Tarlee silo VK-TRE5

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My second silo activation for Thursday, the 18th day of December 2025, was the Tarlee silo VK-TRE5. Tarlee is about 88 km north of Adelaide in the lower Mid North of South Australia.

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

Tarlee is believed to derive from Tralee in Ireland. The town is located about 8km south of Giles Corner, where the Barrier Highway to Broken Hill diverges from the Horrocks Highway to the beautiful Clare Valley. (Wikipedia 2025)

In June 1867, it was announced that the town of Tarlee was ready for sale by auction. It was to occur at Forrester’s Hotel at Gilberton. The locality was described as ‘most desirable, being the very nucleus of the whole of the lines of Northern traffic from the populous and important districts of Clare, Auburn, Mintaro, Port Wakefield and Saddleworth.‘ (Trove 2026) (Wikipedia 2025)

Above: article from the South Australian Weekly Chronicle, Sat 15 Jun 1867. Image c/o Trove

There is an excellent visitor information bay adjacent to the silos with a detailed history of the district. The info bay is named in honour of Frank Gorey, who worked at the Tarlee silos for 15 years. (UBC 2023)

On display at the info bay is a sculpture which includes an Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah aero engine from an Avro Anson aircraft. Such an aircraft crashed in a field near Tarlee in 1943.

The Tarlee silos are located on the western side of the Horrocks Highway opposite the visitor info bay.

I parked the 4WD in the visitor bay and operated from the vehicle, 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 Tarlee silos. Image c/o SiOTA website

I made just 3 contacts, which was a combination of poor band conditions and being short of time.

I worked the following stations on 40m SSB:-

  1. VK5MAZ
  2. VK5WU
  3. VK3PF

I then headed off to Clare and enjoyed a very enjoyable BBQ lunch with the boys from the Mid North, the Clare Valley, and the Riverland.

References.

  1. Nla.gov.au. (2026). Making sure you’re not a bot! [online] Available at: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91266289 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2026].
  2. UBC Web Design (2023). World War Two Memorial | Monument Australia. [online] Monumentaustralia.org. Available at: https://www.monumentaustralia.org/themes/conflict/ww2/display/119896-world-war-two-memorial/photo/2 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2026].
  3. ‌Wikipedia Contributors (2025). Tarlee, South Australia. Wikipedia.‌

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