Hi Spehro,

On 8/18/2014 11:24 AM, Spehro Pefhany wrote:
On Mon, 18 Aug 2014 17:06:57 +0000 (UTC), Cydrome Leader
wrote:

In sci.electronics.equipment Don wrote:
On 8/17/2014 8:56 PM, DaveC wrote:

This is my business workbench/equipment in my home. Some homes have been
burglarized recently: smash a door glass, open the door, march the proceeds
out to the driveway (where a van has been waiting with rear doors right up
against the house) and load up everything.

Wouldn't they also take the *bench*? (as has happened here, recently,
with homes being "cleaned out").

Perhaps a wiser approach might be to affix a sticker to each piece
of kit offering a reward for its return! Then, if it ends up in a
pawn shop, etc. SOMEONE has an incentive to contact you.

Hillarious. Why not just put stickers on stuff that says "don't steal,
it's wrong"?

"Do not remove, under penalty of law" on the stickers?

I was looking for a tile saw at one of the (many) pawn shops here
some months ago. Seeing the variety of "stuff" they had up for
sale, I thought maybe this would be a great place to get rid of
some of my test/development equipment (logic analyzers, freq
counters, waveform generators, programmable power supplies, etc.).

Of course, I was sure the prices on the devices for sale there
had to exceed the $$$ they were willing to "loan" to the original
owners. But, by how much, I was not sure. (I was just looking
for "anything" to save me the hassle of eBay-ing it all -- how many
folks want to pay to ship a heavy piece of kit?).

When I asked the guy at the counter, the first question out of his
mouth was: "Is it from a business?" Technically, my answer would
be "Yes" -- and he just shook his head, "No". Apparently, the
inventory control tag -- or any other "formal" reference to business
ownership -- is a red flag for them. Had they been marked "Spehro
Pefhany" (even if ENGRAVED nice and pretty), they would have had no
problem with them -- just like most of the other stuff that was
displayed for sale.

I guess they figure folks won't bother checking serial numbers on
whatever (tile saws, televisions, computers, etc.). Or, that
it's enough of an effort that they can "reasonably" ignore that.

OTOH, an inventory control tag that says "Burr Brown", "Texas
Instruments", "Local University", etc. is too much for them to
bother with -- even if you can demonstrate legal ownership of
those items!

Amusing as most of those are easily removed. But, the guys
burglarizing a home are typically looking for something "generic"
to flip -- a TV, tools, lawnmowers, etc. *NOT* something that
they are going to have to post on eBay for a buyer!

Thankfully, I know enough folks that I could find good homes for
all of the kit that I was shedding, at the time! The *next*
batch I will be sure have no inventory control tags if I revisit
a pawn shop!