Our final activation on Saturday, the 8th day of November 2025, on our Canberra trip, was the Pinnaroo silo Vk-PNO5 for the Silos On The Air (SiOTA) program.
Marija and I stopped briefly at the South Australia and Victoria State border. We then continued on to Pinnaroo.
Pinnaroo is derived from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘big man’. The town features several historic buildings, including the Golden Grain Hotel, the Pinnaroo Institute and the Pinnaroo Hotel. (Wikipedia 2019)
On the side of the Mallee Tourist and Heritage Centre in Pinnaroo is a very impressive mural. It features the malleefowl, a Wedge-tailed eagle, a farmer with his workhorse, and a steam train.
The Pinnaroo silos are located on the southern side of Silo Road. They are operated by Viterra.
Marija and I parked right alongside the silos 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 at the Pinnaroo silo. Image c/o SiOTA website
Marija worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK2YK/P (VKFF-0829)
- VK5GA/P (VKFF-0829)
- VK3XCI/P (VKFF-0373)
- VK3PF
I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-
- VK2YK/P (VKFF-0829)
- VK5GA/P (VKFF-0829)
- VK3XCI/P (VKFF-0373)
- VK3PF
- VK2KLM
- VK5HS
We packed up and continued west along Dukes Highway, headed for home. It had been a magnificent few weeks away, and Marija and I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who called us on our journey whilst we were activating VKFF parks, SiOTA silos and SOTA summits.
References.
- Wikipedia Contributors (2019). Pinnaroo. Wikipedia.
VK5PAS 