[Elecraft] Serial Number Check for Elecraft gear

[EricJ]

I don't know the details in this particular case. I googled "KX3 stolen" 
and got two hits. One was stolen at Dayton...no doubt a target rich 
collection of rigs to steal what with half the cars bristling with 
antennas. The other was stolen in 2014, locked in the trunk of a car at 
night with a radio pack full of equipment, several handguns and shooting 
accessories.

I won't speculate on the details, but I'll offer two examples of my own. 
My pickup was broken into. The thieves took a 15 year old scratched up 
KMart AM/FM/CD, and a roll of paper towels from behind the seat. I was 
parked during the week in the unguarded, unoccupied parking lot (except 
for my truck) of a local wilderness park. I was gone hiking for 2-3 
hours. I have to accept some responsibility for the loss of that POS 
radio and half roll of towels. The real loss for me was the broken door 
lock. $85 and it can be punched out again any time in seconds 
unobtrusively and almost noiselessly.

Same truck. My tailgate was stolen late evening in my driveway with 
bright motion detector lights functioning. Basically, I provided 
adequate lighting at their job site. I have the bottom of the line F150. 
Stick shift, rubber mats. And no factory tailgate lock. Two guys can 
take a tailgate in about 3 minutes or less. If it has a lock, I'd give 
them 5 minutes.

Lesson 1:  They will steal anything. There is little risk and if they 
get $5, they at least covered their gas expense.

Lesson 2:  Your vehicle, I don't care what make or model, is NOT secure. 
A "locked" trunk full of radios and guns is not really locked. Your 
stuff is just out of sight. Police cars are broken into or stolen.

Lesson 3: Your level of security should be in proportion to the value of 
the items "on offer" to thieves. There's a saying, "Never gamble more 
than you are willing to lose."

Lesson 4: You are being watched. Thieves have a lot of the same high 
tech stuff you have (they probably stole it though). They watch you 
punching in PINs. They watch you loading your handguns into the trunk 
when you leave the range. They watch you lock your radio in your trunk. 
They watch you remove your antenna when you park somewhere.

Given just those few lessons (and there are so many more), it isn't that 
difficult to assign some responsibility to the victim.

I hope it isn't too unsettling for us to discover there are bad people 
out there willing to do bad things.

The discussion has already taken more list time than it should so any 
comments, please email me.

Eric
KE6US