Area and History
Continent: South America - Coordinates: 4N 82W, EJ93EX - Zones: WAZ 9, ITU 12 - Allocations: HK0 - IOTA SA-007
Malpelo Island (Spanish: Isla de Malpelo) is an island located 235 miles (378 km) from Colombia's Pacific coast, and approximately 225 miles (362 km) from Panama's coast. It has a land area of 0.35 square kilometres (86 acres). It is uninhabited except for a small military post manned by the Colombian Army, which was established in 1986. Visitors need a written permit from the Colombian Ministry of Ecology. The island is part of Cauca Department. The island consists of a sheer and barren rock with three high peaks, the highest being Cerro de la Mona with a height of 300 metres (980 ft). The island is surrounded by a number of offshore rocks. Off the northeast corner are the Tres Mosqueteros. Off the southwest corner are Salomon, Saul, La Gringa, and Escuba. Malpelo Nature Reserve, a plant and wildlife sanctuary, is defined as a circular area of radius 9.656 kilometres (6.000 mi) centered at 03°58′30″N 81°34′48″W. Malpelo is home of a unique shark population; swarms of 500 hammerhead sharks and hundreds of silky sharks are frequently seen by diving expeditions, making it a very popular sharkdiving location. Malpelo is one of the few places where the Smalltooth sand tiger has been seen alive, in the dive site "El bajo del Monstruo" it is frequently seen. Malpelo has been interpreted as a portion of oceanic crust, probably a local manifestation of a "hot spot". It is composed mainly of pillow lavas, volcanic breccias, and Tertiary basaltic dikes. At first glance, the island seems to be barren rock, devoid of all vegetation. But deposits of bird guano have helped colonies of algae, lichens, mosses and some shrubs and ferns establish, all of which glean nutrients from the guano. Among the range of animal and bird life some are very rare, ike the Malpelo Crab (Gecarcinus Malpilensis), Mask Piquero (Sula Dactylatra), Anolis Agassizy Lizard and the Black Dotted Lizard (Diploglossus Millepunctatus). On July 12, 2006, Malpelo was declared by UNESCO as a natural World Heritage Site. A Colombian foundation 
ext. Link is trying to preserve the biodiversity of the site. (Wikipedia)
#1 - HK0TU - 1.-3. April 1961
Team: Heman Olarte, HK1QQ; Jaime, Restrepo, HK2YO; Edmundo Quinoes P., HK3LX; Flavio Agudelo B., HK4OC; Carlos E. Valencia, HK5EV; Dale, W4DQS; I. E.-Boots-Olsen, W6HAW; William M. "Mac" Reynolds, W9EVI; Robert "Bob" W. Denniston, W0NWX. - Ausrüstung: Colins, Drake, Langdrahtanennen - QSL: POB 584, Bogotá. - "A difficult but successful landing was made in the early morning of March 31. It required the efforts of 18 men to land and set up three stations by 03:15GMT, April 1. Equipment was carried ashore in eight sealed barrels. Personnel came to the landing area in a 16' outboard motor boat. In celebration of the 151th Anniversary of the independence of the Republic of Colombia, her national flag was planted upon and now flies from the top of the island. Only four other landings are known to us in the history of the island. This DXpedition was proceeded by an unsuccessful attempt in May 1960". Transportation by Colombian Navy vessel "Ciudad de Quibdo"
"HK0 Malpelo Island: HK0TU was recently activated for three days by W9EVI and company. W4EEE was the first contact from land. It should count as a new country. QSL via Swani Radio Club, Harvard, Illionois." (CQ June 1961)
"Malpelo Island (HK0) has been accepted as a new country and cards may be submitted for credit after August 1, 1961." (R.S.G.B. Bulletin June 1961)
#2 - HK0TU - February 1969
Team: Willliam "Bill" Elasmar, HK3RQ (President LCRA); Bob Denniston, W0DX (President ARRL, later VP2VI); José, HK5BFJ; Raul Henao, HK3BM; Carlos "Gab" von Seca (TI2CV), HK3VA; Fuad, HHK3WD; Pacho, HK3BAS; Carlos, HK5EV; Luis, HK5ACI; Enrique, HK5ASF; Don Plankenship , K6JGS/HK3 (now W4PUL); Dale Streiter, W4DQS (later W4WM, VQ9QM); Enos L. Schera Jr., W4VPD. - Euipment: Drake T4XB/R4B, Hy-Gain TH3-Mk3 - 160-10m, CCW, AM, SSB - QSL: HK3RQ, Airmailbox 4468, Bogota. - Eight years after the first operation, this expedition was carried out to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the independence of Colombia (on 20. July 1810, but interationally acknowledged only on 7. August 1819). Organised by LCRA, the Liga Colombiana de Radioaficionadas. Transportation was by Colombian Navy vessel "Padilla". Homepage: ext. Link - W1BB tells this way: "Tragedy nearly struck during landing operations on the dangerous rocky cliffs, when two men were washed overboard, requiring hospitalization for one. In the ensuing excitement, their generator was lost in the dark, their 160M rig had a bum antenna relay and wouldn't work and they had to get on the air with a borrowed rig from W4VPD. Imagine after all that putting up a 700' longwire antenna in the DARK - but they did."
Dale says: "I loaded the Ant to the Tx, called CQ and it was thrilling to have K1PBW/8 come back at 0615Z - next was W3FE, then W1BB for his DXCC/160M. After that Bob operated until the band folded. All together 28 qso's were made on 160M including W2EQS, W9PNE (with his 5 watter!) W8GDQ and others - not too many. W0DX was able to contact his home station on 160, 80 and 40.."
#3 - HK0TU - March 1977
Team: Fernando Unda Baena, HK2AQT; HK3DEU; Augustin Vergara A., HK3CEC; Alberto Carrizosa, HK3BAE; Abdon Sarmiento, HK3BQM; HK3XU; Leon Guttman, HK4BPD; Jorge I. Jimenez, HK4DKR; Enrique Valencia, HK5ASF; Joseph PH Saouda, HK5HK; HK5RL; HK5VVF; Italo Morello, HK5SK; HK5LA; HK6CYH; Luis Cajiao, HK7AJP - QSL: HK3LT, POB 584, Bogota. - First expedition with solely Colombian amateurs. Organized by LCRA.
#4 - HK0TU - October 1983
Team: Bolmar Aguilar, HK1AMW; Alfonso Gonzalz, HK1DBO; Herman Olarte, HK1QQ; Jaime Restrepo, HK2YO; Alberto Carrizosa, HK3BAE; Enrique Bernal, HK3BAV; Arturo Afanador, HK3BED; HK3DD; Eduardo Londono E., HK4BHC; Gustavo Cuartas C., HK4COK; Oscar Campillo, HK4DUM; Julian Uribe, HK5LA; Carlos J. Alvarez, HK8BYG - QSL: Beto Rojas, HK3DDD (SK), now by HK3W - Organized by LCRA to commemorate the 5oth anniversary of its foundation.
#5 - HK0TU - November 1990 (5 days)
Team: Pedro Orozco, HK1HHX; David J. Sourdis, HK1KXA; Paul R. Gonzalez, HK1LDG; Jaime HK3AHM (aka HK3AHM); Arturo Afanador, HK3BED; Ignacio Barraquer C., HK3CC; Jose Guacaneme, HK3DD (ex HK3BUZ, ex HK3IPD); HK3DPY; Ricardo Trujillo, HK4BHA; Oscar Campillo, HK4DUM; HK4HHG; Rodrigo Gonzalez, HK5LEX; HK6BDX; Johannes "John" Vishnoff Cierpeck, HK6HFY; Horazio Botero, HK6KKK (aka HK6K) - Equiment: 5 IC-765H & IC-475H; 2 1KW Linear; Mosley & Nagara, Dipols for 40, 80, 160. - 40.000 Conmtacts. - QSL: Beto Rojas, HK3DDD (SK), now by HK3W. - First expedition with RTTY and Satellite, via Oscar 13, Mode B. "Because of the perilous nature of the operation, and in view of the accidents that occured during the 1969 and 1977 DXpeditions causing real risks for HK3RQ and HK5ASF, the selection of personnel for this trip was very rigorous. In the group there were 15 Hams and a TV team of two. Signals to the west were severely attenuated by the reflective face of the island on the previous expeditions. Therefore it was decided to climb the rock face and attempt the installation of an HF station at the 300 meter level. Six people risked injury for a full day climbing the cutting rocks with the equipment required. The hard work was rewarded by many contacts with Japan, West Coast U.S., and the Pacific. The other four HF and one Satellite station were situated 130 meters above sea level. The expedition was organized by LCRA, transportation by a ship of the Colombian Navy.
I2RAO/HK0 - January 1994 - Not accredited for DXCC
Ermano Ramaioli, I2RAO, started a solo trip, with his Kenwood TS50S and a Fritzel beam. Although he hab been in contact with some authorities and had obtained permission to operate, he obviously was not issued an ofiicial license, and thus ARRL did not accredit his operation for the DXCC programme. The Colombian hams had successfully defended their "Malpelo monopoly".
#6/7 - HK3-JJH/ØM - xxx 1998, March 1999
Austrian-born Pedro J. Allina conducted his one-man operations with the unusual suffix "Zero-M" (M for Malpelo). - Equipment: 100W transceiver, 700W amplifier, Multiband vertical, dipols for 80 and 160. Pedro logged in his three SSB-only operations a total of 40.000 contacts. QSL: POB 81119, Santafe de Bogota
#8- HK3JJH/HK0 - April 2001
Another one-man expedition, again by Pedro J. Allina. This time he also stopped for a short activation at neighouring Isla La Palma, IOTA SA.017 - QSL: N4AA.
#9 - HK5QGX/ØM & HK5MQZ/ØM- Juni 2001 (10 Tage)
Japanese operator Hiroaki Takashima, HK5QGX, and his buddy Jairo Vargos, HK5MQZ, both used /ØM. Equipment: IC 706 MK2, TS-430S, FL-2100B, HyGain TH3-MK3 (20, 15, 10), 11ele-Beam (17, 12, 6), Dipole (80, 40, 30) - 12.000 Contacts. - QSL: Ryoichi Tsuda, JA0MGR. "Disembarking is a higly difficult and risky operation, this is made via a mobile rope ladder at 10 meters altitude attached to a metallic structure called Changon. The Colombian Navy has a house at 120 meters above sea level on the east side and is the only flat surface on the island. Not having favourable conditions to transmit to Asia, Pacific and West Coast U.S., we climbed up the mountain at 300 meters above sea level, where we erected a rudimentary hut made of bamboo and plastics. There we stayed for 12 days."
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#10 - HK0NA - 2012
21.01.-05.02.2012
Team: HK1R Jorge Prieto (Leader), W6IZT Gregg Marco (Co-leader), K4UEE Bob Allphin Co-Leader), HK1T Jahm Salim Gechem, HK1X Pedro Claver Orozco, DJ9ZB Franz Lagner, HK1MW Bolmar Aguilar, HK1N Jaime Gomez, N4GRN George Nicholson, HK6F Faber Mosquera, HK3JJH Pedro Allina, K9SG Gary Stouder, LU9ESD Manu Siebert, VE7CT Steve Wright, WB9Z Jerry Rosalius, K0IR Ralph Fedor, W0GJ Glenn Johnson, PP5XX Peter Zoch Sprengel, VA7DX Neil King, N6OX Bob Grimmick; K5YY San Hutson (USA and Outside Europe Pilot), MM0NDX Col McGowan (Europe Pilot). – QSL via N2OO Bob Schenck – 195.415 contacts (91.871 SSB, 87.203 CW, 16.341 RTTY) .
