Announcement of Dxpedition to Saint Peter & Saint Paul Rocks

Jan 29, 2025 – PRESS RELEASE #1

The Araucaria DX Group is pleased to announce it has received permission from the Marinha do Brazil (Brazilian Navy) for a DXpedition to Arquipélago de São Pedro e São Paulo (Saint Peter & Saint Paul archipelago). The operation will take place in the October – November 2025 time frame. The actual dates will be announced later.

The St. Peter & St. Paul rocks are located at 0 deg 55.2’ N and 29 deg 20.9’ W, about 60 miles north of the Equator, approximately 600 miles from the city of Natal, on the Brazilian mainland.

St. Peter & St. Paul rocks, PY0S, is No. 14 on Clublog’s Most Wanted List, and No. 3 in Asia. PY0S was last activated in 2012. Since then permission to land and operate from the rocks has not been granted. Our Radio In a Box (RIB) capability enables us to make this activation possible without the operators being physically on the rocks, thereby meeting the key requirement of the Navy for a very small footprint operation with minimum human presence. According to the permit two of us will be allowed to land each day for a limited time to refuel the generators and make any necessary repairs. We plan to deploy five RIB-s for a total of 6 stations. Operators will be working from the boat anchored a short distance from the rocks. We plan to be active from 160 to 6 m, on CW, SSB and FT8. There will be six local operators: Adrian KO8SCA, Fred PY2XB, George AA7JV, Mike KN4EEI, Peter PY5CC, Tomi HA7RY, as well as a number of remote operators. The RIB equipment, which makes this operation possible, was developed with the support of the Northern California DX Foundation.

The St. Peter & St. Paul archipelago is unique as the only place where the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, as five small rocky islets, pierces the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. The largest of these is Belmonte, with a total area of 5400 square meters (1.2 acres). Not all of this area is dry. Large waves often wash over some parts of the islet. The Brazilian Navy maintains a permanent research station on Belmonte which is manned year around. Our upcoming operation is not only aimed at making this No.14 DXCC entity available to DX-ers but also to increase world-wide awareness of this unique rock formation and the role the Brazilian Navy plays in scientific research and study of this extremely difficult and rare environment.

The RIB concept was developed for operations where human presence is severely restricted. RIB-s contain one or two Flex Radio HF transceivers, as well as power supplies, control modules and power amplifiers, all housed in a weather-tight case. Add power, an antenna and a UHF control link, and they can be remotely operated without human presence.

We will be making future announcements as we finalize the dates, callsign and complete required formalities. Additional information will be added to www.py0s2025.com .

For more information on the Araucaria DX Group to www.araucariadx.com.br

For future announcements visit https://py0s2025.com/