Go away!

“We don’t want you here! Don’t even think of putting your foot on the rocks!”

The message from the Brazilian Navy to the amateur radio community is loud and clear, and leaves no room for misinterpretation: obtaining a landing permit on St. Peter and Paul Rocks – literally a pile of rocks situated 1,200km north of the Brazilian coast – is impossible.

The Rocks were added to the DXCC list in 1966. In the following years, it was activated by mainly Brazilian amateurs who braved the innumerable logistic and operational challenges of sailing, landing, unloading radios, antennas and generators to an uninhabited, hostile micro island barely above the sea level. Until 2006 a dozen or so expeditioners managed to get on air, but almost all activities were limited in the number of contacts and PY0S remained high on the most wanted list.

Unfortunately, in 2006 the Brazilian navy pulled the plug, permanently prohibiting access to the Rocks. Quoting environmental reasons and safety issues, and specifically naming radio amateurs in their order, they made it clear that further applications will not be even considered.

Yet six years later, thanks to the relentless work of the Brazilian amateur association, a permit for landing was issued to a small team of four operators: two Brazilians, one American and one Hungarian who took off on a fishing vessel Tamaran 2. Operating as PT0S, the team made 44,100 contacts in 13 days using a simple vertical antenna. The operation was abruptly cut off with an order by the Navy to leave the Rocks immediately and sail back to the mainland.

And that was it – the very last DXpedition to a super rare entity. Despite many attempts for another activation, no landing permit has been issued in the past 11 years.

I consider myself both lucky and privileged to have been able to make a contact with St. Paul and Peter Rocks in 2012. The QSL card – a written confirmation that contact is valid – is one of the most treasured cards in my collection. At the time, my suburban setup consisted of a single inverted V dipole with apex 10m above the ground. The place stunk of RF pollution generated by cheap solar inverters – but I had them on both sideband and CW.

DX, no excuse. All the time, anytime.