Category Archives: presentation

Drone Time

aviation, equipment, informational, personal, photograph, presentation, reviews, sales, video, ,

Talking to Potensic Corp

Walking through the endless aisles at this past January’s Consumer Electronics Show I came upon a familiar name Potensic.

Since I have one of their Atom 2 compact drones, I stopped to talk to Dean one of their representatives. I wanted to find out if they had any other accessories that I might use with my device.

The first thing he pointed out were the grey propeller guards.

I asked Dean about these and he said they were for users who fly their drones indoors and protect both the drone and any users from the rotating propellers. They are also useful for added safety when flying near trees or buildings.

While the guards add a few ounces of weight to the drone and require slightly more battery power when taking off and flying they help stabilize flight in windy conditions. Targeted at the beginner drone pilot, the are not required but are helpful when learning to fly the device.

Clip showing the Atom 2 with propeller guards

The second thing he pointed out is their new PTD-1 controller. It has a built-in screen, internal memory for video recording and slot for mini-SD card for expanded storage for movies and photos.

It eliminates the need to use a mobile phone (either iPhone or Android) with their standard controller.

For those interested the propeller guards costs about $30 per set .

The new PTD-1 controller costs about $280.

Not long after I returned home from CES I ended up ordering a set of propeller guards for my Atom 2.

Since I’m closer to a beginner than an advanced pilot I feel more comfortable using the guards.

This afternoon I fired up the drone with the propeller guards to video the roof overhang on our porch. I wanted to see if there was snow up there (it’s still cold here in Michigan). There were a few small spots of snow and you can clearly see the snow on the grass below.

Although the Consumer Electronics Show has been over for two months now, I keep looking back to some of my encounters there with so many interesting electronic devices.

I’m looking forward to CES 2027.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

An Artful Visit

informational, personal, photograph, presentation, reviews, travel

Detroit Institute of Arts

From our home in Grand Rapids, it’s just over a two hour drive to Detroit. In the past, we were frequent visitors to the “motor city” however we haven’t traveled to Detroit for several years.

Yesterday four of us decided to take a day trip to visit the well-known Detroit Institute of Arts. DIA is located in the downtown area adjacent to Wayne State University

We arrived in the morning and walked through the many halls to view the collections from various geographic areas: Africa, Middle East, Korea, Japan, China.

Ezra and Eden are admiring this French Count and to the right is Kris communicating with a Hindu statue.

After a short lunch break in the museum’s cafeteria we continued viewing other collections for a few hours – modern, British, Dutch and Impressionist.

Below are some of my photos I took of the amazing works of art from our visit:

The museum is extremely well laid out and organized. It’s definitely a first class public attraction.

We very much enjoyed our one-day visit.

If you’re in the Detroit area, it’s worth your time to the stop at the Detroit Institute of Arts.

Written by:

Arnie Lee

Afternoon in Virginia City

informational, personal, photograph, presentation, scenic, travel, , , , , ,

Around Town

This “western” style town is a short thirty minute drive from downtown Reno.

A very winding road takes you about 1500 feet above Reno where you’ll have a view of the attractive high plains landscape.

Then you’ll immediately see the town’s historical likeness to a mining town of the past.

One of the first sites you’ll see is the tall, picturesque St Mary in the Mountains Church.

The town maintains the look of the 1800s having storefronts with wooden sidewalks.

There are plenty of shops lining the narrow streets in town.
Inside candy is sold the “old” way from these barrels.
… and they have plenty of souvenirs available that date from earlier decades
Collectors will find plenty of items that might appeal to their liking
We stopped for lunch at one of the many local restaurants – this one with a very interesting name.
And our favorite BBQ was on the menu,
And of course there was time for a little humor remembering the early days of law and order in the old west.
My son often visits this shop for beef jerky. Watch out for fire!

The town was founded in the 1850’s as a mining town because of the discovery of gold and silver known as the Comstock Lode. By the late 1800s the output of the mines fell of and the large population declined.

Some of the older readers may remember a western television program from the 1960s and 1970s called Bonanza. The Cartwright Family owed the fictitious Ponderosa Ranch located near Virginia City.

If you’re in the Reno area, take a ride to see the charm of an old western town.