mostly serious ideas
Oh, theft, eh?
Dishes do attract attention, though stealing one is pretty low.
- the white FortecStar dishes are -
very- white, and attract more attention.
- the GeoSat / AzureShine / and other dishes in the dark grey are less noticeable
- you could camouflage your dish with paint to make it blend into the background
- mounting them close to the ground makes 'em less visible from a distance
- low dishes can be hidden by shrubbery or trash cans
- I still favor the motion sensor lights
- I have some for $20 that are 65 watt Compact Fluorescent, and light the yard like 300w halogens!
- though pretty serious, the camera idea is great
- they usually have IR light emitters and -can- see in the 'dark', but you really want to have them seen
- just make sure the camera doesn't get stolen.
- obviously, the motion sensor lights work well with any camera
- I'd read that in the old days, C-band folks had some sort of alarms
- I'll assume it detected a break in the cable when cut, and no current was flowing to the LNB.
- if those are not available today, we could help you make one
- physical security is always helpful
- when I moved in here, people used my back yard as a short-cut out of the neighborhood to the local intersection where there were several convenience stores.
- I put up a chain link fence and gate, and retrained the kids who thought they could still go through or climb over
- so, if your yard is a thoroughfare, stop that
- and a dog living in the back yard who barks at strangers is a good deterrent, too
- just make sure you don't have a friendly dog, who'll go with the the vandals.
- you can't actually hurt anyone, but you can set up traps they'll trigger to make noise.
- some strategically place trash cans can catch 'em off guard in the dark
- maybe some strings with cans (and pebbles in the cans) rigged to be tripped over
I had a phone call while writing and lost my train of thought, but hope some of these suggestion spark a thought for a good solution.