Near miss break in - plus thoughts on security

[chrisc]

Had a call today that the garage block where my Beta would normally live had a break in affecting 4 garages including mine.

Thankfully the car wasn't there, and it's not clear what the thieves were trying to achieve - they left easily moved / fenced goods in other garages, although made a bit of a mess of a classic mini project.

The block is without power, and whilst security is generally ok - fenced locked compound, hefty doors etc, there's no cameras.

I happen to have a dashcam that I never got round to fitting, and one of the victims has a couple of spare car batteries.. solution in the making?

Suppose I hook up said dashcam to the batteries, wired in parallel.. I'll have to do the maths, but hopefully the draw from a dashcam will be low enough to get away only charging them every few weeks / a month, and it should be an easy wiring job - batteries in parallel, dashcam already designed to run off 12v.. presto?

Any flaws in said plan?

[Nigel]

Hi Chris,
By all means install video.
However, tracing the felons after the event is often difficult and it won't help
if they've already trashed your car/stolen stuff.

My view is to beef up your already strong doors/fencing etc. especially if
they've breached already.
Hard steel, boxed-in quality padlocks together with thick steel doors,
maybe a roller shutter with no fixings visible.
An alarm system, via your mobile, to give instant notification may also
work well, depending on distance and willingness/promptness of the local police force.

It's always traumatic, I sympathise. In many cases, if they want in, they will achieve regardless.

Hope this helps.
Best regards, Nigel

[JohnFol]

I am lucky enough to have cameras around the garage. Although good for evidence it doesn't help me get my car back. So I have a 3G GPS device hidden in my car. I just send an SMS and get location / engine status back via online map.
Trivial battery drain and a very cheap PAYG SIM.

[chrisc]

I guess it's just deterrence I'm thinking of. A fake camera would go some of the way, but seeing as I have the bits to make it real cheaply, why not..

[WestonE]

Hi Chis

I installed Garage Door Defenders with Federal anti pick/drill locks to both of my Lock Ups (Council owned so no holes in doors). I have a cordless Milwaukee SDS Drill which is essential with no nearby power and 16mm expanding bolts into concrete. Scumbags with hoodies will risk CCTV. Loud Alarms that text your mobile are good but need power. Shifting a Garage Door defender needs a disc cutter or major effort with sledge hammers which tends to alert people nearby. Both of my lock ups have people who would hear this.

eBay sells these and actually councils fit them to some lucky owners lock ups. Original up and over doors take less than a minute to open with a steel ruler!

Electric Roller shutters are good these days if you have power.

Eric