Testing instruments: are they valuable to thieves?

[mcinque]

Every self-respecting student, hobbyist or electronic professional has a small electronic laboratory at home.
The lucky ones can even afford a home SMU after years of savings (I will never reach the goal!).
Some take a lifetime to search, buy and repair vintage measuring instruments that become invaluable pieces.

Some of us have their "valuable" instruments inside the lab in the garage or in a separate building, maybe not alarmed and not well lit at night. Of course nothing too complicated for someone that wants to steal something.

I mean, here in some cases they come to steal the copper gutters while people are at home to sleep, so it's obvious that if they can, they'll take everything, even the doormat

It is a common thought that domestic thieves take away "only" gold and valuables in general, everything that's easy to put in the pocket and it's worth a lot but nowadays I started hearing that they take everyting seems valuable (with many lights and nipples for example).

Sometimes I heard that they had also stolen laptops and cell phones or even 50" LCD tvs: something that it's not properly small but it's damn easy to sell.

Am I the only one who sees an isolated laboratory in the garden as an invitation for thieves?

What's your opinion?

p.s. of course a thief (and anyone) can distinguish easily between a crap LCD TV and a well known brand OLED but of course it wouldn't be able to choosing between a bench DMM, a bench FGEN and a SMU without a proper technical background

[CopperCone]

if you melt some self adhesive tape on the front chassis (so it looks like tar and dirt), people will probably instantly assume its shit worth nothing.
I think CRT will be a big detterant too. It's the stuff with nice LCD displays that you need to worry about.

Also, masking tape residue will likely make it much less appealing to steal. Thieves will mostly take things that look nice, because they are easier to sell and pleasant and require less convincing to sell.

These guys likely don't have much brain power. Plus, stealing weird shit means you need to store it to figure out how to sell it, so it increases your exposure, and there is less of it. Common things are easy to move so the thief will not be paranoid sitting on hot property for as long.
I bet if you made a little plastic dome to put over the screen of a 160,000$ PXA series spectrum analyzer from agilent, to make it look like it has a CRT, it would be untouched.

Also, cutting power to the shed would probably help, because he would not be able to turn anything on to see if it even works or how appealing it looks like turned on.

Leaving a decoy in there, like some hip looking chinese test gear from ebay (say a portable ipod sized oscilloscope) would probably work too lol

I also wonder if you can 3d print little inserts to cover up LCD screens to turn fancy looking test equipment into boxes with a few BNC connectors and buttons on them. To make them ridiculously boring looking.

[nctnico]

if you melt some self adhesive tape on the front chassis (so it looks like tar and dirt), people will probably instantly assume its shit worth nothing.
I think CRT will be a big detterant too. It's the stuff with nice LCD displays that you need to worry about.

Also, masking tape residue will likely make it much less appealing to steal. Thieves will mostly take things that look nice, because they are easier to sell and pleasant and require less convincing to sell.

Buzzzzz... wrong. Thieves will take anything electronic they can bring along. It doesn't even matter if it is connected or not. Once I had a nice HP power supply stolen and they ripped the wiring right from the barrier terminal. There is a good reason most modern equipment has the Kensington lock compatible notches.

[CopperCone]

From a home or business?

[mcinque]

There is a good reason most modern equipment has the Kensington lock compatible notches.

Does a small cut in the chassis prevent someone to pull more vigorously?

[SeanB]

True, but they will steal anything that looks like it can be lifted ( so boat anchors are pretty safe, you need 2 people to move them it will not be stolen) and will sell it for cents on the dollar to either a pawn shop, or on line on the smalls. They do not care that it was worth $$$$, just can they get $20 for it right now, no questions asked. Others steal it, and if they can't sell it simply break it up for scrap metal value.

[mcinque]

From a home or business?

Well, both. Of course business can subscribe an insurance.

[CJay]

If they can steal it they will.

It is that simple.

Copper guttering and any other metal is an easy sell because most scrap yards don't ask many questions.

Electronic gear, sure, they prefer laptops, flat screen monitors/TVs but if it looks fancy and complicated then they'll have it because it  looks expensive.

I've heard people say they would break into place that looked secure because they had gone to the trouble of making it secure therefore it must contain stuff worth nicking.

[mcinque]

I've heard people say they would break into place that looked secure because they had gone to the trouble of making it secure therefore it must contain stuff worth nicking.

This is so damn true! 

[CopperCone]

I was asking if the power supply got stolen from a house or a business. Someone hitting up a business is more likely to do their homework and be more intelligent, just due to the fact that security is more common in businesses, there is alot of people that go there, etc. Risk is much greater.

wheras a home invader is looking for silver ware, common tools, television, laptop, stuff that moves easily through garage sales, pawns shops, resale. Much easier for cops to hunt someone down selling rare items.

I mean test gear has serial numbers on the back, very few people want to buy it.. it would need to go through a good fence. Also very easy for cops to call up a pawn shop and ask if anything highly unusual came through and get a quick accurate response with minimal investigative effort, or for someone to check ebay for some odd equipment there is 3 of for sale.

[nctnico]

From a home or business?

That was from a business. They stole a bunch of laptops and mobile phones as well. The damage was quite extensive because the thieves went through a dry wall instead of the door.

[CopperCone]

From a home or business?

That was from a business. They stole a bunch of laptops and mobile phones as well. The damage was quite extensive because the thieves went through a dry wall instead of the door.

That sounds fairly well planned and organized. I don't think a garden shed will get hit like that.

[mikeselectricstuff]

The avarage thief won't have a clue what it is, but they will think it looks expensive, though may later dump it or sell for peanuts when they find it hard to sell. 

[Edison]

I have it from my own experience, the drug addicts have stolen me, no matter what they take with the alarm and without alarm is 14,000 Euro damage.
The best thing was to find out five hours before flying on holiday.

[GreyWoolfe]

Thankfully, I don't much have to worry about thieves.  I mostly work from home.  I also have a company vehicle.  Even if we are all out on the weekend, it looks like someone may be home.  The "dogbells" are also on guard, 24/7.  40 pound Sheppard mix and 70 pound Doberman mix.  They are aggressive towards strangers unless we let them know it's OK.  They bark and I check it out.  I have seen them go crazy barking and I can't see a thing out the windows.  If someone is stupid enough to try to break in whilst I am home (it has happened once) then they have to deal with the dogs and the gun owner.

Add the fact that the neighbors across the street are retired and love to spend their days sitting outside, they know who belongs and who doesn't.  It's a fairly small subdivision with 1 way in and out and the police station is about a mile down the road.  All in all, a pretty quiet neighborhood in a pretty quiet town.  Nothing to see here, move along.

[Edison]

If you have valuable gears, why not lock them in a house with steel doors and metal barred widows?

From the house and destroyed two doors

[metrologist]

When I worked at a tech company with loads of test equipment everywhere - laptop-sized instruments priced at $50k, and all of the accessories and etc. All the thieves took were a few laptops that weren't bolted down.

Thieves have to know how to turn their loot into dough. This test equipment does not move easy amongst the smash and grab crew...

[Halcyon]

What's your opinion?

I can speak from experience as a former Police Officer.

These days, your run-of-the-mill thieves will go for items of value that they can easily conceal and won't draw attention, namely cash or jewellery. Ultimately, they are after money or items they can easy convert into money to feed their drug habits. Certainly in Australia (but this also probably translates into other western countries too) there will be a small group of "regulars" who might hit 10, 20, 30... homes before they are caught again and put behind bars. After that, the volume of busts will drop until they are inevitably released again.

Then you have your more brazen crooks who will target specific cars and other modes of transport in order to commit other crimes such are armed robberies, murders etc... and use your vehicle, only to be burnt out later.

You do occasionally get opportunistic crooks (usually teenagers) who will steal something because you've made it easy for them to access it, whether it has any value to them or not. Many years ago, I can recall a few call-outs I attended where a group of kids just walked down the street, stole whatever they could and left a trail behind them as they found more interesting items.

There are criminals out there who will target specific electronic items, but they usually go for large quantities of stock stored in warehouses, but electronics are easy to track due to serial numbers and other features and are harder to sell if their identifiers have been obliterated.

[NiHaoMike]

Would be fun to make some decoys that are hard to tell apart from the real thing but then spring an unpleasant surprise once stolen.  An alarm is one obvious trap (especially with a delay of a few minutes), but also something like a smoke generator would make them bail out in a hurry or (if legal to own in your country but not to operate) a FM jammer for a silent tracking device. (An EPIRB would work faster but can potentially divert attention from something more urgent.)

Another trick, perhaps, would be some brackets to prevent the power cord from being unplugged from either end. They'll probably be stupid enough to cut the live cord (especially if a pair of uninsulated cutters are left nearby) and get a nice arc flash for it.

[mikeselectricstuff]

One thing you can and should do is make sure everything is marked, and you have a record of all serial numbers, so if it gets stolen and the Police find it they can get it back to you.

[Cyberdragon]

Would be fun to make some decoys that are hard to tell apart from the real thing but then spring an unpleasant surprise once stolen.  An alarm is one obvious trap (especially with a delay of a few minutes), but also something like a smoke generator would make them bail out in a hurry or (if legal to own in your country but not to operate) a FM jammer for a silent tracking device. (An EPIRB would work faster but can potentially divert attention from something more urgent.)

Another trick, perhaps, would be some brackets to prevent the power cord from being unplugged from either end. They'll probably be stupid enough to cut the live cord (especially if a pair of uninsulated cutters are left nearby) and get a nice arc flash for it.

Another one would be to rig up a large lithium power bank to a large super cap backwards. If they unplug it or cut the cord, it blows up in their face. (obviously there would be a hidden disarm switch through a pinhole or something) You would have no discharge protection so the batteries could go off too. You would have to use a metal case to avoid fire or shrapnel damage to the area.

[Red Squirrel]

Would be fun to make some decoys that are hard to tell apart from the real thing but then spring an unpleasant surprise once stolen.  An alarm is one obvious trap (especially with a delay of a few minutes), but also something like a smoke generator would make them bail out in a hurry or (if legal to own in your country but not to operate) a FM jammer for a silent tracking device. (An EPIRB would work faster but can potentially divert attention from something more urgent.)

Another trick, perhaps, would be some brackets to prevent the power cord from being unplugged from either end. They'll probably be stupid enough to cut the live cord (especially if a pair of uninsulated cutters are left nearby) and get a nice arc flash for it.

One thing that has crossed my mind is to keep a fire safe somewhere, and fill it with junk, but lock it.  Make it so there is a poor attempt at securing it to the ground, like a chain bolted into the ground, but that you can work it out of the chain. Basically have the thief spend their time on that while the cops are on their way because of the burglar alarm, and then if they manage to get out on time with it, get home and it's a bunch of bricks and screws or something. Could even rig it to set off a couple cans of spray foam when they get it pried opened.  The downside is not getting to see their face when that happens.

[Mickster]

One thing you can and should do is make sure everything is marked, and you have a record of all serial numbers, so if it gets stolen and the Police find it they can get it back to you.

Not test gear in my case, but a lesson none-the-less:
A mistake I made as a teen and ended up regretting...
I'd bought a nice Pioneer head unit and a pair of what were commonly known as 'space-ship' cross-axial speakers, installed in a custom made shelf with ported enclosures. Perhaps I'd advertised the potential worth of the said items, by having some very shitty dance music really pumping when I parked. 
I was fishing at a reservoir at the time and heard the car alarm go off. Sprinted the half mile to find the side window popped, along with the rear screen, and the said items pried out with a screwdriver or some kind of crowbar.
A couple of weeks later, I spotted my head unit in a local 2nd hand shop (pawn shop) for about £100 IIRC. Not the speakers though.
I knew every little nick and wear mark on that head unit, and spotted them along with the now extra marks on the sides where it had been pried out, but.........did I know or have a record of the serial number? (Bought used from a classmate at college, with no manuals.)
The police paid them a visit to ask questions and as the shop 'had a receipt' from the seller, who probably got £20 for his next fix, I was SOL.

[Nusa]

Would be fun to make some decoys that are hard to tell apart from the real thing but then spring an unpleasant surprise once stolen.  An alarm is one obvious trap (especially with a delay of a few minutes), but also something like a smoke generator would make them bail out in a hurry or (if legal to own in your country but not to operate) a FM jammer for a silent tracking device. (An EPIRB would work faster but can potentially divert attention from something more urgent.)

Another trick, perhaps, would be some brackets to prevent the power cord from being unplugged from either end. They'll probably be stupid enough to cut the live cord (especially if a pair of uninsulated cutters are left nearby) and get a nice arc flash for it.

Another one would be to rig up a large lithium power bank to a large super cap backwards. If they unplug it or cut the cord, it blows up in their face. (obviously there would be a hidden disarm switch through a pinhole or something) You would have no discharge protection so the batteries could go off too. You would have to use a metal case to avoid fire or shrapnel damage to the area.

Only problem is that (in the US) if your booby traps injures a burglar, you may be in more legal trouble than the burglar is. Plus the burglar can actually sue you over his injuries. It's happened.

[CatalinaWOW]

The best advice is to pick where you live.  Some neighborhoods have very low crime rates.  Others in the same city have much higher rates.  Things that influence this include distance to a region of endemic crime, transportation access, and perceived density of "valued" goods.

I have lived in both types of neighborhoods, and the difference is amazing.  In spite of comparable housing costs and socioeconomic status the crime rates were orders of magnitude different.  In one type it made no sense to lock doors, in the other doors were regularly broken, locks and all.

In one case the crime rate could be tracked to a group of local teenagers, as they grew up the crime rate disappeared.

If you don't have the option to move, and live in one of the unfortunate neighborhoods you will have to apply all the usual defenses.  Locks, camouflage and insurance.