Keeping the theives out of the barn?

I know it's a petty theft, but the local law enforcement couldn't care less and unless you put the crooks on a silver platter, they'll never be stopped.

Anyway, anyone have any thoughts how to keep this from happening again besides sitting inside with a .44 on your lap?

Then, I ran across a security sytem designed for yachts and RVs. Operates on 12 volts with magnetic door/window sensors. If activated, the system sounds a 110 decibal piercing sound and activates a 100,000 candle light strobe light.

My plan includes adding a solar powered charger to keep the battery fully charged. Literature says that system in "stand-by" mode only uses 50 milliamps and the charger puts out 125 milliamps, so the battery should stay fully charged. I thought I would mount the main box and battery up high where you need a ladder or loader to get at it.

System also includes a keyed switch to turn security system on & off. The key looks like one used for pop machines.

Again, thanks for all the support and ideas. Let me know what you think of this one.

I have seen professional alarms that make noise that hurts your ears so bad that you can not stay around more than a minute. I think they are pretty good systems.

They got the bas**** later and he went to the can on a list of small charges that was a mile long. One of the charges stemmed from the S/N from my camera which he pawned not realizing there was a number on the inside. I still didn't get the camera back (insurance got it) but there was some satisfaction there. Thanks to the cop who made the effort to phone me and let me know.

I would rig up a motion sensor to a video on the inside of the building, and transmit the results to the house if possible. Run power & phone lines where they cannot be cut (like underground) if possible.

Another idea is to tack up a used pistol target, preferably one of those "exploding" types that really accent the hole left by the bullet. Make sure it is a tight pattern and put the target in plain view of the place they might get in.

Mountainman...CA

Your post reminded me of a fellow down in Yemassee SC who had 5 breakins at his pawn shop in 2 months. So he raised all the furniture up off the floor, put a lockout on the light switches and started turning 6 diamondbacks loose in the place when he left at night. Got an article about it in the paper. Didn't have any more problems.

Good luck with your solutions!

Well, looks like I should move that up a bit!

I'd be interested in "defeat" stories. Such as "I had motion lights, but they still got me." Stories that might indicate which precaustions aren't as good as others.

Didn't happen to me but here are a few failures I know of.

Big Dog - My grandmother had a series of rental buildings that included an old gas station. The fella that rented it kept a rather large dog in there at night. Over a 3 years period he went through 4 of those big dogs. The first one was found dead (poisoned) the next three were just missing the next day. He finally had to move to a better location, insurance co. threaten to drop him.

Silent Alarm - Another one of her renters was a local photographer. He had installed a silent alarm. Apparently the crooks tossed a large rock through the front door to see what would happen. Since the was no audible alarm and the police still showed up. They came back a week later and cut the phone line and broke a rear window. Since no police came they went in and cleaned him out.

Motion lights - Shortly after moving here, I lived in a small town. Behind and caddy corner from me was a church with motion detectors front and rear the building. After the break-in (vandalism) it was discovered that the lights on the rear had been shot out providing a nice dark area for kids to come and go.

1. Motion sensing lights. You can get a motion sensing light that's part of a system called X-10 (lots of places, including Radio Shack) that sends out a signal to other lights to turn them on too. It can also send a signal into the house to sound an annunciator, assuming you're home and you own a 12-gauge.

2. What about hardened padlocks to keep any doors from being opened, even from the inside, without a key?

Remember that these are probably kids, not sophisticated burglars, so if you can make enough barriers, light and noise, you can probably keep them out.