Our next silo for Monday 21st November 2022 was the Pimpinio silo VK-PMO3. Pimpinio is located about 15km west of Horsham and about 317 km north west of Melbourne.

Above:- Map showing the location of Pimipinio. Map c/o Google maps.

Pimpinio is believed to have derived from an Aboriginal word describing a man squatting on his heels, or children. In around 1870 a hotel and blacskmith’s forge was established in the Pimpinio area. The township of Pimpinio was gazetted on the 28th day of July 1873. In 1874 the Pimpinio school was opened in a Union Church hall. Following the extension of the railway from Horsham to Dimboola, a store was opened in the town.

The Pimpinio railway station was built in 1882 and disestablished 100 years later in 1982.

Above:- A diesel train at Pimpinio in 1979. Image c/o http://www.victorianrailways.net

 The old Pimpinio station buildings and goods shed have been demolished. Only the silos and railway platform mound remain today.

We operated from Station Street, directly opposite the silos. We ran the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 self tuning antenna.

Above:- Map showing the location of the silo and the activation zone. Image c/o SiOTA wwebsite.

Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK2IO
3. VK2MET
4. VK1AO
5. VK5GY

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

1. VK3PF
2. VK2IO
3. VK2MET
4. VK1AO
5. VK5GY
6. VK2PW

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

1. VK4EW
2. VK2MET
3. VK1AO

I worked the following station on 20m AM:-

1. VK4EW

References.

1. Victorian Places, 2023, <https://www.victorianplaces.com.au/pimpinio>, viewed 9th January 2023.
2. Wikipedia, 2023, <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pimpinio,_Victoria>, viewed 9th January 2023.