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Preventing equipment theft
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Dojomaster26
This happened to me a few weeks ago...

I live in student housing near Atlanta, so I have three roommates and we are sharing a small-ish apartment. About three weeks ago I came back from a visit to NC to find some of my PS2 games stolen. My games binder was "re-arranged" to look like nothing had happened, etc. I can at least laugh at the thief for making st0opid choices of games to steal (Tony Hawk 1 when 2 is right next to it?!? And who takes one disc out of a 2-disc game?) So, I did the usual reporting to police, school thing, but things kept getting messed with (furniture turned upside-down, belongings overturned), so after a lot of stress and BS I finally got moved into a different apartment with a different set of roommates. This new group seems to be a little more responsible than the others (two of the roommates are in their late 20s), but I am still uneasy about my equipment and my belongings.

I have put luggage locks on the bags that hold my CDJs and my mixer. I am not going to set up the equipment unless I am going to do a mix/practice, then the gear gets put back immediately. My CD binders are also locked up in a large duffel bag, and I took the game binder back to NC, bringing only a small CD wallet of games back (I realized that I don't need lots of games with me). Also, I bought a chest/footlocker to store my consoles, headphones, etc. Only burned CDs and CDRs are not locked up somehow.

I'm posting this thread as a warning to any other DJs that have roommates: Lock your stuff up now or pay for it later! Don't make the mistake that I did by leaving things out for someone to snatch while I'm not around...

Is there anything else I can do to keep my equipment safe? Are there any lockable flight cases that you guys can recommend? Thanks in advance.
Soundwerks
Most flight cases are lockable, so maybe you can buy a large coffin case, and lock up your decks and mixer in there. It's pretty large, so its very heavy and difficult to steal (dont get one with wheels!).

Either that, or you can drill some holes in the chassis/body of your equipments, and get those thin wire locks (like they use to lock notebook computers) and lock your equipment to your table.
leph555
but a shotgun, blow that mother ******s hands off
Dojomaster26
quote:
Originally posted by leph555
but a shotgun, blow that mother ******s hands off


I was thinking something along the lines of 'repairing' the thief's PC. I swore he told me that his machine was running slow or something, so I can do a big favor for him and let him start over! He's going to be so thankful that all of those pesky files and programs are off his machine. I mean, if I was a thief I wouldn't expect my target to turn around and help me out, but that's just the kind of guy I am :D

A:/delpart FTW:p
tvmann
If you have a computer as part of your setup put password(s) on it, activated at startup and by screensaver. Yes passwords can be overcome by the computer-smart thief but it will slow them down (especially a laptop which is harder to dismantle so as to bypass password). And if they know your gear has a password they might decide to not bother taking it. Also it prevents people from messing with your computer even if they don't take it.

Another idea is the "call-home" anti-theft software, helps recover stolen computers.
:whip:
epdarks
Here is an idea, buy a door lock, lock your in your room. Nobody is going to break your door down. If they do, I hope you have your receipts.
Beatflux
Last year when I had roommates there was a lock on my door, but I never had to use it because my roommates were pretty cool. They didn't go out much because one was an engineer major and the other was a World of Warcraft addict. They didn't bring too many people over and we never had any parties so I didn't worry.

Maybe renter's insurance covers theft?
Allied Nations
for studio equipment you can ge those little laptop lock type things, lock everything to your untakeapartable desk or bed :p
Dojomaster26
quote:
Originally posted by epdarks
Here is an idea, buy a door lock, lock your in your room. Nobody is going to break your door down. If they do, I hope you have your receipts.


I would love to do this, but the student housing company won't allow locks on personal bedrooms, and I am sharing a room with one other guy. If I could I would, but I can't :(

I'm looking into renter's insurance. Also, I don't have much that I can tie the equipment down to besides my bed, so I'll have to figure out something there (hopefully without doing too much hole drilling).

tvmann: Thanks for the tips, but I have CDJs and a Numark mixer as my setup (although adding some Tech 12s might happen in the distant-future.) The Numark mixer could have a computer lock ran through it (the rack holes on the side are perfect for this), which leaves the CDJ bag to secure. As it is right now someone would have to steal the entire case, then cut the lock off at a separate time.

Thanks for all of the tips! It seems like the best plan for right now is to look into getting a locking coffin or another footlocker to hold my equipment, and to get renter's insurance.
Storyteller
quote:
Originally posted by Beatflux
Last year when I had roommates there was a lock on my door, but I never had to use it because my roommates were pretty cool. They didn't go out much because one was an engineer major and the other was a World of Warcraft addict. They didn't bring too many people over and we never had any parties so I didn't worry.

Maybe renter's insurance covers theft?


In here (Netherlands) you can only claim insurance money if there is physical proof of breaking and entering. A window needs to be smashed, or a lock picked etc...

Darkarbiter
quote:
Originally posted by tvmann
If you have a computer as part of your setup put password(s) on it, activated at startup and by screensaver. Yes passwords can be overcome by the computer-smart thief but it will slow them down (especially a laptop which is harder to dismantle so as to bypass password). And if they know your gear has a password they might decide to not bother taking it. Also it prevents people from messing with your computer even if they don't take it.

Another idea is the "call-home" anti-theft software, helps recover stolen computers.
:whip:

Bios password(you can have it so you have to type it in before startup or just to change bios settingss) + taking that little plastic(that resets bios) thing in a hidden spot is gonna confuse anyone who doesn't have a pretty good understanding of computers.
Dojomaster26
quote:
Originally posted by Darkarbiter
Bios password(you can have it so you have to type it in before startup or just to change bios settingss) + taking that little plastic(that resets bios) thing in a hidden spot is gonna confuse anyone who doesn't have a pretty good understanding of computers.


This is especially useful on laptops without floppy drives to boot from. Even an experienced computer user will probably not have a BIOS password crack on hand, and not on a CD. Someone can still get in by booting into a CD with the brute force program, but thats going to take time (and hopefully the thief will think its not worth it!)

Quick tip: Write down the serial numbers for the equipment that you own. Keep a hard and a soft copy, so that you have a bit of a chance of finding your stolen equipment if it shows up at a pawn shop, etc.
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