LOCATION

Coordinates: 00 deg 55.0' N 29 deg 20.1' W

The Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago (ASPSP) is a group of 15 small islets and rocks in the Atlantic Ocean, lying close to the equator and about 520 nautical miles (990 km) east of the Brazilian city of Natal. The rocks are close to the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ), are area of constant and severe thunderstorms, resulting in permanently noisy radio conditions, especially on the lower bands. The rocks are located relatively close to both North America and Europe. We hope that the proximity of the rocks to Europe and North America will allow relatively small stations to work this rare entity.

We will be operating from the largest rock, called Belmonte. This is a very a difficult place to operate from. Although the Brazilian navy maintains a scientific research station on Belmonte, which is manned year around, we will have to be totally self-reliant and will be unable to use station's facilities. Apart from the location of the research station, there is no flat ground on the rocks. We will be taking a pre-fabricated platform on which we will erect our tent.

Due to their strategic importance, the Rocks of St. Peter and St. Paul are treated differently by the Brazilian government to other islands in its territory. The Secretariat of the Interministerial Commission for Sea Resources (SECIRM) manages the archipelago in a manner the maximizes protection of national and environmental interests in the region. The infrastructure of the archipelago is very complex. Researchers take turns constantly on the research station located on Belmonte islet. The conduct research in areas of geology, biology, oceanography, meteorology and other academic and national interest. The difficulties of access in terms of almost 1,000 km distance that separates this small part of the country from the continent, the absence of drinking water, the frequent earthquakes; are just some of the difficulties encountered by the Brazilian government in managing the site.

As a consequence of several meetings with the Brazilian authorities, the organizers of the Expedition, represented by the Araucaria Dx Group's Chairman (PY5EG Atilano de Oms), had the opportunity to show the relevance of ham radio activity to the communications community as well how the Dx-Pedition intends to cooperate to meet the requirements of the occupation of the archipelago and demonstrate its compatibility with the ongoing activities. The Brazilian Navy through SECIRM is giving total support to the expedition.
Due to the fact that the archipelago is a very important natural Brazilian reserve, a special permit from Ministry of Environment ( ICMBIOS) has been issued (NR 01-2012).
The expedition has also received a fundamental support from the Brazilian Amateur Radio League LABRE, as well from ANATEL (Agencia Nacional de Telecomunicacoes). A special call has been assigned PT0S.
During all contacts with the Brazilian entities, we emphasized the importance of the work done by radio amateurs and reciprocity that could derive from this understanding. The operation is aimed not only at bringing this rare location to the DX community, but also to demonstrate that Amateur Radio is in fact totally compatible with the scientific and environmentally sensitive nature of the St. Peter and St. Paul Archipelago.
The Araucaria DX Group greatly appreciates the understanding and support of all its friends and Brazilian authorities.

Additional Background:
The archipelago of St Peter and St Paul is a group of small rocky islands and rocky which is situated in the central equatorial Atlantic Ocean, lying 627 km from the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, 986 km the nearest point on the mainland and 1010 km from Natal, in Rio Grande do Norte. It was declared as part of the Brazilian territory, according to IBGE belonging to the state of Pernambuco, despite being closer to the state of Rio Grande do Norte. In 1998 a scientific station was opened on the island Belmonte, initiating the program Archipelago of Sao Pedro and Sao Paulo (Proarquipelago) administered by the Secretariat of the Interministerial Commission for Sea Resources (SECIRM). The permanent presence of scientists in scientific station is required to prove the livability in the archipelago, which is seen as crucial for its international recognition as the archipelago as Brazilian territory.

OPERATORS

PY2XB Name: Fred Carvalho Licensed since 1972. Specialities: CW, RTTY, Low Bands and 50MHz. Member of T30PY/T30SIX Previous callsigns: PY2XB/PY0F, PQ0F, VP5/PY2XB, PW2IO (SA-071),ZX8W (SA-060), PY2XB/1 (SA-029), 8P9XB, PQ8XB (SA-045), ZX2S (SA-028), T30PY/T30SIX (OC-017). Team member: PW2M (SA-071), PX8J (SA-041)
PP5XX / PY5CC Name: Peter Zoch Sprengel Licensed since: 1981 Former DXpeditions: ZX0F, PT0F, PY0FM, PW0T, CW5R, HK0NA, PQ8XX, 3D2XX, 3D2C. Contest-Op: 2 WRTC, ZW5B, ZX0F, PT0F, PT5T, PY0FM.
AA7JV Name: George Wallner Former DXpeditions: VK9WWI, C6AGU, 5K0T, VK9GMW, TX3A. Born in Hungary in 1951. Got involved in HAM radio at the age of 16 through the high school club station HA7YPA. Later became very active through the club station HA5KFZ. After a very long break, during which I moved to Australia and became a business executive, I got involved with Amateur Radio again in 1988. I was licensed as VK2GBQ, and later VK2NU. In 1991 I moved to the USA and became licensed as AA7JV, based in Phoenix, AZ. Now living in Miami Beach, I am mostly active on 160 meters and do some contesting from my Bahamas station as C6AGU. In 2007 Tomi, HA7RY, and I have teamed up for a small DXpedition to Willis Islets, as VK9WWI. This was followed by a number of small Caribbean expeditions as C6AGU and 5K0T. In 2008 Tomi and I mounted a serious two-man expedition to Mellish Reef as VK9GMW, and in 2009 to Chesterfield Reef as TX3A. I enjoy low band operation, contesting and building projects, especially antenna couplers. My other hobbies are boating and diving.
HA7RY Name: Tamas (Tomi) Pekarik Licensed since 1970 Former DXpeditions: VK9WWI, C6AGU, 5K0T, VK9GMW, TX3A. Born in Budapest in 1953. Radio amateurs like HA7PF (sk), HA7PG (sk), HG7PI (sk) and HA7PJ made me fall in fall in love with radio. This is why I chose radio communications as my profession. I have been working in different fields of telecommunications. I hold my HA7RY callsign since 1970. I was HF contesting at several club stations for decades, including HG5A for more than 25 years, then also from my home station. My favourite mode is CW. Six years ago I met my old friend George (AA7JV) after 34 years and we started mounting DXpeditions together. Each time we tried to break with some common practices. My motto: "we need to climb the peaks because they are there."