DISH antenna stolen - twice. Help!!

[Gooch]

My daughter has had her Dish antenna stolen twice. She is looking for ideas on how to prevent future thefts. Basically, the thieves cut the wire and lift the dish and the switch off the pole. Looking for ideas how to stop this.

Is there any kind of alarm device (motion detector, etc) that could be fastened to the dish so that an alarm would sound if the dish was lifted off the pole?

The DISH monthly warranty doesn't cover theft and the homeowners deductible is too high.

 

[KAB]

Pit Bull or move to a better neighborhood.

 

[retiredTech]

install the dish to the roof, out of easy reach.

 

[KAB]

install the dish to the roof, out of easy reach.

There is probably a LOS reason it was on pole in the first place.

 

[Gooch]

There is probably a LOS reason it was on pole in the first place.

It's on a townhouse and the association prohibits fastening anything to the roof

 

[AriesGodofWar]

Pit Bull or move to a better neighborhood.

lmfao, I have 3 of them, and they would rather get a solid belly rub from the intruder than attack, however, I do have lots of what the anti-gunners call "assault weapons," so when I see the dogs wagging their tails looking longingly at the door, I know I need to grab the AR. No one has stolen my dish yet!

Is placing the Dish somewhere else, like on a roof an option?

 

[digiblur]

Point the dish and weld that sucker to the pole.

 

[Gooch]

Point the dish and weld that sucker to the pole.

Thanks. That might be a good idea.

 

[Cosmokramer11]

or torque the bolts down then it wont move

 

[scoyt]

Ever seen the screws they put in bathroom stalls? They only tighten up, not loosen. I believe you can buy them at a hardware store. Get the dish pointed correctly and drill holes in the pipe/mounting bracket and put those screws in. I would advise anywhere you can put a screw, go for it!!

 

[chainblu]

All the anti-theft ideas might sound good, but once the thief realizes he's not going to get it off, he will most likely bend it out of commission. I've seen this several times.

 

[sethwell]

does she have a balcony facing southwest/east? have her use the bucket mount method if she has a good line of sight from it. digi's method sounds good too. good luck

 

[Andrewwski]

Oh, you could definitely rig something up if you wanted.

I'm thinking you could cut a small section out of the pole somehow where the dish slips over it - just a small section that allows you to put a micro switch in.

Then use the micro switch as normally closed, so when the dish is removed from the pole, the power passes through and triggers an alarm.

I've actually wired this exact setup in a different scenario. A few years ago, some kids took a 100+ pound homegrown pumpkin from our porch and smashed it. So I took an old alarm speaker from ADT or whatever that I had laying around. When 12V is applied to it, it wails at 120 dB...enough to wake everyone on the street. I got a 12V wall wart and wired it through a bunch of micro switches, wired in parallel, and placed the pumpkins on the micro switches. When a pumpkin is removed, plug your ears! The wiring is pretty well hidden so I'd doubt anyone would see it or think of cutting it, but I've also thought of hooking up a relay so that the microswitches are actually used normally open - thus if someone cuts the wires, it'll sound the alarm too.

Anyway, I'm thinking you cut a small section out of the pole and attach a micro switch from the inside, or somehow attach it so that it's pressed down by the dish. Then, run the wire down the pole and out the bottom into the ground. Trench it a little ways to the house or a tree and attach it to an alarm speaker. Then when the switch is not depressed, the alarm will sound, and scare the daylights out of an unsuspecting thief.

 

[scoyt]

You gotta admit, that would be funny to watch someone try to get a dish off the pole that had been welded on!!

 

[harshness]

How about one of those locking trailer hitch receiver pins?

Whatever it is, it needs to be very obvious what it is for and that it will be effective in preventing removal.

 

[PHXHoward]

I did not realize people would steal those. Aren't they just pieces of plastic? Wow what jerks.

 

[harshness]

Aren't they just pieces of plastic?

The dish itself is probably aluminum and the mount it steel. The LNB housing is plastic but that's about it.

I'd be asking if the local cable company is doing a "ditch your dish" campaign.

 

[scoyt]

My advice would be: get about 5 Pit Bulls, build a pen for them, mount the pole/dish in the middle of the pen, and have no worries for the rest of your time there.

 

[Hermitman]

How about running a chain through the mounting pole, mounting arm and dish mount with a padlock? It may provide a visual deterent. Good luck.

 

[Gooch]

does she have a balcony facing southwest/east? have her use the bucket mount method if she has a good line of sight from it. digi's method sounds good too. good luck

No balcony so that's not an option.