Daily Archives: July 17, 2024

Elliston silo VK-ELN5

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After arriving back on the South Australian mainland from Flinders Island on Sunday 21st April 2024, I headed to get a coffee from the roadhouse at Elliston and fill up the 4WD with some diesel.

I then took the Clifftop Drive at Elliston. My first stop was Salmon Point overlooking Waterloo Bay back to Elliston and Wellington Point. It was a spectacular day with not a cloud in the sky.

The drive is an easy 7 km loop drive. Along the way are various sculptures.

There are some magnificent views of the coastline along this drive. The West Coast of South Australia is absolutely sensational and rivals other coastal drives around Australia.

One of the best sculptures on the drive is the ‘Thongs’.

There are also some nice views of the Waldegrave Islands, about 2.5 km off the coast from Cape Finniss. They qualify for the World Wide Flora Fauna (WWFF) program and are VKFF-1116.

Captain Matthew Flinders discovered the island group in February 1802 and named them in honour of William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock. (Wikipedia 2024)

Above:- Admiral William Waldegrave. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The Waldegrave Islands group consists of Waldegrave Island, Little Waldegrave Island and a pair of rocks known as the Watchers. (Wikipedia 2024)

I then drove back into Elliston to view the mural at the Elliston Hall. The mural features various aspects of Elliston including its history and sporting activities.

I also visited M.A. Trudinger Memorial Park at Elliston. The park is named in honour of Dr. Malcolm August Trudinger M.B. B.S. who practised on the Eyre Peninsula during the years 1930-1964.

I then visited the Matthew Flinders monument at Elliston. Captain Matthew Flinders, the Commander of H.M. Sloop Investigator, between 10th and 13th February 1802 discovered and named The Investigator Group including Pearson, Ward Isles, Flinders Isle, Waldegrave Isles and Topgallant Isles. The monument was unveiled on Pioneers Day in April 1948.

I then activated the Elliston silo VK-ELN5. I parked on Silo Road and operated from the 4WD running the Icom IC-7000, 100 watts and the Codan 9350 antenna with the 1.5-metre stainless steel whip.

Above:- The activation zone of the Elliston silo. Image c/o SiOTA silo.

This was just a short activation. I logged a total of 14 stations on 20 & 40m SSB.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3YV/p (Picnic Point Streamside Reserve VKFF-3832)
  2. VK3PF

I worked the following stations on 20m SSB:-

  1. VK1AO
  2. VK2MET
  3. VK3PF
  4. VK1AD
  5. VK7XX
  6. ZL1HIM
  7. VK5QA
  8. Vk4DNO
  9. VK2IO
  10. VK1MCW/m
  11. VK5MAZ
  12. VK4SMA

References.

  1. Wikipedia. (2022). Waldegrave Islands. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waldegrave_Islands [Accessed 17 Jul. 2024].‌