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Small Cabin Forum / Off-Grid Living / beating google earth
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dvgchef
Member
# Posted: 16 Jul 2012 21:19
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I have a sweet lil' cabin in the woods that can be seen by Google Earth and the microsoft map (I forgot the name of it). My cabin is 12 by 12 and the satellites can still make it out! I just added a bunch of decks that are as large or larger than the cabin. I would like to keep them private. Can I cover them with camouflage tarp, or straight up camouflage material, or does the eye in the sky have me beat?

OwenChristensen
Member
# Posted: 16 Jul 2012 22:59
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I get it. I don't like the spies. but I don't think anyone really cares.

Owen

groingo
Member
# Posted: 16 Jul 2012 23:18
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Around here it is worth being concerned about because our county is now using Sat maps for Property Tax to see if you have any changes to your site and thus you will pay higher taxes thanks to the eye in the sky!

OwenChristensen
Member
# Posted: 16 Jul 2012 23:28
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I understand that too, but if you don't pay for what you got , then maybe I have to.
The problem is ''TOO BIG OF GOVERNMENT''

Please know I understand. I'm all for building underground.

Owen

flyrdr
Member
# Posted: 17 Jul 2012 06:27 - Edited by: flyrdr
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Turns out George Orwell was a prophet!

dvgchef
Member
# Posted: 17 Jul 2012 08:39
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Thanks everyone, and groingo that's my concern. The info can now be used to raise taxes.
Does any of this camouflage stuff work?
I'm a city guy and not a hunter so I don't know this answer, does anyone?
Thanks again.

mrmiji
Member
# Posted: 17 Jul 2012 08:52
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My single concern is preventing rural theft. I've never seen an unauthorized footprint and you have to wander off the road and over a fence to get on my place but using google to scout might motivate someone to determine I have implements and no permanent residence making my vulnerable.

groingo
Member
# Posted: 17 Jul 2012 09:46 - Edited by: groingo
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My "rural theft' just yesterday was from one very annoying deer who has been reaking havoc on my plants and yesterday in the greatest act of defiance while I watched her (and she knew I was watching) walked by and grabbed one of my socks which was drying in the line and ran off with it....just out of spite!

With the amount of county cutbacks, I seriously doubt they have the money or manpower to scour Sat maps for possible changes, but then again this is the US and we are now under some kind of watchful government eye, can't wait till Drone Hunting Season Opens!

bugs
Member
# Posted: 17 Jul 2012 10:54
Reply 


dvgchef

We too are feeling a bit exposed. Google earth is still reasonably low res for us and I think the last pass was 2007 before we bought our place. But a couple other sat image companies have made more recent images available.

Everything can be seen. Even our dock on our pond (2 feet wide) is visible and the narrow path down to it. And our lane is obvious.

You will have to break up the shadows in some way and I suspect you would have to use different techniques when the leaves are off and when they are on unless the trees hide your place well enough.
yard site image
yard site image


sparky1
Member
# Posted: 17 Jul 2012 10:57
Reply 


County Here in Va,came back on me---I had a 2 ft tall junk camper shell under trees---he didn't see it when he was here---accessor came back to investigate what it was-pulled it out 8 ft to show him-he saw it from google Earth.showed me on his Laptop. I also have a 175 gallon oil tank in the woods(empty) it showed it..

justincasei812
Member
# Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:02
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I have to say I am a little luckier than most due to the fact that my cabin is close enough (within ten mile) to a military reservation that MOST satellite imaginary is blurred just enough that you can't get close enough to see what is on the property. The government will not allow them to have too much detailed information that close to the installation. Even though it is a part time National Guard training area (Camp Grayling in Michigan). The camouflage netting that you would get from an Army surplus store should help with concealing what is underneath them. We used them when I was in the military and basically what they are designed to do is conceal the outline of what is underneath and not to make things disappear. The enemy would not know if it was an ammo dump, tank, kitchen, etc. The big thing is that if you have seasons and the leaves fall off the trees and you have a bunch of green camo netting over the top and the satellites go over it will stick out like a sore thumb. Your best bet would be to paint the decks to a close color of the ground surrounding it if you want to hide from what is above.

MJW
Member
# Posted: 18 Jul 2012 09:54
Reply 


Quoting: groingo
I seriously doubt they have the money or manpower to scour Sat maps for possible changes


That is the thing. ESPECIALLY with reduced manpower and cutbacks, they FOCUS on income producing tasks. Law enforcement FOCUSES on ticketing instead of protecting, county employees are assigned to duties to increase income rather than provide services.

Generating income becomes the top priority for ALL government employees on every level.

TomChum
Member
# Posted: 18 Jul 2012 19:06 - Edited by: TomChum
Reply 


A computer can scour photos for "structures" or for "differences" and provide the list of locations to a human to have a look at. Basically it depends whether this procedure nets $$ for your county. If it pays for the consultants fee then they do it.

Its pretty basic these days. Cameras, phones already have these routines in them for face recognition. Pretty soon your phone can take a pic then go on the internet to name who's in the photo.

Whenever someone names a photo of you on the www (tagging in Facebook might be the largest database) they just added to the quality of data that these devices will use.

Theres no turning back.

cabingal3
Member
# Posted: 18 Jul 2012 22:19
Reply 


Quoting: justincasei812
The government will not allow them to have too much detailed information that close to the installation

u are so correct when u state this.i lived near Barkdale air force base in my youth in louisiana and i found out my ole neighborhood was still there.I went to google earth to have a look.then i thought oh i would love to see the base...cause i would walk to church there every sunday and go to the library and stores there all the time.well u knowwhat happens?every time i go to look-my computer goes black and i get kicked off.so i am probably on some fbi list some where.yeek

exsailor
Member
# Posted: 19 Jul 2012 09:39
Reply 


Has anybody seen this? http://news.yahoo.com/camouflaged-residence-discovered-california-park-161429318--abc -news-topstories.html He beat the system for a year and it took men on the ground to find it. Or Just write a message on your roof if you can't hide it. Camoflague net was mentioned in an earlier post. During WW II they his an entire aircraft manufacturing plant with camoflague netting. I will see if I can dig up the link with pictures.

Anonymous
# Posted: 19 Jul 2012 21:05
Reply 


Oh yes write a anti government message on your roof. Great advise now you will really be a person of interest. If you obey building laws and pay your taxes you don't have to worry about the paranoid notion of people spying on you.

groingo
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2012 09:58
Reply 


A sad story, too bad the Parks department doesn't do like our State Parks do and in hard to patrol areas use volunteers or camp ground hosts, they are unpaid but allowed to stay and give the park a presence just tell them no pot plants, file daily or weekly reports since he and his friends are already out there and likely know the territory better than trying to patrol using the under staffed parks departments it's a win win for everyone, throwing him in jail is now costing way more than the damage done.

Make him part of the solution not a problem.

Slodave
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2012 13:40
Reply 


this is 30 year old tech we are talking about .. Keep that in mind when you read this..

Keyhole spy sats
"The black and white images are used by the military and civilian communities. Many of the details about this class of satellites remain classified, but it is known that there are several of these overhead at any given time. They have an imaging resolution of 5-6 inches, which means they can see something 5 inches or larger on the ground. These satellites probably can't read your house number, but they can tell whether there is a bike parked in your driveway."

You can't hide jack now days from the sky. Also you need to remember that quite a few law enforcement agencies fly helicopters around rural area's looking for pot gardens. (i would think if you tried to camo your place you would get a visit from big men with guns pretty quickly)

exsailor
Member
# Posted: 20 Jul 2012 15:39 - Edited by: exsailor
Reply 


Actually the guy in the article was growing pot. Who said the note on the roof had to be anti Government! Lighten up Francis

Anonymous
# Posted: 20 Jul 2012 16:09
Reply 


Why would you write anything on your roof? It would just draw unwanted attention.

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