Security

[roho627]

Don't know right place for this but I'll start here! In todays modern devices and alot of talked about security camera and other devices used as anti-auto theif devices! , I have a question that concerns farm stuff like tractors, attachments and general equipment that gets stollen and never turns up! Is there any type of affordable devices that can be placed on equipment/saddles, etc and then be tracked! I see game wardens tracking animals all the time! So I was wondering if there is anything on market that could be utilitized for that!

[jimbrown]

The tracking devices for animals have a fairly limited range. 5 miles probably at best so you would have to have a reasonble idea where to look. I suppose you could leave the tracking receiver on all of the time and you might accidently stumble accross the item. Farm and construction machinery that get stolen around here are usually in Mexico befor daylight. I would suspect in the Houston area it would be on a boat to south america or Africa pretty fast.

[mfaley]

Rustling is still a surprisingly big issue in our area. Other than the use of a microchip I dont know much about tracking stolen livestock or equipment.

Most of the folks I know still hot brand livestock for protection.

As far as tack, I am not sure what can be done. It's very frustrating to lose good tack. Some of the good stuff cant be replaced and if you can, its darn expensive. You might look at a special insurance policy.

Most horse shows, in my experience, tend to have pretty honest people attending which is good. But your email got me to thinking......I have a large tack trunk that I can lock. I think I may put all my good tack like bridles, spurs, etc in there and lock that in the tack room as well. I am not sure I could replace the tack I have...... [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Mark

[roho627]

Rustlings Not so bad down here but it happens here to(around HouTex)! Now tack is another story! I've lost 4 saddles over the years and like U say, hard to replace! I had a ropin saddle right where I wanted it and have started over! Have seen where gamewardens can put somekind of chips in animals and track them! So I was wondering if any kind of chip was available but probably would get myself in trouble if I caught the dirty rotten thief!

[mfaley]

I dont know anything about the chips other than the ones you can use in pets. I understand for those you have to pass a reader right over the chip.

If there is such a thing as a chip that you can track from a distance I would sure be interested.

A couple of years ago one of the local reining barns had a bunch of stuff stolen from customers. Maybe 10 saddles, bridles etc. They even took a stack of new rubber matts for the stalls, the water buckets, fans, stall lights, and other loose items.

After a tip they found most of the stuff in a rental van headed south of the border with a couple of the folks that used to clean the stall. Cant say for sure exactly what happened but most of the stuff came back and I am pretty sure the cops werent called. Maybe some folks learned a lesson.....

Too bad about your saddle. It takes a while to get a new one just right.

Mark

[Edward]

Several years ago there was an increase in off road construction equipment thefts. At the time I read about a company that was selling metal plugs and each plug had a distinct and individual radio frequency signature. Construction companies would drill a hole in some thick part of a piece of equipment, insert the plug, cover it up, grind it flush and touch up the paint. Then, if a piece of machinery showed up somewhere for parts or repair, the dealer, mechanic, cops or whoever, could wand the machine and determine whether or not it was stolen. Don't know if the idea ever caught on or not, but the concept is interesting if there is somewhere to register the id number. I think the company that sold the plugs kept the id registration number on a central computer database somewhere.

The new RFID chips for cattle will soon be making their way into local markets. I suspect the chips will become smaller because they're going to end up in ear tags. If a cattle RFID chip is small enough it might be possible to embed one someplace on the underneath side of the saddle, like under the horn. But if it's tiny enough the chip could be inserted just about anywhere. At least that would provide an invisible identification on the item and it could easily be read by any RFID reader. Casual walkthroughs and swipes with an RFID wand by law enforcement, border patrol, ranchers, et al looking for stolen tack or suspicious looking gear might be able to recover some items. If tack gets taken south of the border, recovery would probably be almost impossible. But, if tack is sold off within the local area at flea markets, rodeos, horse shows, or used by some scumball then there might be some chance of recovery. At least the stuff would be permanently marked and that would help the cops.

Rural security is becoming much more of a problem nationwide. In addition to your run-of-the-mill local no-goodnicks, punks, drug users, gang members and other assorted losers, the illegal immigrants are contributing to the rise in rural crime. Places like Nebraska and Iowa have become meth lab havens. In the mid-Atlantic we're seeing an increase in daylight home crimes in rural areas. ATVs, high end tools, tack and some machinery are just being carted off. Three months ago the sheriff finally busted a gang of seven guys that had been stealing everybody for more than two years, including things like cement mixers, ZTR mowers, etc.

Two years ago one of my neighbors had two ATVs stolen that he used in his big orchard operation. He posted reward fliers and all of us were on the lookout for the ATVs. They were recovered with the help of one of his neighbors and a guy at the local Polaris dealership. It turns out that the thieves had done some work on his place. I understand that one of the thieves had his face seriously rearranged and a few fingers redirected by a couple of our homegrown gorilla mountain logging boys.

Locally, we've developed an increased level of awareness and the old neighbor watching out for a neighbor's place has helped reduce the problem. We all know each others cars and trucks and if a strange vehicle shows up, we'll take note and sometimes if it looks like its up to no good a couple of us will mosey over and check it out. Luckily, the chief of detectives lives in our area and so do a couple of sheriff deputies. Having a cop car parked by the house doesn't hurt. Also have a state trooper living a couple miles away.

Still, we're increasing our security. Locking up buildings we never locked before. Using a lot more security cameras too.

Just some thoughts about the issue.

[roho627]

yeah, it looks like with technology the way it is, there would be more! Sometimes I think Law enfocement/insurance co. don' really put much effort into stolen items! I've had bad experiences with system! Also Brother had 4 wheeler stole and cops caught 1 of the under age boys after he wrecked another getaway ATV but that was as far as it got! Never got ATV back nor caught the other kid! When he tried to get info he was treaded like the crimial! Got reports but since they were minors, no names, etc! Oh well Like they use to say at work, seems system is reactive & not proactive!
Anyway stolen items are stored and more than the theif makes profit off sales! Wish something like that chip could be tracked by satalite, etc but probably just wishful thinking! Thanks Edward roho

[Pat]

Despite what you may see on X-Files, chips can't be located from a distance. Miniature locator transmitters small enough to be swallowed by a medium small snake were in use in the 70's but range is limited.

Several years before I left San Diego I designed a system for "Theft Proofing" heavy equipment that is typically left where it is at quitting time and is not guarded at remote sites. San Diego County may be somewhat of a special case in that is has several mountain top radio repeater sites giving virtually total radio coverage throughout the county.

A small coded transmitter is attached to each piece of equipment. This transmitter periodically sends an "I'm OK" message to the monitoring equipment via mountaintop relay. If for any reason the trasmitter on the equipment stops, the system alerts the appropriate folks. The bad guys can't start the equipment without raising the alarm. They can't move it to load it without setting off the alarm. If they are "smart" and try to defeat the system by say cutting the battery wires or shooting the transmitter's weather tight box, of course it quits sending out the coded I'm OK messages which is what constitutes tripping the alarm setting things in motion as regards alerting law enforcement or private armed seculriity patrol. GPS interface can report the equipment's location (before the bad guys intervene) but would probably be disabled by thieves so it can't be used for tracking.

A seriously scalled down version of this could be easily implemented with restricted range but the cost might be prohibitive or constitute a serious percentage of the value of what you are trying to secure. I haven't put a pencil (or calculator) to it yet but It would probably run a grand or two to do a decent job.

There are several variables impacting cost: 1. number of items to be protected, 2. acceptable false alarm rate, 3. how far from protected items to monitoring station, 4. degree of automation at monitoring station (a good simple one is an auto dialer and voice recording like DIY burglar alarms)... and on and on. If the items to be protected happened to be at a site with electrical power it would help, if they got power from same transformer as the monitoring station, even better as "wireless" intercom can replace radio (they call it wireless but the signals go over the AC power wiring and all porltions of the system must be supplied from the same transformer. 5.8 GigaHertz telephone technology would be pretty effective comm link for relatively small ranges.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[rozett]

If you are located in one of the 9 states with full coverage or a major metropolitan area, one of your choices is LoJack. The unit is hidden on the vehicle and activated when reported stolen. It begins to transmit a unique signal which can be picked up and located (via triangulation) from police cruisers equipped with the proper antennas. They also have hardened units for heavy equipment and an early warning system that notifies the owner when the vehicle is operated without a pass key.

[Pat]

Lojack is certainly a good system but there is no place on much heavy equipment where you an hide the unit such that the bad guys can't destroy it. That is why I did what I did the way I did it. With that system (described in previous post in this thread) destroying the security equipment doesn't help the bad guy since anything that prevents the unit from signaling that all is OK constitutes an alarm event.

Heavy equipment being so much more expensive than cars, can attract a different class of thieves. Of course that doesn't mean all would be heavy equipment thieves would have the means and ability to defeat a hardened LoJack but there are plenty who can.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]