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mystery boat snooper in MK


onionbargee

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When I worked in and around London, I was told that any one person visiting via a mainline railway station was on average recorded by 400 CCTV cameras. (and people are concerned about being g tracked on the canals)

Could this be a clue as to one reason people take to the canals , why then are some moonmen asking that it be brought onto the canals.

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Could this be a clue as to one reason people take to the canals , why then are some moonmen asking that it be brought onto the canals.

 

Emerald Fox's suggestion makes sense in principle, but is perhaps "over-specified".

 

Those buses must have a GPS unit and a radio (something similar to a mobile phone) on board, and send their GPS position regularly (every 10-30 seconds perhaps). This is fine for buses, which aren't anonymous and are supposed to have predictable times/locations. IMO it would be an invasion of privacy to do exactly the same thing for narrow boats, but ...

 

... narrow boats don't need a GPS or a transmitter. I described a way for boaters to register their time/location with CaRT (when the boater wants to) back in November. Ditto (though for a different reason) I posted a few times about passive RFID tags. RFID tags have to be "asked" to send data back, use energy from the requesting signal to send their response back, and have a range from a few meters to 100 meters or so. Passive RFID would require enforcement officers working as they do today, but would make them a lot more efficient, as data could be collected while they were moving (e.g on a bicycle).

 

RFID is obviously much less intrusive than GPS/radio. It would lead to somewhat more frequent and widespread boat recording of course, due to the efficiency improvement. But if you assume that CaRT are determined to enforce "the rules", and you aren't personally inclined to be a test case for the "ghost mooring" amendment to the T's and C's, you're better off with CaRT doing their chosen level of boat recording on a lower budget and using the savings for something else.

Edited by Gordias
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Could this be a clue as to one reason people take to the canals , why then are some moonmen asking that it be brought onto the canals.

If you think there are no cameras on the canals you are sadly deluded rolleyes.gif

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I have pointed this out weeks ago, dead easy to fit all boats with transponders and CRT can see where they are all of the time. The system can automatically inform of overstaying on eg. 48-hour moorings. Helsinki City Transport has this for all of their buses - want to find any bus or any driver? The map zooms in and you've got 'em! This would bring the CCer & CMer threads to an abrupt halt, eh?

Invasion of privacy? I read somewhere that Britain has the most CCTV cameras of any other country.

CaRT have them in all there vans

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Waste of time, their vans never go anywhere. Except to fetch more tea bags and pies for the office.

Not completely true, I was very impressed by the two vans full of blokes who turned up at 8pm at night last October down the Northampton arm, when I was following down a boat full of clueless new owners who were getting stuck and emptying all the pounds behind them. I was even more pleased when they convinced the boat to tie up and let us by, we managed to make it to the marina by 11pm then, only 3 hours later than planned.

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Now that you no longer need to display your licence in the boat window, there is no reason for anyone to 'peer' in.

You do need to display your licence the tweet sent was wrong!
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What I received.

 

"Thank you for contacting Canal & River Trust, I have liaised with our Boater Liaison Manager who has confirmed we have no Volunteers in this area, also the Enforcement Officer who covers this area is a male. This maybe a boat enthusiast?

 

Kind Regards

 

Lou Harwood

Business Support"

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Our canals attract all sorts of weirdos; the least of us invest a stupid proportion of our income into a leisure boat and some seek to maintain an old 'working boat'.

 

The unofficial snoopers are, sadly, people who no longer have any meaning left in their lives.

 

Alan

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I've had a snooper today, blond hair, saw through our window. Looking at other boats on the line

When I finally made it to the wheel house with out a top,she was off like a shot.

I was going to have a chat, but seeing me topless, she properly realised she couldnt trust herself!

 

Col

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I was near Crofton on the K&A about 3 weeks ago, and there was a group of men loitering at one of the locks. All with expensive looking cameras. Some were stood on a beam, and the rest had small step ladders.

 

I thought they were possibly awaiting the arrival of some politician out canvassing. Hopeful of getting the chance to tell Ed Miliband he was an inept tw*t, I asked them what they were doing.

 

 

Turns out they were train spotters, waiting for some freight trains which were being diverted because of engineering works on their normal route, and which had never been seen on this line before.

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I was near Crofton on the K&A about 3 weeks ago, and there was a group of men loitering at one of the locks. All with expensive looking cameras. Some were stood on a beam, and the rest had small step ladders.

 

I thought they were possibly awaiting the arrival of some politician out canvassing. Hopeful of getting the chance to tell Ed Miliband he was an inept tw*t, I asked them what they were doing.

 

 

Turns out they were train spotters, waiting for some freight trains which were being diverted because of engineering works on their normal route, and which had never been seen on this line before.

Yeah, I saw them. Was hoping it was a going to be a steamer. Mind you , when it came through, even I could tell it wasn't the same as the normal freight on that line. Still just a big diesel pulling trucks though.

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I think maybe we should get the Home Secretary to give a ruling on the licence disc question. I'm sure she'll give us a clear & utterly unambiguous answer. (as long as John Humphries doesn't ask her to clarify). Yeah, I know, Radio 4, what am I like?

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It wasn't the tweet that gave me that info, but the licensing team at CART last week. They confirmed it on the phone.

The licensing team are wrong......

I have asked further up the CRT tree and its been confirmed you do still have to display.

Would be good fun if CRT mounted a purge on non display as I belive its in the bylaws that would mean criminal record for all those prosecuted.

Edited by Loddon
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Would be good fun if CRT mounted a purge on non display as I belive its in the bylaws that would mean criminal record for all those prosecuted.

This isn't necessarily the case but, if it was, I don't really see why it would be "fun" to make criminals of those who "break" a law that even the enforcing authority believes is pointless.

 

If a byelaw is broken but the administrative "fine" is paid before court action is taken then this will not result in the "offence" being recorded.

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