Over 5,000 items of our Cultures & Histories collection are now accessible online for free. All you need is your device and a little bit of inspiration to explore Queensland’s cultural and natural heritage.
1950s Homemade television
Fred worked with ABC in Sydney from the beginning of television in Australia. In 1958 he transferred to Brisbane to oversee the technical construction of the ABC studio.
ABQ (Channel 2), as it was known at the time, was Queensland’s third station to go to air, making its first broadcast on 2 November 1959. They followed QTQ9 (Channel 9) on 16 August and BTQ7 (Channel 7) on 1 November.
As technical producer, Fred was responsible for the picture and sound quality, as well as lighting. He retired from the ABC in 1980.
Fred Haynes with the ABC television studio foundation stone, 6 October 1958
This homemade television was likely one of the first televisions in Queensland, having been brought to Brisbane by Fred when he moved in 1958. Televisions did not go on sale in Queensland until 1 July 1959.
It was used by the Haynes family into to mid-1960s and remained in their possession until the family donated it to Queensland Museum in 2001, along with a number of early photographs of the Brisbane ABC studio.
ABQ control room prior to the first broadcast on 2 November 1959.
Standing: Arthur Wyndham, Executive Producer
Seated (left to right): Fred Haynes, Technical Producer; John Waddington, Vision Switch; Wilf Buckler, Producer; Nancy Barker, Sound Assistant
Ian Haynes sitting in front the homemade television in the family’s Brisbane home, 1961
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