different there, then

I hope his devices were not used in the conflicts. But radio was

[hunter]

4. I've got one. It's my kitchen radio.

For the one I bought I'm hoping some other community that needed a radio got it free.