My Remote Won't

February 5, 2008 7:26 PM

Why won't my remote car lock work when I'm parked in this one particular place? In fact, everyone else's remote won't work either.

I was picking up my daughter at her dance studio, when one of the parents mentioned that she couldn't get her car to lock using her remote key...gee, neither could I...then another parent chimed in and said "me too", then another, then another. In an informal poll, 7 of 7 parents mentioned that their remote did not work, but only at the dance studio...weird. Some particulars:
--dance studio is in a small strip mall.
--stores beside the studio are a grocery store, a nail place, a jewler, a walk in clinic, a pharmacy, a couple of Doctor's offices, and a dollar store.
--there are no visible hydro/transmission towers nearby.
--all different types of cars.
--you need to be parked pretty close to the front of the studio (let's say, 25 metres/30 yards).

Otherwise, the remotes work fine.

Any ideas why our remote locks don't work?

posted by BozoBurgerBonanza to technology (19 comments total)

Something must be transmitting on 315 MHz and swamping the area (and the car's receivers) with too much noise. I have no idea what else runs at 315 MHz. Does the studio (or nearby business) have a wireless video camera?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_keyless_system

In the old days, supermarket door sensors would set off radar detectors. Same kinda thing.
posted by intermod at 7:43 PM on February 5, 2008

My guess was that the storefront has some kind of oddly configured alarm sensors.
posted by Burhanistan at 7:46 PM on February 5, 2008

Cell phone towers.
posted by Max Power at 8:01 PM on February 5, 2008

He said there weren't any towers nearby...
posted by Burhanistan at 8:08 PM on February 5, 2008

315Mhz is in the UHF band. Mostly meteorological and government/military use.
posted by aerotive at 8:17 PM on February 5, 2008

Cell phone towers.

I spend much of my day around cellular equipment, towers, and repeaters and I've never heard of this. They don't transmit on anything near that frequency.
posted by Octoparrot at 8:21 PM on February 5, 2008

Is there a natural stream nearby with a bridge? Often you'll see transmitting stations monitoring flood sensors in little sheds there.
posted by Burhanistan at 8:27 PM on February 5, 2008

Wow, I've been experiencing this too, at one particular shopping center I frequent. The remote works but it takes a lot of "clicks" to get the doors to unlock and I'm always afraid I'm going to break the remote. The center is adjacent to an artificial lake and some bridges. I don't think the problem is cell phone towers so next time me I'll have to look for the little sheds for flood sensors.
posted by fuse theorem at 8:50 PM on February 5, 2008

Maybe it's similar to the problem some people have when parking near the Empire State Building in NYC (could have sworn I saw this on MeFi, but can't find the thread).
posted by pete0r at 9:02 PM on February 5, 2008

I suspect it's a wireless security camera system, too. Maybe the jewelry store, or the shopping center itself.
posted by dhartung at 10:34 PM on February 5, 2008

Sounds stupid but... have you tried putting the key against your head when you press it? I've seen it many times (on Top Gear, for instance) and apparently it magnifies the signal considerably. Strange, but true, and might just work. Plus, imagine the look on other people's faces when you pull it off.
posted by Acey at 5:21 AM on February 6, 2008

No, I haven't tried the key against the head thing, however, what the hell, I'll do it!
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 5:33 AM on February 6, 2008

I'm not trying to give people ideas for malicious actions, but there could be a person intentionally jamming 315Hz with the intent of theft. Some people may not realize their car didn't lock when they pressed the remote, thus leaving a number of cars unsecured.

In your case BozoBurger, it doesn't sound malicious considering the proximity to the building needed.

With this in mind you can conduct some tests to discover the source of the jamming signal. You could either park the car in various places to try to sorta triangulate the signal or you could use a radio scanner set at 315 Hz and follow the signal strength. You may be able to atleast figure out which store is the culprit and narrow down the options.

For no reason whatsoever, I'd blame the dollar store. Let us know!
posted by strangememes at 6:39 AM on February 6, 2008

*315 MHz
posted by strangememes at 6:45 AM on February 6, 2008

I dated a girl briefly whose condo was near some sort of radio tower; my car alarm remote would not work in her parking lot even if I put it 2 inches away from the control box. It made for an interesting coda to our first date when I had to pop the hood and yank the horn because I couldn't get it to stop sounding.

I spend much of my day around cellular equipment, towers, and repeaters and I've never heard of this. They don't transmit on anything near that frequency.

Amusingly, a member of my family once had to deal in a professional capacity with a radio system problem that seemed to be caused by proximity to a certain cellular company's towers. The company swore up and down they couldn't be the problem but the transmitter manf suggested trying the installation of (what my brain remembers as) filters (but it's been a long time and I may be mis-remembering - the long and short of it was an installation of some additional equipment on the cell towers).

Said cell company said there's no way this will make a difference but we'll install them if you'll agree to pay for them. They were installed in a test area... and the problem no longer occurred in that area. They were eventually rolled out to all that company's towers, though they insisted to the end it could not possibly matter.

I'm not trying to pick on you, strangememes, just pointing out that what something deliberately transmits on isn't necessarily the only thing it leaks onto, even when the specs and certs swear it doesn't.
posted by phearlez at 7:15 AM on February 6, 2008

I'm not trying to pick on you, strangememes, just pointing out that what something deliberately transmits on isn't necessarily the only thing it leaks onto, even when the specs and certs swear it doesn't.
posted by phearlez at 7:15 AM on February 6 [+] [!]

I think you maybe you meant to direct that at Octoparrot?
posted by strangememes at 7:22 AM on February 6, 2008

Backing up the article that pete0r posted, there was also a story in last week's New Yorker about it.
posted by cowboy_sally at 9:37 AM on February 6, 2008

I think I may have found the answer. Following the advice/suggestions in the thread, I examined the area around the dance studio, and noticed a black box on the outside wall just beside the entrance. The only identification on the box was the word "SUPRA". I also noticed a sticker on the door which read "Fire Department Access".
So with a little bit of googling, I found this. The little animation with the fireman is exactly what the entrance of the studio looks like, black box and all.
This would seem to be the prime suspect. I will try to find out more, but I think we found the problem.
Thanks to all!
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 6:18 PM on February 8, 2008

Nobody's reading this now, however, the black box is the culprit, and strangely enough, the problem is only in the Fall...go figure.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 10:06 AM on October 29, 2008