DX Engineering is a Major Equipment Sponsor of the February 2027 Peter I DXpedition.
Today, OnAllBands’ global tour of the top-ten Most Wanted DXCC Entities per Clublog takes us to our first cold-weather location: Peter I Island, an uninhabited, glacier-covered rock 240 nautical miles from continental Antarctica. Ranked #7 on the list, this Norwegian dependency is also the first of our rare entities scheduled to be activated (more about that below).
Named after Peter I of Russia, this 60-square-mile volcanic island in the Bellinghausen Sea is surrounded much of the year by pack ice (ice not attached to the shoreline) that, along with its remoteness, significantly limits accessibility. Ice breakup during the short southern summer (January/February) provides a narrow window for those aspiring to even get close to the island, let alone come ashore to set up amateur radio gear. Among other logistical complications, the planned activation in February 2027 will employ two on-board helicopters to transport equipment, supplies, and operators on the island.
Once again OnAllBands asked the team at DX Engineering to explore their own history with Peter I Island and find their QSL cards from this isolated breeding ground for seabirds and seals. As always, they did not disappoint.
Peter I Island Ham Radio History
How rare is a Peter I activation? Extremely. The island has only been put on the air three times since becoming a DXCC entity. It has been almost two decades since the highly successful 21-operator 3Y0X DXpedition team logged more than 86,800 CW, Phone, and Digital QSOs from Feb. 8-19, 2006. The contacts were made “from the bottom of the world at the bottom of the sunspot cycle! An amazing accomplishment under very difficult circumstances,” as noted in this article from the Northern California DX Foundation Newsletter by 3Y0X team member Donald J. DuBon, N6JRL. At the time, 3Y0X was the most expensive DXpedition ever undertaken.
Among the nearly 87,000 QSOs were several from DX Engineering team members, including this card earned by Dave, N8NB, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist. N8NB also received a commemorative 3Y0X coin with the message, “More people have flown in outer space than have set foot on Peter I Island.”
3Y0X operators used a DX Engineering THUNDERBOLT® antenna to help them record nearly 6,000 QSOs on 80M.
Wayne, K8FF, DX Engineering customer/technical support specialist, received the QSL card below by working 3Y1EE/3Y2GV in CW on January 25, 1987. It was one of 17,000 QSOs logged by the team using a variety of equipment including Icom transceivers and tuners. Featuring two hams and five scientists, 3Y1EE/3Y2GV was the first activation of Peter I. Incidentally, the word “öy” is Norwegian for “island.” Without the umlaut, it is also an expression of exasperation in Yiddish—certainly something that would be appropriately muttered while undertaking such a difficult adventure.
Check out the full story and some amazing photos from 3Y1EE/3Y2GV here.
In January/February 1994, the 3Y0PI Peter I DXpedition logged 62,500 QSOs.
Next Up, 3Y0L Peter I DXpedition, February 2027
Unlike other entities we’ve discussed, DX chasers will have an excellent chance to make contact with Peter I Island, but you’re going to have to be patient. The 19-operator 3Y0L venture won’t be happening until February 2027. (On the positive side, this gives you plenty of time to upgrade your DXing capabilities at DX Engineeringto take advantage of this fourth-ever activation of Peter I.) The team has received a landing permit for the DXpedition from the Norwegian Polar Institute. Read much more about the Peter I DXpedition at its official website.
The same team plans to activate Bouvet Island (3Y0K)—another Norwegian dependency and #10 on the Most Wanted List—in February 2026. We’ll be covering much more about the 24-operator Bouvet Island 3Y0K DXpedition in upcoming posts.
DX Engineering is a proud equipment sponsor of both Bouvet Island 3Y0K and Peter I Island 2027. From the Peter I Island website:
“We are happy to once again thank one of the major sponsors of DXpeditions—our friends at DX Engineering. They have offered to provide some Yagi antennas to help focus our signals around the world. We’ll be using much of the equipment and accessories they provided for 3Y0J (Bouvet Island) last February as well. Thanks Tim (K3LR) and Teri (K8MNJ) for always helping the DX community.”
Check out these OnAllBands articles on the current top-six most-wanted entities:
What’s left on the top-ten list? We’ll be covering Kerguelen Island, Aves Island, and Bouvet Island in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned!
In the meantime, visit DXEngineering.com for everything you need to upgrade your station to make sure you’re ready when entities like Peter I Island are in play. You’ll find transceivers, antennas, amplifiers, CW keys and paddles, headsets and speakers, reference books like “Ham Radio DX: A Complete Guide,” and much more.
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Editor’s Note: Every month, DX Engineering features QSL cards from our team members’ personal collections. To highlight upcoming DXpeditions, we’ll be displaying a few of our favorite cards along with details about what it took to make these contacts. We’re excited to share some of the special cards pulled from the thousands we’ve received over the years. We look forward to seeing your cards as well!
