Electricity 101

[duhtroll]

I have a problem I need help solving.

I have posted a campaign sign in my front yard for the upcoming elections. I'm not saying for which candidate - that's not relevant to the discussion.

Ths sign has been stolen now, twice. (different signs, same place) It is probably college kids. We live in a college town and the sign was up for a month with no problem until last week.

The police are not able to anything about it unless someone witnesses it, and I am not able to be home all the time. I'm obviously not going to stay up all night, either. If they do it at night a video camera is useless.

Some would say just put the sign up in the window where they can't get it, but then no one would see it. I could just forget putting up a sign, but then I feel like they win, so I am trying to figure out a way to keep this thing up and to keep people's :censor: hands off of it.

What about electrifying the aluminum frame? If I secure the sign to the frame and attach it to a low power charge (like for pet fences or the like) it should be safe yet a significant lesson to anyone who touches it.

Anyone have experience with this type of thing? I want my revenge on the :censor: thief.

Other ideas that would keep the sign where it belongs?

Thanks for the use of your creativity.

-A

[Krytin]

You can get a fence charger from the local AGWAY - they can help you with the circutry, there is a ground rod that goes into the earth and a hot lead to the metal you don't want touched. As far as the law is concerned, you are breaking it if you do this! Anyone injured can and most likely will press charges and then sue you!
Home depot sells a video camera/monitor system that works pretty well in low light conditions and it can be connected to a VCR - just my $.02

[duhtroll]

I've thought about the legality part. It's on private property. If I post a warning it *should* be legal. Otherwise no one would ever be able to use electric fences.

I've thought about a perimeter alarm, but then it will go off every time the squirrels climb out of their tree . . ..

-A

[BillyGman]

as much as it doesn't sound correct, I also believe that you can be charged w/a crime if you do this. I don't agree w/that law either, especially if there's clear evidence of prior calls to the police department concerning thefts or vandalizm, but I think that it's the way it is. I would look into the camera thing instead.

[MI2QWK4U]

In todays society you would be sued, big time. In a civil case for sure, and most likely criminally as well. I dont know what the laws are in your state, but I would be very careful. In our liberal society, you would be suprised what a slimeball lawyer would sue for. I remember reading about a guy on parole for breaking and entering fresh out of prison broke into a nice house to steal them blind. He was carrying a 27 in color TV down the stairs and when he got to the bottom he slipped on a throw rug in the landing, his feet slipped out from under him, he fell on his azz, and the TV fell across his knees, breaking both of his legs. Now get this, he is still laying there when the homeowners get home, and he gets arrested. The guy gets 15 years for the B&E, but sues the homeowners for something like a quarter of a million dollars for maintaining an unsafe house and for his pain and suffering it caused him. Guess what, the Liberal court awarded him half of the amount he was asking for! The homeowners appealed of course. Best advise is not to place yourself in a position where someone can sue you. Some college kid grabs it..gets zapped...and suddenly he cant see, or hear, or feel his fingers...and you will get to pay for his college education and he will be driving a nice Marauder.

You can get a camcorder with night vision, or a camera with night vision that plugs into your vcr. Much safer.

[Smokie]

Coat the frame with a heavy coating of grease and then paint the grease with red spray paint.....it will make a mess out of their hands, maybe clothing and possibly the thieves can be traced by the paint stains...nobody gets hurt...just a little messy.

[Krytin]

Coat the frame with a heavy coating of grease and then paint the grease with red spray paint.....it will make a mess out of their hands, maybe clothing and possibly the thieves can be traced by the paint stains...nobody gets hurt...just a little messy.
That's alot better than the electricity!

[Bluerauder]

Thanks for the use of your creativity.

-A
How about one of those "motion sensors" connected to a 200W spotlight and a siren. Sure would scare the crap out of them. Might keep you awake though..... :whistle:

[Donny Carlson]

First observation: These signs are free, aren't they? Get a buttload of them and just replace them. Eventually the miscreants will get bored with it.


Second observation: Non lethal deterrant. Electrifying the sign is to difficult and likely get you in some trouble with someone, even if it's a code violation. Have you thought about mounting the sign in a bucket full of concrete, bury the bucket and place grass back around the post. The little turd will yank his arm out if it's socket trying to get it out of the ground.

[jgc61sr2002]

A video camera is the only way to go. This type of crime is difficult to solve unless you have an eye witness. Even with a video camera it will be difficult to I.D. the perpetrator's. Forget about electrifing the sign or anything else dangerous. You could be arrested and definitely sued.

[TooManyFords]

Andrew, go get about a hundred of those signs and put them absolutely everywhere in your yard! In between them, put mouse traps! When you hear them falling over and getting snapped, go see what you caught!

hehehehe!

[Marauder386]

Smokie's idea with the grease and red paint is a great idea...as well as a video camera also for true "stickability" of the theft of your personal property from your property...Hehehehehehe


M386

[Mike Poore]

Smokie's idea with the grease and red paint is a great idea...as well as a video camera also for true "stickability" of the theft of your personal property from your property...Hehehehehehe


M386Once again it's time for grandpa to step in. Doing ANYTHING that could cause injury is called setting a trap, and any tinhorn lawyer is gonna end up owning your house. If these are college pranksters, any escalation on your part is going to cause them to retaliate. Um, where do you park your Marauder? Here's what you should do: get a bunch of signs, and after they steal the next one, wait a few days and put up another, and another ...If that fails, then get a bazooka and blow the bastards away!

[duhtroll]

My MM is in a locked garage when at home - no windows. They only take this sign because they know they can get away with it without waking me up. I have thought about sitting in the nearby tree with my archery equipment and a baseball bat.

The arrows would be for the car tires so they could not get away, and the baseball bat is for the time needed to keep them stationary until the police arrive.

I like the paint idea. How about contact poison instead? :surprise:

I did consider the cement idea. The problem being it would take ME time to get rid of it outside of election years.

Keep those ideas coming! I thought of the motion sensor/light thing too, but too many things would set it off. I would need something that would go off only if the sign itself were moved.

You know, like attaching it to the pin of a grenade. :gunfire:

No, the signs aren't free. This particular candidate's sign-makers fubared badly in underestimating how many signs would be needed, so even the party HQ does not have them.

One thing is for sure. I WILL catch them in one form or another. They can go ahead and retaliate. I'm game.

-A

[RCSignals]

chain the sign to a large stake, something that would be very difficult to just pull out of the ground.

[cyclone03]

The electric fence idea CAN be legal,Plant a fruit tree, place your sign,then surround the area with a "hot wire" post the little yellow sign required by law.

When the law shows up tell them you have a problem with rabbits,or what ever,dear maybe,you know what ever is eating your plants and your trying to deter them.NEVER say your detering HUMANS and your cool.

Make sure the frame is steal.

The greesie paint is a good idea too.
I sugest Rust-O-Leam that stuff is a B*&^h to get off.

[Heavy351]

How about spray adhesive the sigh to a section of plate steel then prop that on the post very difficult to move without a dolly or cart.

Or a radial pattern of fishing line 6" off the ground from the sign, hoodlum walks into it and drags around a pile off beer cans, bells, etc. if you have a few sets of line he may well take awhile to free himself.

Sofar the greased and painted pole is the best. But add a green colored tarp with the sign punched though the middle, covered with the grease. He will cover his shoes and hopefully he will fall in it. It will then be all over the inside of his car.

If it were me I would move the sign closer to the road to make the target more irresistable and wait for him that night with a video camera and a flashlight. Run up on him with the sign in hand and yelling hands up with the light in his eyes and the film rolling. Be sure to get a shot of the plate on the car. If he is fact a student there is a good shot at being expelled for this, with the evidence you now posses,he could be your personal slave and wash your marauder every day till graduation.
:grad: :rofl:

[Dr Caleb]

Rebar. 6' of rebar, stuck 4' into the ground. Let them pull that out :evilgrin:

[duhtroll]

Great idea. Combine this with the steel plate idea. Weld the plate steel to the rebar, pound it in with a sledge, and then glue the sign on either side.

I will also laminate or otherwise protect the outside of the sign with a layer of removable plastic so that if/when they deface it I just peel it off.

And if they are to be caught, they better hope the poilce catch them instead of me. Trespassers can be legally shot. (I won't shoot them of course, but I sure as hell will threaten to!)

Now, I see them hooking up a chain to a car bumper and driving off hooked to the sign. I'll be working on that one. :dunno:

Thanks,
-A

[Heavy351]

Now, I see them hooking up a chain to a car bumper and driving off hooked to the sign. I'll be working on that one.
-A

The next morning you will be the proud new owner of a slightly used bumper and chain! :lol: