Trimble Base Station stolen from near US Hwy 285 north of Pecos in Reeves County today. I think ELS lost one a month or two ago and we've had all kinds of problems with cables being vandalized, but that was over in Loving County. I think the game cameras were not set up because it was not the problem area. :pinch:
A person who steals a man's tools that he uses to make a living should be executed! Or at least whipped.
When I lost a base years ago it was a terrible feeling. Never got it back. Probably went south of the border.
> When I lost a base years ago it was a terrible feeling. Never got it back. Probably went south of the border.
South of the border, huh?
Lost one last week in Atlanta suburb. Two guys with Florida plates pulled up as close as they could, threw it in the back seat and took off. Third one in the past year and a half. I sure would like to catch someone, it would be worth any citation and vehicle damage to try a pit maneuver chasing someone down.
That's sad. Don't know of much of that around here, but it still makes a pretty good case for big cities and every expanding rural area to establish a significant and reliable RTN.
In my neck of the woods I know Phoenix has one. I know Vegas has one. I believe Tucson and Flagstaff have one. Here in podunk NW AZ the county has worked very closely with a very active county surveyor and NGS to get one on board. NGS is all about fixing the ever changing geoid, but guys like me hope for the RTN. We won't need no stinkin' base station.
Where are the dealers of this stuff on this? They should be the one pushing buttons because they just want to sell stuff. Funding will find itself, somewhere, somehow, someplace, but it will be there in the interest of protecting the public. Just ask the NSA.
Maybe before I push daisies I'll get to see it.... 🙂
I once made a clamp that fit around the "neck" of a Hiper, which I then chained to something firm nearby. It would not defeat a determined thief with a pry bar or bolt cutters, but would definitely prevent a stop and grab. Just the look of it (I used a huge pad lock and weaved the chain through the tripod legs) would probably deter most from trying.
hmmmm...that's a thought. Except I lost it in Tennessee. Very foggy in the AM when I set it up, then when I came back i could see that was a dumb place.
I lost another one near Pittsburgh once, along one of the PA Turnpike extensions. I set it up in a great location, out of sight, but a Turnpike guy pulled up and asked what I was doing up there. I told him, and when I came back later it was gone. I told the state cop who responded that I thought it was the turnpike guy. He went to the maintenance yard, talked to him, and said that the guy said he didn't know anything about it. I got a call the next day, someone found it tossed into a snow bank along the road at the next exit. I think the turnpike guy had it, panicked, and got rid of it. Thanks to the honest citizen who found it and took the trouble to track it down via the dealer's tag that was on it. By the time I heard it was found I had already re-done the survey. But I was happy to get it back!
Apparently this is a BIG problem down south (Florida). all kinds of equipment stolen. And pawn shops are a big part of the problem. Some of them will buy anything, no questions asked. Just as guilty as the thief, in my opinion.
I've read about this happening more than once. Wouldn't it be possible to conceal a cheap iPhone as a battery attached to these things, so that if one ever gets stolen, you can just punch up "Find my iPhone" from any 'puter (or any other iPhone), and get the police on the case? It'd be cheap insurance. I think there are other "GPS locators" for sale too, but I think they require a service that costs money. Find my iPhone is free.
A long time ago we put "DANGER-RADIOACTIVE" tape around a base. Of course, that doesn't deter the illiterates.
Or maybe "HIGH VOLTAGE" might work...
Georgia has a pay to play service, I just can't have a 55 million dollar fleet of equipment go down when the server needs re-booted, or rely on cell service, or rely on modems and rtk bridges on every machine, etc. For a large fleet of machine control an on site base station is the way to go for us. It is also a tad tighter vertically in our area, we tried it out and saw a band of a couple tenths we just couldn't seem to shake. It is a very reliable service operated by a very good surveyor who has scientist like knowledge of GPS and the technology involved, my hats off to them for what they have set up, it has revolutionized GPS for local surveyors.
Andy,
Man your company is having really bad luck with equipment, I am glad I am not in the part of Texas.
You may need to buy some old base stations off of Ebay. A thousand dollar base stolen is better than a 10,000 plus base.
I'm reminded of the scumbag who stole an emergency radio beacon off a friend's boat, activated when it turns right way up from hanging inverted on the deckhouse. About an hour after the theft the criminal was disturbed by a large, noisy rescue helicopter hovering over his street with a very bright searchlight pointed in his bedroom window - where he'd hidden the beacon.
> I've read about this happening more than once. Wouldn't it be possible to conceal a cheap iPhone as a battery attached to these things, so that if one ever gets stolen, you can just punch up "Find my iPhone" from any 'puter (or any other iPhone), and get the police on the case? It'd be cheap insurance. I think there are other "GPS locators" for sale too, but I think they require a service that costs money. Find my iPhone is free.
And you can track your employees whereabouts too 😉
Wouldn't it be possible to conceal a cheap iPhone as a battery attached to these things, so that if one ever gets stolen, you can just punch up "Find my iPhone" from any 'puter (or any other iPhone), and get the police on the case?
Depends on where they take it too. Lots of places we are working lately are a solid 30 minute drive from the nearest cellphone service.
Or maybe hire some kid to baby sit the base ... sucks, but I hear people in South Florida are doing it.
> Wouldn't it be possible to conceal a cheap iPhone as a battery attached to these things, so that if one ever gets stolen, you can just punch up "Find my iPhone" from any 'puter (or any other iPhone), and get the police on the case?
>
> Depends on where they take it too. Lots of places we are working lately are a solid 30 minute drive from the nearest cellphone service.
Fortunately, Find my iPhone does NOT require cell service to work. But even if it did, sooner or later the unit should surface with some kind of connection to the internet (like when someone tries to sell it on ebay), and you got him. Doesn't matter how far it goes, as long as it surfaces before the iPhone battery dies. You could put it into one of those Battery shell cases for days of operation.
> Or maybe hire some kid to baby sit the base ... sucks, but I hear people in South Florida are doing it.
if you hire a kid, say at $10 an hour 40 hours a week that's 400 a week plus all the taxes and social security you have to pay as well, after 2 and a half weeks your losing money on an old $1,000 base. Now a brand new $10,000 plus base its worth it to hire someone to watch the base.
Sorry to hear that Andy. On a brighter note, I did see your mug and a streetcar in the newspaper the other day.
"find my iPhone"
What good would it be if you traced it to a pawn shop in Presidio...where this guy explains, "Lo siento mucho, mi amigo gringo...you muss be meestakin..."
Apparently this is a BIG problem down south (Florida). all kinds of equipment stolen.
We (my company) agree with this statement.
Last month in Miami, crews doing some water work in the bay. Had our base stolen while working. Here is the best part: they took it when our cop (who was being paid to baby sit the base) took a restroom/lunch break! Witnesses said a van pulled up and did a quick snatch and grab. Took everything, except radio b/c it fell out while when they took off.
Crews ended up finishing the job using the VRS type system they have in Miami.