Monthly Archives: November 2025

Alawoona silo VK-ALA5

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On Tuesday, 14th October 2025, Chris VK5FR and I drove up the Riverland region of South Australia to complete some errands for the 2025 VKFF National Get Together. Our first stop was at Loxton to catch up with Danny VK5DW, who had kindly donated a UHF CB radio and antenna on behalf of his company RivComm Radio Solutions. Our next stop was to visit Ivan VK5HS at Renmark, and drop off the wire winders and centre pieces for the linked dipole project. It was a 560 km round trip.

On the way home, Chris and I stopped off briefly at Alawoona to undertake a quick activation of the Alawoona silo VK-ALA5 for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program.

Alawoona is located about 220 km east of Adelaide.

Above: Map showing the location of Alawoona. Map c/o Google Maps.

The town of Alawoona was surveyed in 1914 and was proclaimed on the 9th day of July 1914. It was named for the Aboriginal word ngalawuna for ‘place of hot winds’. (slsa.sa.gov.au n.d.) (Wikipedia 2025)

Above: South Australia Govt Gazette. July 1914.

Not much remains at Alawoona. The Post Office was opened on the 1st day of March 1915 and was closed on the 18th day of March 1988. The Alawoona school operated from the 1st day of January 1915 until 1967, when it consolidated with the Browns Well Area School. Alawoona’s first police station was opened in 1924. By the 1930s, Alawoona had three churches, a railway refreshment hall, a school, a police station, a bank, a bakery, a butcher shop, two general stores, football clubrooms and a 400-person capacity hall that regularly held dances and balls. (Heritage SA 1998) (Heuzenroeder and Dawes, 2019) (Wikipedia 2025)

Above: Article from the Murray Pioneer, Fri 2 Jul 1920. Image c/o Trove

One of the impressive buildings in the town is the old Alawoona Institute.

Due to the growth in population in Alawoona and the surrounding district, a larger hall was required for the original hall that was built in 1916. Work commenced on the extension of the hall in 1927, with local people assisting in the carting of stone and sand to the building site. The foundation stone of the new hall was laid on the 5th day of November 1927. It was opened on the 31st day of January 1929 at a cost of about £2,500. (Heritage SA 1998) (State Library of South Australia, 2025)

Above: article from The Advertiser, Sat 26 Jan 1929. Image c/o Trove.

Below is a photograph of the Alawoona Institute in c. 1932.

Above: the Alawoona Institute, c. 1932. Image c/o State Library South Australia.

On the corner of Karoonda Highway and Billiatt Road is a memorial cairn to honour the pioneers and settlers in the Hundred of Allen.

Alawoona was the junction of the Brown’s Well railway line and the branch line to Loxton. The branch line from Loxton to Alawoona was opened on the 13th day of February 1916. (Wikipedia 2025)

Above: Murraylands lines. Image c/o Wikipedia.

The Alawoona silos are located in the town on the northern side of the Karoonda Highway. The silos were constructed during the 1960s under the supervision of Mr. A.S. Hooper of C.H. Martin Ltd. In September this year, a grant was issued to assist in the engagement of an artist to paint the silos and join the South Australia and National Silo Art Trail. (Tony Passin MP, 2025) (Trove 2025)

Chris and I operated from the 4WD, using the Icom IC7000 at 100 watts and the Codan 9350 with a 1.5-metre stainless steel whip.

Above: the activation zone at the Alawoona silo. Image c/o SiOTA website.

We found the band conditions on 40m to be very poor and struggled to get callers. Unfortunately, we did not have time to try the 20m band.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK3PF
  2. VK5DW
  3. VK5FANA

References.

  1. Heuzenroeder, C. and Dawes, S. (2019). Saviour needed to redeem historic buildings in ghost towns. [online] Abc.net.au. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-15/alawoona-ghost-town-building-looking-for-a-saviour/11788728 [Accessed 10 Nov. 2025].
  2. Heritage South Australia, 1998, Heritage of the Murray Mallee
  3. published.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au. (n.d.). A Compendium of the Place Names of South Australia. [online] Available at: https://published.collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/placenamesofsouthaustralia/.
  4. ‌‌State Library of South Australia. (2025). Alawoona Institute. [online] Available at: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+8111 [Accessed 10 Nov. 2025].
  5. ‌Tony Pasin MP. (2025). Designs underway for Alawoona Silo Art with Stronger Communities funding. [online] Available at: https://www.tonypasin.com/designs_underway_for_alawoona_silo_art_with_stronger_communities_funding [Accessed 10 Nov. 2025].
  6. ‌Trove. (2025). GRAIN SILO TERMINAL WILL BE SA’s BIGGEST – Port Lincoln Times (SA : 1927 – 2002) – 12 Mar 1964. [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/267071846?searchTerm=alawoona%20silo [Accessed 10 Nov. 2025].
  7. ‌Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Alawoona. Wikipedia.‌
  8. Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Loxton railway line. Wikipedia.‌

Radio Prague International QSL cards

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Whilst I was away on holiday, I received a nice letter from Radio Prague International, which contained four QSL cards.

The main card is for my reception of their station on 15770 kHz on the 5th day of August 2025. This card features a white tiger, which is found at the Liberec Zoo in the Czech Republic.

The remaining three were blank to add to my collection.

The second card features a Cuban Flamingo at the Ostrava Zoo.

The third features Western lowland gorilla, which are found at the Prague Zoo.

The fourth features Eastern black rhino that are located at the Safari Park Dvur Kralove.