Stolen astro gear alert !!

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: On wednesday night I noticed one of my alloy case's was missing out of the cupboard where all my astro gear live's ?? WHAT ?
It must have been taken on sunday 7th april as I shot out to the shops for 1/2 an hour to get some bread , without locking the door :shrug: Idiot I am .

Anyway in this stolen Alliminium case was my full set of circle T orthorscopic's 1 1/4 inch .
4mm -25mm ( years of collecting :sadeyes: ) .
3 Zeiss .965 orthoscopics 6mm - 9mm and 14mm , a Celestron Ultima 2x Barlow , a GSO ED 3x barlow , 2 torches ( one Mini Mag Light and one LED with 2 settings as its a dedicated astro torch , both use AAA batteries , the Mag light has a red filter made by me )
a 2 inch LP filter, a 1 1/4 inch MV and some generic coloured filters , about 10 off .
The case has my name on it written in 'texter' in black .

I dont expect any of this stolen gear to end up down south , but please keep your eyes and ears peeled as we never know . And 1.1/4 inch Orthos by CircleT are no more .

:shrug: What gets me is that the idiots took this ? it aint worth nothing to a non-astronomer and I know most up here . ( shiney stuff they took ? )

I am doing the rounds of all the pawn shops up here tomorrow and how knows ? I might get lucky :question: , and if I do I would not want to be the A-Hole that snuck in here and took this case :D .

PS. the cops were really not interested in this ???? Useless they were , fill out this form , and we will get back to you :confused2: .

Thanks for listening , it's not so much the lost eyepieces and stuff ,,,, It's that someone was in my house rifleing thru my life :mad2: .
Again , please keep an ear to the ground as some of this stolen gear might filter south :hi: ..
Thanks all
Brian..

[brian nordstrom]

:) If you take the Vixen LV's out of this photo and add the torches and a few odds and sods with the alloy case , this is most of what was stolen but this is a fairly old photo and it does not show a few items , I wll look for a newer one .
Thanks again.
Brian.

[big_dav_2001]

Damn Brian, that sucks mate...

I had my house burgled a few years ago, so I understand the violated feeling...

I really hope you get your stuff back somehow.

Davin

[Larryp]

Sorry to hear this, Brian, and I hope you get your stuff back. You are right about the police not being interested-all they do is paperwork in case you are insured.:(

[Hans Tucker]

Sorry to hear this Brian, I sympathise as it is a sickening feeling. The house I rent was broken into twice within a two week period. I ended up paying for window locks and an alarm to be installed..bonus to the house owners. Lucky I only lost a camera and laptop...they took nothing the second time except the made a big hole in the wall in the hallway from the garage. All my Takahashi gear was left behind...thankfully.

The bit highlighted in red: Yep, this attitude is pretty much national with all Police in every state. I have no respect for Victoria Police because of this similar attitude.

[hotspur]

sorry to read this,hope you get gear back.

I wonder if trawling ebay,might help,along with the pawn shop visits.

Pretty limited market for this type of gear.

My missus use to get up me all the time,for leaving ute unlocked-full of camera gear and outdoor gear etc,even in the bush -so I lock it every night.Always pays to check its locked,never know who's wondering around.

[brian nordstrom]

:rolleyes: Yes fully insured Laurie , but $$$ cant replace 20 years of collecting .
I have a good feeling that I will get this gear back as up here its only really a small community and most know me as the telescope guy .
But I will break the thief , with a smile on .
Brian,

[brian nordstrom]

;) Thanks Chris I have already put a quest in on E/Bay they know this gear is stolen .
Brian.

[Larryp]

Quite true, Brian-insurance cannot replace the irreplaceable. But like you say, Its not stuff that has a ready market, and hopefully you will get it back. If you catch up with the thief, dong him one for me too!

[brian nordstrom]

:eyepop: I know Hans , wednseday night here was like a stock take I went thru every thing , and yea mate all my Takahashi gear was OK . Whew ! .
On a secret note here , these thieving shet's did not touch my Samurai Sword collection , thats a relief.
I have sharpened my best over the last few nights ... ( My Katana ) :evil2:They crossed the line , and so will I , if caught .
The hunt starts tomorrow .
Brian.

[hotspur]

hope you do get it back,yeah-all say get the insurance etc etc,but they cannot exsponge that sick sinking feeling,20 years to collect kit,kit that becomes a part of one-like losing something really cherished in life.I lost a dingo trap once I had for a long period of time-my fault-pilot error,another chap had one stolen-even a worse feeling he said-the violation of someome creeping around,in your space.

Really rotten the cops do not take much action,if it had been a rifle or main stream item,may have taken more interest-not sure.

[DavidU]

Not good mate ! I hope you find your gear soon.

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: Thanks Davin , it sux .

Brian.
These poor people

[Astroman]

Could check local creeks etc... as long as there are no crocs... sometimes if a crook doesn't like the load or think it's worthless they may dump it. Have you checked under the bed?

Oops forgot to add, I really hope you get this stuff back, low life scum who stole it.

[brian nordstrom]

:lol: Funny you say that , I looked under the beds last night hopeing for win , but no :mad2: , but a good point on the local creeks and such I will have a look , thanks .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: Yea man , the only ******* thing about this is , is this case lives with my Zeiss , didn'd get used much , but ,,, yea , but when glass sings .That case was there .

I dont like thieve's , and I especially dont like ''Sneaky " theives , thats whats rife up here at the moment ,,,,
I think they made a mistake , ;).
I'm going hunting ...
.

Brian.

[Forgey]

Damn Brian sorry to hear this :( I would also suggest to keep any eye out on sites like gumtree you'd be surprised what pops up on there.
Fingers crossed that you get it back.

[brian nordstrom]

Hunting tomorrow ,, 2nd shops ,,,
1st.
Brian

[04Stefan07]

Sorry to hear this mate. I hope your stuff gets found.

It would also be a good idea to keep an eye on the Australian Post and Gumtree websites as well.

[leon]

Bloody hell Brian that is awful mate, there is nothing worse than someone being in your house without you knowing.
Hope you get the mongrels and sort them out, and like you say they cant do anything with the stuff anyway, so you may get lucky, hope so.

Leon

[Matt Wastell]

Hi Brian
I am familiar with most of your items - really sorry to hear about the theft - I will keep a look out where I can (Brisbane) and online. I will be at a few astro events but they are for 'us' and I cannot imagine stuff will turn up there (with the knowledge of where they came from).

[Saturn%5]

Hope this gets sorted out Brian.

[FlashDrive]

That's just ' crap ' when this happens ...you certainly feel violated knowing someone has been ' behind ' you back ...especially going through your personal gear.

Yep....coppers don't care too much today...unless it involves a knife or a gun ....their not really concerned.

Here's a true story.....it's been around for a while ...but none the less true.

In Canada a bloke was looking after his neighbour's house while they were away for a few weeks....Some many day's later in the afternoon he noticed 2 males breaking into the rear of the house.

So....he phones the Cops ...states what's happening ...by this time the offenders are well and truly inside the house.

Response from the Coppers.....can't get there mate for at least an hour...we're too busy right now......SO ...the neighbour hangs up and waits for 30 seconds ...and then rings them back.

Conversation went something like this.....

I'm the guy that just rang up about 2 males breaking into the house next door...WELL ...don't worry about coming around now ...I JUST SHOT both of them.... and then ' hung ' up on the coppers.

Within 5 minutes the the neighbourhood was full of cops...cop cars and swat teams.....They ( the coppers ) very quietly entered the house and found the 2 offenders ( alive and well ) still filling their pockets with gear.
They were taken away and charged with several breaches of the law.

Anyhow ...the copper that was in charge of all this goes over to the guy responsible for the original phone call and say's ....I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU SHOT THEM.

To which the neighbour said....YEAH AND I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU WERE TOO BUSY AND COULDN'T GET HERE. :lol:

The neighbour was let off with a ' Caution ' for falsifying a statement to the Police.

I say....good on him....they got the ' scum bags ' in the end. :thumbsup:

Hope all comes ' good ' for you Brian.

Flash...!!

[LewisM]

When living in Perth, I had foolishly left my nav bag (a brief case for pilots - a BIG one :) ) in the car one evening. Came to the car, and the little rear quarter window was smashed, and then they opened the door and took it and the jerry can I had in the car (it was a station wagon). Needless to say, I tromped all over about a kilometer of the area looking for it. Found nothing.

Told police. They didn't care, and were NOT going to fingerprint. Now, this was a flight bag, including my ASIC and pilot license (the ASIC grants you access to airport tarmacs, secure areas etc etc). Cops shrugged their shoulders. I called the Federal Police at Perth Airport. Amazing how fast things started then, when I reported a STOLEN ASIC and STOLEN license!

3 days later I received a call from a local business. They had found the bag thrown over a neighbouring fence, who gave it to them to look after.(I had looked in this area VERY well!) I got EVERYTHING back except the actual nav bag itself (worth a bit of dosh!), all the money that was in it (spare change / petrol money) and a damned good calculator. I never told the Police any updates as I wanted to see what they could be bothered doing, but I did inform the Feds, who likely told the Police anyway.

Anyway Brian, yeah, it sucks. Hit the shops, hit the creeks, hit the alleys and vacant lots.

[Hzadbhat]

I'll keep a close look at the various classifides down here. I'm looking multiple times a week for new bits and bobs.
Did they steal anything else?
I hate being the one to suggest this, but what if your collection was targeted by someone who knows you?
You mentioned some of the gear can not be replaced.....
If this is the case, the scum will be found out eventually. Who doesn't like showing off their gear?
Why not call the local paper there and ask if they might be able to do an article, based around your loss, highlighting local crime statistics.
If a thief knows lots of people are aware of this, hopefully they dump them where they can be found.
Thieves ARE stupid, but if cornered, usually do some strange things like tell the truth, or at least get rid of whatever they stole, preferably making a really dumb mistake in the process.

[brian nordstrom]

:) Thanks everyone , its 9.30 am here and I am on my way out now to hit the pawn shops , I will update latter on this afternoon ,
fingers crossed ( For Me ) not the thieving pricks , because if I find this case questions will be asked !! and I will hunt these lowlive;s out .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:) Thanks Branden , yes I just noticed my Casio 'G' shock watch missing , its a very rare model , another web to find the thieving shet's .
Here it is .
I am on my way out now .
Brian.

[LewisM]

Had one of those Casio's Brian - GREAT watches, never missed a beat. I still have the body of mine, but need to replace the band, as I caught mine on something once and boogered it.

[hotspur]

Might show up at local car boot sales-worth a try.

[Ric]

What a bugger Brian, that really sucks.

Best of luck and I hope your gear turns up.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Sorry to hear that you have lost your collection of eyepieces Brian, that really sucks mate. I know how you feel, having had a break-in, twice, and lost irreplaceable items, some of which were quite valuable, but unfortunately were not covered by insurance.

I agree, the worst feeling is that someone has been rifling through your stuff, kinda like being violated, in a manner of speaking.

Having had this happen before, I am now a little paranoid, particularly when it comes to my eyepieces and other accessories, etc. I now have them locked in a metal cabinet inside my house. Actually, my whole house is like a mini 'Fort Knox'.

It all may be covered by insurance, however, I am not interested in the money, as many of these items simply cannot be replaced easily.

Keep a look out at your local tip also, tell the guys there what to look for. The thief may not know what he has and may simply dump them. I know a guy who had a pair of 150mm binoculars that was stolen from his house and he got them back, as they were found in the bush. The people who found it took it to a store to have them valued, that store realised they were stolen and called the cops. Man and binocular were reunited. So there is always a slim hope of getting them back.

I sure hope you get them back Brian.

Peter

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: Yes , thanks Chris and Rick .
I just got home from a big day visiting all the local pawn shopes in about a 200km radius of here .
Whew ! , I can quote all the serial #'s and descriptions of the stolen gear off the top of my head after today's carry on .:question: .
All these shop's were very good about it , they wont touch hot property and these guys are another 10 or so sets of eyes and ears .
The eyepiece case will sink these thieve's .
Brian.

[Baddad]

Hi Brian,:)

So disheartening to hear of your loss and violation of your privacy.:sadeyes::mad2:

I do have something that you may want to consider.

From the info you have placed on the thread: It smacks of kids entering and a simple opportunistic thief or thieves.

It often happens with school holidays. You may find them in the local neighbourhood. Possibly bragging to their friends.

It certainly is not a professional thief.

Here's hoping you get your toys back.

Cheers

[Suzy]

Brian I am so sorry to hear what's happened.
You seem to be covering every base and for such a small community, leads me to think that if anyone can find it, you can and I think you will eventually. Gosh, what a stressful time.

[skytry]

hi Brian,
hopefully you will get the gear back,
I shall keep an eye out on my travels up Nth,

regards,
Peter.

[EricB]

Sorry to hear about your misfortune Brian. It's so sad... and infuriating. I really hope you recover the stolen goods. One never knows!

Eric

[brian nordstrom]

:) Thanks , Marty , Eric , Peter and Suzie your kind thought's and words make me feel like I am not alone in this , my heart goes out to all :thumbsup: .
I am back to the cop shop tomorrow after work , just to see if they have anything ?? I wont hold my breath :question: tho .
I see the little pricks took my 'G' Harp off the table on the deck at the same time as it's dissapared as well , man we had a jam saturday night an me old 'Lee Oskar' 'G', was sounding good :mad2: broken reed's and all .
All I can hope for is they catch foot in mouth or something :question: from my stolen harp as its full of about 2 years of my goobies ,, yuck ! this is as bad as wearing someone's undies man , low of the low :shrug: and I hope they take a look at the unfiltered sun thru the stolen eyepieces ??? .

I spent $70 on a new Lee Oskar yesterday at the local music shop , these dude's have their ears to the ground as well now , so now the local Muso's are in the loop as well , cool , they were bummed as well and :thanx: thanks very much all , I do apreaciate your words and encouragement .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup: Thanks Lewis , yes mine use'd change time automatically to NZ time when I'd go home for a visit , and it has , like 100 world wide locations built into it , fully automatic .
As a pilot you would apreaciate this .
Another trail for me to track these thieve's . ( idiot's) .
Casio only made 300 of these ever , and being superceided by the newer models , now most people dont know what these are capable of .
Brian.

QUOTE=LewisM;965685]Had one of those Casio's Brian - GREAT watches, never missed a beat. I still have the body of mine, but need to replace the band, as I caught mine on something once and boogered it.[/QUOTE]

[skytry]

hi Brian,
hope you get your gear back again,
it's dissapointing,
I shall keep an eye out travelling Nth,
if any thing found, I let me know, I know of a few places where they could off load YOUR gear,
regards,
Peter.

[astronut]

Bast#*ds...:mad2::mad2::mad2:

I hope everything is returned to you soon Brian. :)

[Draco]

sorry to hear that brian. I hope you get your items back soon.

[ZeroID]

Shiz, Not much I can do from here but I'll keep my fingers crosed if it helps. It ain't nice for sure and the feeling of being violated is the worst part.
Good luck with the hunt ....

[taminga16]

Hi Brian,
How did the thieves gain access to your things?
Greg.

[brian nordstrom]

:screwy: left my front door unlocked when I shot off to the shops for some bread and milk . Kick me ! .
1/2 an hour max , problem is that as I said it was wednesday before I noticed the case gone , then the watch and harmonica . I just hope there aint anything else gone , I have looked , but I have stuff all over the house that I dont use much :shrug: , bummer .
Brian.
Thanks Greg .
Brian.

[brian nordstrom]

:mad2: Yep , John , Peter , Niv and Brent thanks guys , I called into the cop shop after work today and ,,,,, :shrug: nothing yet .
Time will tell and thanks for your support mate's , as I said it does help :evil2:.
Brian.

[Larryp]

I reckon its probably local kids, Brian. Saw you leave the house and went straight in since you left the door unlocked and only gone for a short time.

[taminga16]

Hi Brian,
Do not let your insurer know that! OOPs, it's probably in the Police report.
Greg.

[Kal]

Sounds like local kids to me as well, definately not the common burglar who would prefer things that are easy to sell for quick cash.

Maybe speak to the neighbours, or the parents of neighbours with kids, see what info you can dig up from the local eyes

[Manav]

feel for you Brian! I believe in karma so the loser will get what they deserve

[04Stefan07]

I also believe it was low-life kids who have nothing else better to do.

I hope we hear some good news over the next week!

Thumbs up buddy :thumbsup:

Any luck with eBay or Gumtree?

[cfranks]

From experience it might take a lot longer than a week or 2. A low-life took half (really!) a model helicopter from my house and nearly 4 years later, came to our flying site to get some help flying it. :screwy:

Charles

[brian nordstrom]

:D Thanks a lot guy's , it means a lot to know you are thinking ( and putting forward ) suggestions there have been lots that I have not thought about , I will investegate all avenues .

Greg , to late mate , the cops and insurance already know my :shrug: stupidity ?

Laurie and Andrew , It's kids for sure and most neighbours are in the know , hopefully word will spread . :thumbsup: .

Yagant , I am a firm beilever in Kama as well I have seen it at work many times over the years ;) , it will come around :mad2: for this ( these) low-lives .

Stefan, thanks buddy I looked tonight but nothing , it might be too soon but I will keep looking and as long as you guys keep an ear out ... :thanx: .

and , Charles yes I am like an elephant and will wait patiently , years if necessary :D .

Thanks again every one , it makes me proud to be part of such a sweet community of cool people ..

Oh yes I am double'y pissed on losing the Celestron Ultima 2x barlow !!! as I found out just now .
The weather up here has been awsome for a week now , and monday night I viewed the moon in my Istar , one eyed then Bino-view'd , very nice , tuesday night was my 25x100 binows , awsome ! .
Last night I gave my Zeiss a blast , this scope missed the Orthoscopics , but did well with the Vixen LV's .
Tonight , ( I have just come in to check IIS ) my SKY90 is giving me the best views of the moon at 170x its so lovely , but anyway I cant bino-view her as the Ultima;s lense would ( used to ) unscrew and screw into the bottom of the WO bino viewers allowing me to use the Tak in bino mode ,,,, NOT SO ! , it hurts ! .

Brian.

[04Stefan07]

I am not sure if it has bee mentioned but what about checking out places like Cash Converters?

[allan gould]

Brian
Have you thought of placing a wanted ad in the local paper asking if anyone has some old microscope, surveying or optical pieces they would like to sell as you are a collector. Maybe they will think of a quick sale and if you give a contact address or phone number different from yours they may make contact.
Just a thought
Hope you get some resolution on this
Allan

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: Thanks every one .
I now know all of Australia / New Zealand now know I lost 20 years of collecting of Ortho's ,
And stuff .
Thanks
All.
Mods please lock? this thread . After this .
Thanks.
Tennett Creek , NT , Anular Solar Eclipse .
I am there .
Brian .

[RB]

Done