After leaving The Rock Nature Reserve on Wednesday, 22nd October 2025, Marija and I drove a short distance to The Rock West silo VK-THT2, for an activation for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program.
Above: Map showing the location of The Rock, NSW. Map c/o Google Maps
The silo is located on the northern side of the Lockhart-The Rock Road, and alongside the Oaklands branch railway line. The line is a branch line of the Main South line at The Rock and heads in a southwesterly direction through the towns of Boree Creek and Urana, terminating at Oaklands. The branch line opened to Lockhart in 1901 and then Oaklands in 1912. (Wikipedia 2023)
The silos are opposite The Rock summit and the Nature Reserve.
Above: Aerial view of the silos and The Rock summit. Image c/o Google Maps
Marija and I parked alongside the silos and operated from the 4WD. We ran the Icom IC7000, 100 watts, and the Codan 9350 antenna with the 1.5 metre stainless steel whip.
Above: the activation zone at The Rock West silo. Image c/o SiOTA website
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK3WSG
- VK2IO
- VK2GEZ
- VK2ZR
- VK3PF
- VK3BDW
- VK3ZPF
- VK3BWS
- VK7IAN
- VK1CHW
- VK3MCK
References.
- Wikipedia Contributors (2023). Oaklands railway line. Wikipedia.
VK5PAS 