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Author Topic: Why steal a dipole ?  (Read 163402 times)

K9KUZ

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Why steal a dipole ?
« on: November 07, 2011, 07:01:36 PM »

3 weeks ago, my golf clubs were stolen out of my unlocked car in the driveway. I got them back a week later, pawn shop had them, police found them.  Then last weekend someone cut down my 40 M dipole, suspended on very high trees right over my house. Don't know if it was day or night. The golf club perps were caught, who knows? maybe they came back for more goodies. It happened in Danville IL. 
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K2OWK

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #1 on: November 07, 2011, 09:02:30 PM »

Question, Do any of your neighbors complane of interference to there radios or TVs?
Just curious.

73s

K2OWK
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N1EQ

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #2 on: November 08, 2011, 02:40:55 AM »

... Then last weekend someone cut down my 40 M dipole, suspended on very high trees right over my house...  

Maybe for the copper? There have been a lot of copper thefts in our area. In one neighborhood, all the ground wires were cut off the utility poles.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2011, 02:45:54 AM by N1EQ »
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AA4PB

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #3 on: November 08, 2011, 07:47:46 AM »

We had someone steal all of the copper lightning rods from the church roof a couple of years ago. I guess copper brings big bucks.
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Bob  AA4PB
Garrisonville, VA

K9KUZ

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #4 on: November 08, 2011, 07:07:29 PM »

Zero complaints from neighbors.  I've been here 12 years.  Thanks for the idea.

Question, Do any of your neighbors complane of interference to there radios or TVs?
Just curious.

73s

K2OWK
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K2OWK

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #5 on: November 08, 2011, 10:18:02 PM »

If you cause no RFI. I can not imagine anyone taking your antenna for the copper. My dipoles (I have three) have less then 50 cents worth of copper in them. It seams like it would be an lot of work for 50 cents if they could get that much. Could have been a prank by someone you know. If not I have no reasonable explanation.

73s

K2OWK

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K1CJS

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #6 on: November 09, 2011, 03:10:45 AM »

Could well be a neighbor that objects to having wires hanging from trees near their home.  Not necessarily because of RFI, but just because they think the wire looks terrible.  You know--the same type of people who insist on being on the HOA committee because they want to force their neighbors to do what they want--even though the property the so called bad looking item is on or above is not theirs.
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AG6WT

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #7 on: November 09, 2011, 06:38:49 AM »

If someone stole it for the copper, I would suppose they didn't know copper wire for antennas, copperweld, is mostly steel.

And was one or more of the trees in the front, near the street? Or near a utility pole?

If it was near a street, you local municipality might have done it. In my neighborhood the city periodically sends a bunch of workers around with a cherry picker, trimming trees. Or if it was near a utility, one of their workers might have done it.
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N3OX

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #8 on: November 09, 2011, 07:31:39 AM »

SRI OM NEEDED DIPOLE TNX 73
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73,
Dan
http://www.n3ox.net

Monkey/silicon cyborg, beeping at rocks since 1995.

W8JI

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2011, 05:22:16 PM »

3 weeks ago, my golf clubs were stolen out of my unlocked car in the driveway. I got them back a week later, pawn shop had them, police found them.  Then last weekend someone cut down my 40 M dipole, suspended on very high trees right over my house. Don't know if it was day or night. The golf club perps were caught, who knows? maybe they came back for more goodies. It happened in Danville IL. 

Crack heads and meth heads will steal anything. I installed cameras all around here because some meth head came right up in my yard and told me my uncle told him he could have all the scrap aluminum in my antenna tubing rack.

They actually pull up loose railroad spikes around here.
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SWMAN

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #10 on: November 12, 2011, 05:05:14 AM »

 Just wanted to mention a little more about stealing copper wire. Here in Dallas Tx, some theives stole about 5 miles of the wire used to connect the highway lighting in the median of a major US highway. The tall light poles were about 100 yards apart. They pulled out the underground feed line between all the light poles for about 5 miles. No one say anything. It took about a year before they replaced the wire. Just wanted to mention this to you.
73 Jim. W5JJG
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KA5N

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #11 on: November 12, 2011, 10:15:49 AM »

People will steal things they neither want nor need and can't sell.

Why? 

Because they can.

Allen
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M0HCN

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #12 on: November 12, 2011, 02:34:20 PM »

The classic copper theft around here was the guy found dead by the railway line with a pair of bolt cutters and the cut end of the track return cable nearby (Overhead live wire with the track used as the return, they parallel it with a heavy copper cable to reduce losses and deal with points and the like).... He had an OUT OF DATE rail timetable in his pocket, that cable can be safely cut only if there is no train in the vicinity!

The other doozy was the guys who broke into a substation and stole the neutral links, exploding tellys up and down the street.

It is becoming a real problem, those of you running valve linear amps, I suggest removing the safety choke and the plate DC block capacitor, 3KV DC on the aerial wire should discourage the scum as well as reducing the overall incidence of drug related crime.

Regards, Dan.
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NO2A

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #13 on: November 12, 2011, 08:59:56 PM »

I can`t believe someone would go through that much trouble to steal a dipole. How did they even know it was there?
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KC2VDM

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RE: Why steal a dipole ?
« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2011, 10:57:33 AM »

You should be lucky they didn't steal your car!
...stolen out of my unlocked car in the driveway...   

-Alex
KC2VDM
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