Theft prevention

[malc-c]

The thing with alarms is that we're all accustomed to hearing them.  How often do people react to a car alarm these days.. 9/10 times its always a false alarm so no one pays much attention.

The suggestions about changing quick releasing wing nuts etc for headless allen bolts is a good one as most opportunistic thieves will walk away if it's not an easy and quick snatch. 

[Louis D]

6 hours ago, Viktiste said:

As others have said, it depends on the thieves. Drug addicts or kids looking for some quick cash will be in and out quickly and only steal stuff that is easily fenced, and will probably flee if spooked by lights and sirens. But if it is as gang of pro thieves - then maybe not. And they might be more likely tho steal the expensive stuff (imaging setup) in addition to the cheap stuff (pc).

After this incident I never leave my gear unattended for long periods, and sadly it kind of ruined the hobby for me.

Wow, what part of Norway did that theft occur in?  I picture a mostly empty country filled with fishing villages, fjords, and snow capped mountains.  Norwegian cities are typically portrayed as utopian paradises on travel shows here in the US.

[maw lod qan]

Thieves are becoming quite bold and determined. They hit my brother 3 times, even going to the trouble of unbolting a 20hp outboard motor off a small bolt.

Their next trip they took several hundred dollars of semi size aluminum rims, and loaded very large heavy 10" well casing on his trailer, planning to return and even steal the trailer!

His bedroom window is only 75' away.

He finally put up signs and trail cameras. That's the last thing they took, the camera!

[OK Apricot]

Just my 2p...

My work van was broken into just over a year ago. It had deadlocks, alarm, power tools in the back were even chained up and padlocked, and it was just outside my back gate. It was parked underneath a street light just off a main road. Those ***** even wheeled my black bin across my gate to block it. 

After that experience I've accepted that in the current social/criminal agenda, someone is always watching, someone always wants what you've got without earning it, and the police are not police any more. 

I wouldn't even dream of leaving my rig out unattended now, not even in a more secluded location. I wouldn't build an obsy either, draws too much attention. My solution was to get it in my head that if it's a clear night, I'm not getting any sleep! I will come home from work and try to have a few hours kip then go through the night. To avoid sitting in the freezing cold for hours, casting light onto my kit from indoors, disturbing the Mrs etc I bought a security camera. Nights imaging at home now go something like this... 

... So I can keep eyes on at all times from all angles but remain relatively comfortable and quiet. 

[Viktiste]

15 hours ago, Louis D said:

Wow, what part of Norway did that theft occur in?  I picture a mostly empty country filled with fishing villages, fjords, and snow capped mountains.  Norwegian cities are typically portrayed as utopian paradises on travel shows here in the US.

He he, Sorry to spoil your picture. Just a normal suburb in a mid sized city. Drug addicts are everywhere, even here and they need daily funds for their bad habit. 

[powerlord]

I use battery blink cameras. Though left unattended, I'm in house. Any movement and I'm alerted instantly as are the intruders. That's all u can do IMHO. If they still steal em, so be it that's what house insurance is for.. Though I do need to check it's covered tbh.

[Paul M]

I have 3 IP cameras on the house. One of those overlooks the back gate but not currently my usual setting up spot. I could set them up with movement alarms and even sirens but I don't think that's too good if I'm out and about with the equipment! As shown by OK Apricot above, I can monitor them in real time. 

Another option is APT, my acquisition software, now supports webcams. So I could set up a camera specifically for my rig and just watch that. It's designed for just that, observatory and surroundings monitoring.

Unfortunately, and I know we've been here before, if you aren't on immediate alert to disperse intruders, you'll just have recording that is of very limited use.

We do have two large and boisterous dogs, but they'll be in bed before me most nights and don't surface until they smell breakfast. Maybe I could design a security system that squirts bacon fat on intruders. They'd be licked to within an inch of their lives... 🤣

[powerlord]

on the insurance topic, just checked mycover. for others on avivas avivaplus product its good news - cover is  unlimited up to full contents value (100k)

https://www.aviva.co.uk/faq/answer/home-insurance/3033/

[Xsubmariner]

The link suggests your outbuildings contents is limited to £2500, and it’s the outbuildings structure that is covered up to the total policy. Having investigated this matter a couple of years ago I discovered most Home Policies covered outbuilding contents up to £2500-£5000. If your kit is worth more you will need to seek specialist cover.

[powerlord]

Nope, that is the regular insurance. Avivaplus is a separate product described in the last paragraph. I. E. It does not have the restriction of the normal product. This is again confirmed in the policy wording.

[Gumminess8083]

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!

 

While I was looking into all your recommendations, the theft have been continuing (they keep robbing 2/3 houses every night, and the cops haven't managed to stop them yet), but their area of operations has moved a few cities away from mine, so it looks like things may be getting calmer... For now.

 

As I try to decide which option is the best for the long term, I have set up a temporary solution.

 

Since the pc connected to my mount is not accessible from outdoors, I have changed the windows sound for when a usb device is disconnected to a very loud siren noise, and I have set it to max volume and connected to a pair of Bluetooth speakers.

 

One speaker is indoors with me, while the other is outdoors.

 

Since, if they decide to rob me, I don't think they'll try to take everything away (the mount is quite heavy), they'll probably try to at least get away with the camera and scope. As soon as one of the usb drives gets disconnected, windows will start playing the siren noise at max volume, waking me up and, hopefully, scaring the robbers away.

 

I have already tested the system and it looks like the sound was loud enough for the neighbors to come to my house asking if everything was okay 😂

 

Let's hope this works in the interim!

[stephec]

If possible a dog is the best alarm you can get. 

[Guest]

I live in rural America, farm country and thieves operate out here too.  I have been broken into once.  As a result my scopes live in my garage.  I also have added cameras fixed in various locations around the house.  The video is stored and can be downloaded and used as evidence.  Of course like Louis D Ohio's Castle Doctrine does come into full play.  

Edited December 30, 2022 by Mike Q

[TheycallmeRiver]

What about attaching a small tracker?  Like an Apple airtag, or some less expensive equivalent? 

I doubt anyone stealing astro equipment would know anything about it and would probably completely overlook a strategically placed tracker on the underside of a mount.  If the worst happens at least you could track it to wherever they took it, and direct the police accordingly?