Six cameras. 3 hours and 20 minutes of footage. Edited down to 14 minutes of highlights, all to the music of Richie Kotzen.
Ducks, geese, seagulls, and one John Clauser cameo.
Enjoy.
drones
REVIEW: Potensic ATOM SE GPS Drone
Disclaimer: This review is from the perspective of a drone rookie. I recently plunged into the hobby, and found it easy and inviting. Here’s what I have learned in my three weeks as a drone pilot.
Buy the ATOM SE Drone on Amazon!
Potensic ATOM SE GPS Drone With 4K Single-Axis Camera
When I was a young kid, I would come to the beach and watch this older kid fly his remote control airplane over the lake. He never landed it without crashing, with either major or minor damage. I thought it would be cool to fly an RC plane like that, but it looked difficult and expensive. Then, at some point decades later, my dad bought an indoor drone for me. Just a toy. Impossible to control, and it went flying off my wife’s head. Nope, flying things isn’t the hobby for me. Onto the next thing.
Then, one day after browsing Amazon, I decided to buy a real drone and see what difference it would make. You only live once. I chose the ATOM SE by Potensic, which came with two batteries, a remote, all the cables you need to charge and connect it, and a spare set of propellers (with the appropriate screwdriver). It all came in a nice, padded travel case that holds everything. It really is an all-in-one package. You can buy accessories too, including spare batteries and a charger that can do three of them at once (plus the remote). I also recommend picking up a landing pad, which helps keep your drone propellers out of the grass and/or sand. The only thing you will need to provide separately is a micro SD card so you can record all that lovely 1080p video you’re going to capture.
My only complaint: No paper manual. All you get is a pdf file. I gave it a read, but I learn by doing, so one Saturday morning when nobody was around, I took my drone over to the park. Within minutes I was in the air. (Of note: This drone is light enough that it does not require a license, so you are good to go.)
It is intuitive and easy to fly. You just plug your phone into the remote, to act as a screen. Everything fits perfectly. The camera is crisp and clear. For those with a higher budget, the next model up has a 3-axis camera, but this one just moves up and down. I found this plenty good enough. The controller has two (removeable) joysticks (with a clever storage solution). Everything is ergonomic. The left stick controls altitude, and rotates the drone. The right stick controls all movement forwards and backwards, and side to side. It moves equally well in all four directions.
This drone is steady as a rock. Even in a light breeze, it barely moves from where you want it. I took it up to its maximum ceiling of 190 feet, and then right down again to land, and it had only moved about a foot. There are automatic flying modes, such as one where it circles a waypoint (with camera always pointed at the center, a cool feature) and one where it follows you. You can set a home point for it to automatically return to. However, I am more comfortable being in control. That shows you how easy this thing is to use, that I prefer manual controls to automatic.
It’s a fast little drone, and zips right over your head going over 13 mph. It stops on a dime, and is extremely responsive. It is also capable of beautiful, slow movements. The resultant videos are always quality.
When I first bought this drone, a few people were asking me what the heck I would do with it? Check out the videos below and tell me I’m not having fun!
This is an easy 5/5 stars and a solid gateway into a fun hobby. You can get an ATOM SE Drone on Amazon.
Save at Capitol One Shopping, at this link.
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VIDEO: Floating Like! Over the glassy waters of Lorne Beach (Lake Huron)
I finally had the courage to take the drone over the water. The sky was cloudy and the sunset invisible, but the blue-green waters shine brightly in this video. It’s really special and my best drone video to date.
Music: “Floating Like” by the Arkells, from the album Blink Twice.
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#1135: The Triumph and the Tragedy – Cottage Weekend June 20-23
“I am inevitable.” – Thanos. Also my CD shelves.
I couldn’t wait to get my drone in the air when I got to the cottage. We made it up in good time, all to the soundtrack of the Beaches. I managed to pick up their first two EPs in Toronto with Aaron the week prior (paying through the teeth). With very little traffic to deal with, we ran through The Beaches, Heights, and Blame My Ex before arrival. Then it was time to fly!
We only had two good days for flying, Thursday and Friday. It started to get rainy on Saturday which made it the proverbial “indoor day“. Still, we celebrated our three day weekend with great food and excitement. It was a brilliant weekend for nature sightings. We spotted plenty of the usual chipmunks and squirrels, but we were treated to a rafter of wild turkeys, who lingered long enough to be filmed. There was even a curious seagull who swooped in to check out my drone. We also spotted our unafraid fox, Eric, who strolled directly past us twice without fear or hurry. I was unable to get my camera out either time, which is a shame. He was mere feet away.
My Amazon delivery this time was a new landing pad for my drone. I discovered that landing in the grass was difficult, so the landing pad gives me a flat square anywhere I go. Amazon showed up during my interview with author Angie Moon on Grab A Stack of Rock, which was funny to me. Until recently, if you wanted something like that you’d have to wait until you got home to the city. Now, Amazon can be there next day. Unbelievable! For most of my young life there, we didn’t have phones or cable TV. Now we have wi-fi and Amazon delivering priority parcels in the afternoon. I cannot say that I mind. One thing that I used to miss during my teenage cottage weekends was access to my friends and record stores. Now they’re all there at a touch of a button.
The drone footage was exceptional, and made up the bulk of the video for the trip. And why not? It’s my new toy and I love it. It’s so easy and intuitive to use. It has given me more options for being creative. I simply could not wait to get home and start editing my new video.
And that’s when disaster struck.
What happened? Watch the video….
Music credits:
- “You’re All Heart” by The Candidates
- “Annie Waits” by Ben Folds
- “Cash Money” by The Candidates
- “Leave You Now” by Gypsy Jayne
- “Blind” by Dr. Kathryn Ladano
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DRONES! I think I have a new hobby…
I probably won’t be posting every drone video I make here on WordPress, but this is the official announcement: I have a new hobby!
Since this is primarily a music website, please enjoy the song “The Optimyst” by an awesome band, the Forrest Williams Democracy. My #1 song of 2023. The F.W.D. is one of my favourite new bands, featuring Matt DeMatteo and Scott Maybee on vocals. Their music is perfect for a video like this! You might remember Forrest as the original drummer of Big Wreck.
Forrest Williams in Big Wreck, far left
As you listen to the song, you’ll witness a test flight of my new Potensic Atom SE drone. I took it 118.8 feet in the air on this test run, with a great view of Highway 8, from Hofstetter Park. I even landed it on home plate of the baseball diamond! This drone will get me some awesome cottage footage this summer.
Please enjoy! “Like” and subscribe to my YouTube to see more, and to support the site.
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#536: Obligatory Christmas Post 2016
This Christmas has been tinged with sadness. Rick Parfitt, George Michael…and a man you haven’t heard of named Peter Cavan Sr. I grew up with his son Peter Cavan Jr. Pete was the best man at my wedding, and his dad Peter Sr. always treated me well. The Cavans made me feel like part of the family. In my first year of university, I decided to stay home from the cottage on Thanksgiving weekend, so I could study for my first exam undistracted. Alone that Thanksgiving, Pete’s family had me over for dinner. I’ll never forget their kindness. I always enjoyed Peter Sr.’s stories, of growing up in Germany during the Second World War. Those are tales you don’t hear every day. And he was funny. Peter Sr. was truly funny. Whether intentionally or not, I knew his stories entertained us for many hours over the years. I received the sad message on Christmas morning that Peter Sr. passed after a short battle with cancer, peacefully at home that morning.
So it is with profound sadness that I give you this year’s annual post-Christmas commentary. My entire family knows and loves the Cavans, and we hope Pete and Joanne know we are there for them.
As it does every year, Christmas began early for me, at our office Christmas luncheon on November 25. Just look at that food. When you like the people you work with, an office Christmas party is a very rare and special chance to unwind with them.
My sister hosted Christmas Eve at her new place. What a spread she put out! Cheesey good appetizers, steak fondue, cheese fondue (the surprise winner), and chocolate fondue to boot. The guests had a spirited debate on the merits of CD versus vinyl, with myself being the only holdout who still prefers CD. (I know I’m not alone, just ask rock journalist Mitch Lafon which format he prefers.) My sister did a great job of decorating her tree. Have a gander.
And now, on to the good stuff. Broken down into categories, let’s give’r!
Stuff You Listen To:
I have only played the Rik Emmett so far, given to me by Mrs. LeBrain who met Rik back in highschool as part of her guitar class. Pretty cool! It features a Triumph reunion on the bonus track, “Grand Parade”. The Queen set is six discs of radio recordings. The Rush set I am both grateful for and bitter about. This is the third time I’ve received Rush 2112 as a gift in the last five years! First as part of the Sector 1 box set, then the “deluxe edition“, and now this 40th anniversary edition which has some tracks not included on the deluxe (and a slew of artists covering Rush including Jacob Moon, Alice in Chains and Foo Fighters). However, the 40th anniversary edition doesn’t include the 5.1 surround mix of the album, meaning…you kinda need both. It’s sad that Rush reissues have become so exploitive.
The Keel reissue of The Right to Rock has a bonus track, a remix of “Easier Said Than Done”. And this is my first time owning any version of Jethro Tull’s first album, This Was.
Stuff You Read:
Stuff You Play With:
The Force Is With This Stuff:
Stuff You Watch:
The Sopranos set I orchestrated myself. Sometimes-contributor Thussy and I both always said: “If the blu-ray set drops below $100, we’ll buy it.” A few weeks ago he texted me that Amazon has it on for 24 hours only at just $80! So this Christmas holiday, we will be enjoying some Sopranos and Italian food.
Stuff That Transforms From Stuff Into Robots:
Pictured below are the official Transformers Titans Return Astrotrain figure and a couple very interesting third party figs. These are Masterpiece scale and heavy as fuck with plenty of die-cast parts. Please meet Generation 1 Decepticon Reflector, incarnated here as KFC’s Eavi Metal series “Opticlones”. Representing the Autobots is Dinobot Snarl, produced by the excellent Fans Toys in their Iron Dibots line as “Sever”. I long ran out of room for more Masterpiece figures (especially Dinobots)…but who cares.
And finally…
Stuff That Flies:
I always wanted to try flying a drone. My mom and dad surprised me with this starter drone, and is it ever a lot of fun. I can almost get it to hover! Getting it to fly in the direction I want is still a challenge. So far there are no serious injuries. Jen has a couple bruises. I think my mistake was calling her into the room when I got it into the air, rather than when I figured out how the controls worked. That was a lesson there.
That’s another Christmas for the books! I hope each and every one of you had a safe and happy holiday. As I think of my friends the Cavan family, I ask you to remember that life is short. Tell the people who matter that you love them. Let’s try and make the world a better place in 2017.
LeBrain
mikeladano.com 