Thieves!

[ray hampton]

the only thing that would keep me from stealing your tools from the inside would be a team of hungry DOGS that stay in the building, you can sell toothpicks at a flea market if you steal them ,tools are metal

[phil harold]

The symbol for copper is Cu
lately in the building trade we are calling it "C U later"
if you leave it will be gone

[Larry Edgerton]

I have never really been into security because I never really needed it, so I am a bit lost. I need a camera setup, preferably with two cameras, and I don't want to spend a fortune because it is temporary. Any suggestions on packages or what to look for would be appreciated.

I moved all my structural steel today to a location harder to get to and put a lock on the walkout basement, but I did not have time to go looking for cameras. I'm going to look around the net right now. Wonder if trail cams would work?

Larry

[Todd Burch]

Saw this on facebook today. Made me think of this thread.

[Jeff Nicol]

Sorry to hear about the theft of your stuff, as has already been said when times are tough and the babies need milk and food, a desperate man will do most anything to keep his family alive. But on the other hand when the economy is in the tank and there is no end in sight, the price of precious and semi-precious metals go through the roof for scrap prices, and in turn makes it worth while for thieves, derilicts and drug addicts makes it worth the effort and the risk to steal what is readily available. We had a rash of copper stolen from the ground wires on old power poles to the copper braided connectors on the rails of the train track switching stations, which was very dangerous to say the least. It is going to be happening for months to come, or potentially years until the world gets back on track.

So to help you out with some sort of protection that is inexpensive, a motion sensing light or two or a light that comes on with a timer that you change the time setting so it does not become obvious that it is on a timer. Another thing is to use dummy cameras and put signage stating that the property is under video surveilance. These little things will make a fly by thief pass on by just because the danger of getting caught becomes more real, because the real pros do not care what is on anything as if they want it they will get it!

One last thing the infrared cameras are all around and I use the "Moultrie" m-80 for trail pictures of deer and they work well and have no flash and are small. There are many brands and $$$ amounts you can spend, they even have some that will send you a picture to your phone or computer when they are triggered and some of the web-cams can be hooked up as a surveilance camera that can be accessed from any computer, but then you will need a computer at the new house/shop.

Good luck and hopefully the thieves will get caught,

Jeff

[Dan Hintz]

Q-See sells some decent camera systems with DVR for reasonable prices... a few hundred $s for a DVR, 2 wired cameras, 2 wireless, with night vision.

[Ryan Baker]

All metals, especially copper, have a really high vapor pressure around here. There are hordes of old pickups circulating the neighborhoods every trash night picking up anything metal. All of the vacant houses have had the pipes and wiring ripped out of the walls. Wiring has been stolen from out of the street lights, as well as parts of the lights themselves. Pretty much anything that can be taken will be. There are numerous scrap places around town that buy the stuff, and they advertise heavily for more people to bring them scrap. Generally, the scrap buyers are more crooked than the guys selling the stuff. Downtown, some people stole all the cast iron manhole covers from the streets and sold them to a scrap dealer. They all had "City of Detroit" cast right into them and nobody asked anything about it ... even the next days when it was all over the news and cars had wheels dropping into holes. The dealer just hurries to melt down the evidence and goes on.

Lock up everything, and do what you can to secure your buildings. As long as there are easier targets, most of these small guys will leave you alone.

[Larry Edgerton]

Ok, I did some looking.

Most systems seem to be tied to the net. That won't work for this site, no internet connection. It has to have a self contained recording device, either tape,CD or SD card or whatever else works.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look them up.

Larry

[Dan Hintz]

Q-See systems can be used through the net, but its definitely not a requirement. My system uses two wireless cameras on the garage, covering most of the front and side yard, driveway included.

[ray hampton]

trail cameras will do the trick IF THEY WILL sent the pictures to a computer as soon as they get snap so if your camera get stolen then you will had a picture to show the police dept.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Q-See sells some decent camera systems with DVR for reasonable prices... a few hundred $s for a DVR, 2 wired cameras, 2 wireless, with night vision.

Mine came with 8 camera's and was about $400 or so from Costco.

[Greg Portland]

I have never really been into security because I never really needed it, so I am a bit lost. I need a camera setup, preferably with two cameras, and I don't want to spend a fortune because it is temporary. Any suggestions on packages or what to look for would be appreciated.

I moved all my structural steel today to a location harder to get to and put a lock on the walkout basement, but I did not have time to go looking for cameras. I'm going to look around the net right now. Wonder if trail cams would work?

Larry

Larry, IMO you are just going to get some great pictures of the local meth heads stealing / damaging your stuff with this solution. What will you do then? IMO, a large dog or two + "attack dog on premises" signs would go a lot further to deter folks. If you haven't already, permanently label your tools to make them easier to identify/track.

Keep in mind, most of these folks don't care about getting arrested & aren't thinking clearly... they just want some quick cash for drugs.

[Matt Meiser]

We put in a QSee system more so I can see the driveway from my shop behind the house. Its decent but you aren't going to get license plates for the cops, especially at night. In the light you might get a decent vehicle description and maybe a description of the people.

We got ours at Costco.com.

[Kevin Gregoire]

i have two words for you.... Land Mines!

set up a cot and sleeping bag some time and spend the night and see if you cant catch them red handed if they come back?
and if that dont work, game cameras are pretty cheap now days and will photograph anything that moves where you have them
pointed at.

get some of that christmas spray powder for windows and frost all of yours so nobody can see in but light can pass through to
keep the place bright inside.

or reinforce the doors with a big plank and set it up so it will lock when you shut the door and set up a heavy string or light rope
on a pully system to lift the beam when you want it and set it up so only you now how to pull the cord from outside. usually with
a stiff wire through a small hole in the wall. (hard to explain by writing, just have to use your imagination)

but my first thought above is the simplest and what thieves deserve! :-)

[Larry Edgerton]

I went and checked out camera security systems and came to the same conclusion that has been mentioned. Unless you spend a lot more than I am willing to spend they don't provide much in the way of evidence that would stand up in court. The system on the house I am working on is roughly $20K, and I am not going there.

Ironically they did bust a Meth lab last week about ten miles away. Didn't think we had that stuff around here much, but what do I know I am an old man.

I decided to put up a fake camera and put an alarm system in the buildings with motions to set off the loudest siren I can find.

I have the perfect situation for gates, two driveways with a deep ditch on each side, but I don't want gates, thats not how I want to live. But I may until I can get moved out there.

I once saw a sign at a gate that was open in Texas. It said.....

Guard dogs
Mean, silent, hungry, and efficient.

It was effective.

Larry