Somes Sound Fjord MDI

I dusted off my outdoor radio skills on Saturday, June 13, 2026. It’s been quite some time since my last adventure. It was a stunning summer day to be on Somes Sound in the heart of Mt Desert Island in Downeast Maine. The scent of seawater floated up into my nostrils. The aroma instantly lowered my pulse rate and blood pressure. The deep azure sky and a 73F temperature made for a perfect outing.

This is a secret location the MDI locals don’t advertise. My daughter told me how to locate this magic place to do outdoor radio. The tree did a splendid job of holding up my sloping 29-foot wire antenna. Copyright 2026 Tim Carter W3ATB

This tiny park has about ten picnic tables scattered on three different levels. Many tables are strategically located in the shade. The trees do a great job of buffering the strong winds that are funneled up and down Somes Sound.

This picnic table is on the second level. It’s a wonderful place for a private lunch or cookout dinner. Radio waves can be on the menu too. Copyright 2026 Tim Carter W3ATB

I wanted to be as close to the water as possible. Fortunately, there was a 35-foot-tall tree that did a fine job of holding up my 29-foot wire antenna. My water bottle filled with gravel from the parking lot provided the necessary weight, allowing me to put my halyard up into the tree with my first throw. Watch this video to see exactly how to launch an 8-ounce Nalgeen water bottle up 50 or 60 feet.

I attached my Begali Adventure key to my Elecraft KX-3. The automatic tuner produced a 1:1.4 match in seconds.

It didn’t take long to find KU8T on 20 meters. He was a Parks on the Air (POTA) activator in northern Indiana. We exchanged signal strength reports, and he was off to gather more hunters.

Several minutes later, I worked KI5GTR. Based on Les’s QRZ page, it appears he has a vanity call sign as he likes guitars.

What a fine location to do outdoor radio! Copyright 2026 Tim Carter

Next up, I heard OG3B, a contest station in Finland. As often happens with QRP operations, my 10-watt signal couldn’t push its way through the ether. I always note this in my field note book with an unhappy face 🙁 next to the callsign.

I then worked another POTA activator, KA0CSW. James was in Minnesota logging POTA hunters like me.

POTA Growth

I was one of the first POTA activators. I was attracted to it after having so much success as an NPOTA activator. National Parks on the Air only lasted one year, and both activators and hunters were hooked on the concept. Jason Johnston founded POTA in 2017 to fill the vacuum.

This blog is filled with activation stories from all those years ago. Just type “POTA” into the search box on any page of this blog and you’ll get a list of all the activations I did where I decided to write a story.

I did a memorable POTA adventure driving from Portland, Oregon to Morgan Hill, CA. I think I did no less than eight or ten POTA activations. Some of the stories are quite interesting.

Back then, there were far fewer hunters and you had to work to get the required ten contacts. The POTA program is so popular now, that you can ofter log ten contacts in ten minutes or less.

Three Days Later

I came back to this mystery location three days later on June 16. 2026. It was another stunning day. I decided to stay up on the top level to keep out of the wind. My first day it was quite hard to hear even with earbuds as a stiff south wind was whipping up whitecaps on the sound.

Twenty meters was popping with POTA activations. I worked the following activators in order:

• VA3TA
• WF4I
• VE3KZE
• K8FC
• AI7HDO
• KG1A
• K2MJP
• Kt4UE

It was a relaxing one hour spent in Somes Sound. I recommend operating anywhere you can on Mt Desert Island.