But Ted Sr. did an amazing amount in less than 40 years of life. He was only 11 when he became one of the first licensed radio amateurs in Canada, with a 500 watt spark-gap transmitter. By age 14, he had built a receiver sensitive enough to receive radio signals from Germany, announcing the declaration of war in 1914. By 1920, his own signals could be heard from coast to coast. And, in an American Radio Relay League competition on December 9, 1921, he became the first Canadian amateur radio operator to transmit a signal across the Atlantic.
In 1925, Ted Sr. invented the world's first Alternating Current (AC) radio -- just plug it in the wall. Previous radios required batteries. Commercial production of the tubes for that radio began August 26, 1925, and the Rogers Batteryless radio receiver was on display a few days later at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto. Canada's First Rogers Batteryless (CFRB) began broadcasting on February 10, 1927, as the world's first all electric radio station, running directly off utility-provided AC power; other stations ran on low-voltage batteries and DC (Direct Current) generators mechanically coupled to electric AC motors.
In 1931, Ted Sr. (pictured below) was granted Canada's first television license, and foresaw the coming of colour television. He later started Canada's first FM station, simulcasting CFRB-AM on the original 42 MHz FM band with 50 watts. And he did significant work on Radar before his death just before World War II.
In 2018, Vancouver's CIRH-FM Roundhouse Radio left the air at 7:30 PM, while awaiting CRTC approval of a sale to South Fraser Broadcasting, owners of CISF-FM in nearby Surrey.
