My final silo activation for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program for Saturday was Quarantine (Pinnaroo) VK-QRE-5 which is located near the Quarantine station on the Mallee Highway.

By the time I reached the silo it was totally dark. I pulled over to the side of the Mallee Highway, just short of the Quarantine station. This is also being used by South Australia Police at the moment as a COVID-19 checkpoint.

I was directly opposite the silo, but I only managed the blurry photo below due to it being pitch black. I was just short of the road block and pulled over on the side of the road. I was sure I might get a visit from a police officer to see what I was up to, but that didn’t happen much to my surprise.

From looking at the aerial view, this appears to be quite a big grain facility.

As time was really pushing on, and I had a 250 km trip home, this was a quick activation. I only operated on 80m, logging a total of 8 stations. First in the log was Nev VK5WG, followed by Marija VK5MAZ, and then Ian VK5IS as my third contact to qualify the silo.

I am sorry for not trying 40m and 20m, but I was getting tired and hungry and knew I had a big drive home. I drove back into Pinnaroo and went to the local roadhouse for a magnificent steak sandwich with the lot. I then hit the road and headed for Ashbourne.

THANK YOU to everyone who called me during the day during my elevn silo activations.

I worked the following stations on 80m SSB:-

1. VK5WG
2. VK5MAZ
3. VK5IS
4. VK3PF
5. VK3ARH
6. VK2VW
7. VK3OHM
8. VK5FANA