Laptop at mount stolen

[Viktiste]

Arrrghhhh.

Friday night I was imaging happily away with unusual clear weather. When I woke up Saturday morning I discovered the LapTop that sits inside a toolbox besides the mount was stolen. Cables simply unplugged and the pc gone. The mount, cameras and OTA were luckily untouched. But he did also steel the ED80 metal front cover (!!) which was lying inside the toolbox with the PC.

Then I discovered the thief had left behind (on my lawn) a telescopic fishing rod, an electric chainsaw and a electric saw. Obviously stolen somewhere else, became too much to carry and he must have thought the PC was a better catch. The mount was rigged up on my veranda, and he has passed just a meter or two from my bedroom window to get to it. That totally creeps the wife out.

OK - so I can easily replace the laptop. However it kind of tells me I cannot leave the scope unattended at night.  And that kind of puts an end to this hobby for me. Meanwhile the clear nights fly by one after another. All this because of a drug addict who need money for the next shot.

 

This makes me soooo angry  😡

 

 

 

 

[Erling G-P]

So sorry to hear that.  It is a worry leaving expensive equipment unguarded, when potential passersby might spot it and make off with it.  Perhaps the police could lift some fingerprints off the stuff left - could be it was a known culprit, although your laptop sadly would probably be long gone before they got hold of him.

[tooth_dr]

That’s terrible to hear that, worse that it’s putting your hobby in doubt too. 

[Dr Strange]

Wow! I am sorry to hear that! I would also engage the police since the kit he left behind may be returnable to someone(s) and as noted they may be able to lift prints. An alternative to putting the laptop out there would be to invest in a very inexpensive Raspberry Pi or stick computer for mount side with a laptop inside to control everything...

[carastro]

How dreadful and upsetting. 

Was this in an enclosed back garden, or somewhere that any-one could wander in? 

I am not surprised your wife now has the creeps, I think I would too.

I often feel a bit creepy going out into my back garden on my own in the dark to check on my imaging, but a burglar would have to climb over high fences to get in, but still makes me a little nervous.

Carole 

 

[Gina]

OMG that's terrible - shocking!!! 

[Viktiste]

It was in the back garden, but not enclosed. Setting up fences is not an option in this area. I did contact the police on the Saturday morning, they did not have the resources to come look at anything. Effectively they do not look at such minor things, I wanted to file a police report, if nothing else for the statistics, but due to the Corona virus only serious offences can be filed at present, so that has to wait.

I could of course rearrange things but I fear I might then loose the scope/ camera the next time. Anyway the real problem now is my wife (and maybe me) will not sleep well if I leave it out unattended. 

[barkis]

Nothing angers me more than the common thief.  My blood boils when I hear stories like this.
The trouble is, most of are trusting soul;s, and want to believe the same of everyone else,
unfortunately,  real  life experience tells a different story.  It is better to remove temptation away from the common thieves.

Hopefully you might recover the Laptop, the thief will no doubt be known to the Police.
We all sympathise with you, it leaves a bitter taste for sure. 
and hopefully they can track him down.  
Ron.
 

[ApophisAstros]

Obviously doesnt help with the loss but i would suggest getting long cables and feed them through a small window, i have an Eagle3 power unit on the mount and only have to feed the power cable to it , and a 25 foot HDMI cable given to me free from an accomadating neighbour who turns his light of when i text him to say i am imaging , i cant say how great is that we are friendly with the neighbours. One side is a plummer known them for 30 plus years and he installed our stand alone shower 20 years ago and wouldnt take anything for doing it just costs ,eventually forced a bottle of wine on him , the other side is an electrician so couldnt have worked out better!.

Roger

[Erling G-P]

Just an idea, but how about a motion sensor controlled floodlight on the veranda - one you could activate when you go inside, and angled so that it only triggers if someone actually enters the area around the veranda. If the thief suddenly feels very exposed, it might scare him off.

[ApophisAstros]

9 minutes ago, Erling G-P said:

Just an idea, but how about a motion sensor controlled floodlight on the veranda - one you could activate when you go inside, and angled so that it only triggers if someone actually enters the area around the veranda. If the thief suddenly feels very exposed, it might scare him off.

Or a fishing rod alarm.

Fishing Alarms online

watch the end for a nice theft alarm

https://youtu.be/dEEQcNp-apw

HTH

Roger

Edited April 21, 2020 by apophisOAS
added video

[RayD]

Under the matting in the scope room side of my obsy I have two pressure pads which I activate when I'm imaging.  I think they were about £20 each, so not a back breaker.  They are connected to my home automation system and it sends me a push notification and turns the lights on if anything triggers the pads.  This could even be a cat jumping in there, but it keeps me satisfied that no one is trying to pinch my kit.

Maybe something similar under a mat next to your kit which no one would be expecting, and which could trigger a siren if triggered.

[Rocket Stars]

Mmm.. I won't tell you how upset I gets reading this!!! 

When my son was younger, 10 years old. We had a break-in in my shop. They stole his very beloved dirt bike. Hed had put it true its phases during the summer. During the winter. We pu in a lot of effort to restore it to racing condition again. We had fun! Then when it was ready, some XXXXX broke in and stole it while we were sleeping. 

I couldn't sleep for weeks. Mostly because of anger. Rest of the family was afraid of new break-ins in the shop. We have a dog, but the shop is a bit a way from the house. (he would have "taken care" of intruders)

Turns out I got tips on who did it. Someone I knew of coarse.. Whent to the police. They couldn't do anything without real proof. (as it should be). All I could do, was to tell the person what I knew. And keep "some" distance! 

"The person" dissapered and moved city. He lost more than me, in the long run... 

Was upset for quite some time. But, my loving wife told me (and her self) Not to let XXXXX ppl destroy something good. Ofcoarse, she was right. (she always is) 

In the end, we got a new one. And continued to have fun!  

So, don't let XXXX ppl pull you down! Keep at it!!  Get a small sign (I can make one for you) that clearly is visible and states That the equipment is antitheft marked, and video sureilence and alarm is going! 

 

If you drop this hobby, the assholes win!

[Guest]

As I have a communal back garden, I worry about having my telescope out the back door, allowing it to cool down. 

My neighbours come and go all the time, so the close door is always opening and closing. Even though there's a door entry system, it doesn't always work. 

There's a large number of drug addicts in my area, which makes me nervous. 

I can only imagine how you feel, Vik. 

[mihaighita]

Such a sad thing to have this happen. 5 years ago someone entered into my house when I was asleep and stole a bunch of valuables. I was lucky I had the dog at my parents at that time (190 pounds russian terrier), he could have killed the thief...

From then, freaked out by the occurrence, I installed a full security system with loudspeakers, cameras, motion sensors, pressure pads and I have a 3 cameras, 5 pressure pads and infrared motion sensors at the telescopes. The whole thing is sending me notifications on my phone if anything happens. 

I suggest you start installing security cameras at least, nowadays they are extremely cheap and reliable and so easy to install even by a newbie as me. 

 

[Viktiste]

A tripwire (above cat height) that triggers floodlights and a siren (and possibly an accurately aimed water hose with an electronic valve?) is something I have started to think about.  Cameras I don't think will stop anyone. And would not the IR light of security cams be bad for imaging?

1 hour ago, Rocket Stars said:

Was upset for quite some time. But, my loving wife told me (and her self) Not to let XXXXX ppl destroy something good. Ofcoarse, she was right. (she always is) 

In the end, we got a new one. And continued to have fun!  

So, don't let XXXX ppl pull you down! Keep at it!!  Get a small sign (I can make one for you) that clearly is visible and states That the equipment is antitheft marked, and video sureilence and alarm is going! 

 

If you drop this hobby, the assholes win!

Rocket - this is very true. But I think I will give it untill over the summer before I rig it up again, then with some security measures in place. The imaging season is soon over here anyway.

[Rocket Stars]

24 minutes ago, Viktiste said:

 

Rocket - this is very true. But I think I will give it untill over the summer before I rig it up again, then with some security measures in place. The imaging season is soon over here anyway.

Same here. Nights is getting very short. I treated my self with a solar scope.  Need to have something to do during the bright hours too.  

Maby you should get one to. To cheer you're self up.  

[DaveL59]

CCTV can at least help to ID the thief for the police if a suitable system, but yes IR can affect the imaging if you aren't filtering IR, or even if you are if the IR is hitting the objective lens as indicated in red here, the IR is reflecting off the dome/lens and gives a slight flare.  

The above camera has an IR-cut filter permanently on the lens. You'd need to carefully place the CCTV and any IR illuminators to avoid that effect. Also for ID you'll need the cameras at around 6ft and no more than 8ft above ground level. Some newer cameras have smart-IR (Hikvision, Dahua) so they adjust the IR output to suit and will give a better image of faces in the dark, a little more expensive but worth the extra. The likes of Ring etc are largely junk in terms of useful security tbh.

 

[maw lod qan]

Just saw this and hate seeing it. With me living so far away from what we consider "town" our chances of something like this is very high.

My neighboring fire department has had issues so that's why they have the terrible floodlights. 

I know people who have come home to find everything gone. Washers driers televisions and even a large refrigerator size gun safe that was so heavy they skidded it to the door, ruining the wood floor.

No one noticed a truck that had to back to the door to haul it all off.

Crime is crime. But someone who steals from another person is the lowest on the list.

[Chaz2b]

My late friend and owner of SCSastro Keiron Mcgrath, had a break in of his storage container on his home property, the lock he used was bog standard so was easy to bolt cutter off.

I installed a massive lock plate to which Keiron fitted a battery operated alarm padlock which didn’t ‘arf make a racket.

The thieves dropped some of the kit on their way out, and what was stolen told him that they didn’t know what they were nicking. After that, some 17 years ago, he never had a repeat visit, and Keirons kit was expensive.

If you have insurance you’ll get replacement equipment, but it does leave you with a bitter taste!

keep healthy and safe,

chaz

 

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Chaz2b