stolen goods...

[big-blue]

I pass on a message from a fellow astronomer who just had all his equipment stolen.
Please keep an eye out : details below.

----- Original Message ----- From: Dean Davidson (dean@skywatch.com.au)
To: ASSA Chat (assa-chat@assa.org.au)
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 7:30 AM
Subject: [ASSA-Chat] Stolen gear



Hi Folks,
I have had a trailer stolen with all my telescopes, portable planetarium for my business, etc. I thought I would let everyone know just in case you see anything at second hand stores. The telescopes are a Vixen 114EDSS with a "polaris" type mount, and my hand-made 10 inch dob, in a marine ply box about the size of a small esky. The Vixen is in a long galvanised tool box.
The trailer is a 6x4 box trailer, fully aluminium, with a flat, locked lid that opens up.
If you happen to see any of these, could you ring me asap.
Thanks a lot,
Dean


(Dean Davidson)
President
Astronomical Society of SA


Ph: (08) 8298 6523(h) / 0413 039 477(m)

[CoombellKid]

that's horrible news, I hope Dean gets back his stuff

regards,CS

[jjjnettie]

If it's going anywhere, it's going North. As far away from the scene of the crime as possible.
We might post the list of stolen goods and the phone number at QLD Astrofest. See if anyone has been offered it.

[Phil]

that sucks hope they catch the !!!!!! sorry to hear that bad news.
Phil

[Garyh]

Yep that Sucks bad...the trailer be harder to pass off with serial numbers and rego plates. I would hate to have something that I handcrafted like the dob to be nicked. Alot of these handmade dobs have so much time and love put into there making that its a piece of artwork and insurance payments will never bring it back.....I hope the gear was insured and is recovered...

[casstony]

Depends how smart/careless the thief is. I recall reading on an American forum how stolen astro-gear was recovered at a local pawn shop. Certianly wouldn't hurt to make the pawn shops aware of the theft.

[astro_nutt]

I hope all is restored to Dean unmarked..and the low-life's get caught..I'm sure the local secondhand dealers/ebay will be paid a visit..I'll keep an eye out up my way for you...

[big-blue]

An update from Dean follows ...

Hi Folks,
Thanks to all who have responded in some way to my note about my stolen stuff. A few people have asked for more details about the trailer.
As far as I am aware it would be unique in SA. It is fully enclosed in aluminium "checker-plate". I don't have a photo, but I have attached two from the web-site, showing the same type of trailer, and the lid attached to another trailer. It stands about 1.2 m high, flat top with cargo rack as shown below.
I guess it is a "hoon magnet", as it is bright and shiny, and would appeal to bird-brains! The rego is YHK324
It might have had a paint job by now, but it was plain aluminium!
If anyone sees it around the place, could you give me a ring with its location, and I will contact the police.
Thanks to all who have offered to lend me equipment. You are a great bunch!
I have managed to borrow a portable "planetarium" type dome from Swinburne Uni for a couple of weeks, so I can fulfil a few school bookings, and it looks like a new one is available for immediate shipment from Boston(!). (The last one took 6 months to arrive!!) Hopefully the insurance will come to the party asap.
If anyone is interested to have a look, my website is�
www.skywatch.com.au (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/www.skywatch.com.au)

Thanks again. You are terrific!
- Dean

& Dean also added in another email :
Unfortunately I don't have a photo of my telescopes. My hand made one
is in a varnished marine-ply box about 400x300x300. I found some
photos of a similar Vixen and mount, which are below. My mount has
aluminium legs though.
Thanks again,
Dean

[Argonavis]

Excellent advice. Contact as many pawn shops as you can. Check the local papers for any similar sounding sales. Sometimes this type of hot good can take a few months to surface, but they usually do. Persistence can pay off. I suspect that the hoons who took this were just after the trailer, not that this helps at all.

[ballaratdragons]

Might also be good advice to ALL of us: Take good clear photos of all your gear!!! Write down any identifying marks, numbers, scratches, Mods etc, and keep the info safe somewhere.

There is also Ultra-Violet Paint pens that the Police use when they visit schools to mark bicycles to help kids mark their bikes. Great for invisibly marking your gear! Only shows up under UV light.

[a1120028]

I often comb the pawn / second hand shops in my area (Norwood) for goodies so I'll keep an eye out. What area was it taken from?

[PeteMo]

Second hand shops is a great idea, that's how my guitar was recovered when some piece of **** stole it.

Can't emphasise enough how important it is to make a note of serial numbers and use a UV marker. Having worked for the Police I know how frustrating it is for them to bust some scumbag, find all this stolen gear, but because the owner's didn't know or make a note of the exact make, model serial numbers and/or mark their goods with the house no and postcode (what we did in the UK) they cannot prove that it was stolen. The police were merely waiting for the phones to ring with people reporting stolen items.

For those of you who wince at the thought of using a UV marker on an eyepiece, you could always mark it on the inside of the lens caps.

Photos are also useful for both insurance and Police. So often all the owner could tell us was "It was a Sanyo TV" they had no idea of the model or serial number, and sometimes couldn't even remember the colour!

Keep your eyes open in the free ads. There's a very good chance that your scope and mount will be recovered as they are hard for a 'fence' to dispose of, as they are large, bulky, distinct and not what fences are used to dealing with like jewellery, cameras, laptops, DVD Players, HiFi, car stereos etc.

If/when they catch the scum, if Adelaide Judicial System has a make the *******s meet the victims scheme, I advise you to go along and let them see that it is a person they have committed the crime against. The crimos don't like this because they can't then de-personalise the crime. So often they believe you can "claim it back on your insurance so where's the damage". When they see that you build these scopes, these are the tools of your trade and you have now lost your means of income because of this, you'd be surprised that this has more of an impact on them than locking them up.

[Outbackmanyep]

Keep an eye out on ebay too!