Is there any way to increase the range on the keyless entry?

[Phil M]

Already lifted the back seat and made sure the thing is set to highest range and have figited around with the antenna. Also have replaced the battery in the remote. Range is about 25-30 ft and thats okay but is it possible to increase it to around 50+? The antenna looks like a regular RCA hookup so could one buy an RCA extention and maybe place the antenna in the roof or something? Or hookup and seperate 'powered' antenna? I know this may be overkill but oh well.

[winfred]

i've been thinking about that, but never got around to doing anything

[MikeV]

First you thoroughly dry the remote ;)

Sorry, couldn't stop myself.

[Phil M]

Got it dry but still wouldnt work. Thought I had reset it or rendered it useless. 5 minutes after the locksmith left, it started working again. MMM! what a great day. :)


First you thoroughly dry the remote ;)

Sorry, couldn't stop myself.

[632 Regal]

under your chin will increase the range significantly, up to 40 feet farther. I never had one and am just repeating the useless knowledge that lurks under my hood.

[G Feller]

. . . who had a lot of metal in his head.


under your chin will increase the range significantly, up to 40 feet farther. I never had one and am just repeating the useless knowledge that lurks under my hood.

[Rory]

under your chin will increase the range significantly, up to 40 feet farther. I never had one and am just repeating the useless knowledge that lurks under my hood.
Urban Legend...kinda like thinking about baseball while. Well never mind :D

You can reduce interference, make sure the batteries are fresh, antenna is extended, and that is about it. If you want more range you probably need to go aftermarket or make your own range extender. How about a cell antenna attached to the trunk that doubles as a spoiler. Ha Ha!!

Best,
Rory

[Paul in NZ]

:p

[Mike]

Why not try fitting a larger antenna on the receiver?

[Phil M]

Why not try fitting a larger antenna on the receiver?

[DueyT]

under your chin will increase the range significantly, up to 40 feet farther. I never had one and am just repeating the useless knowledge that lurks under my hood.
Jeff, you're not too far off the mark on this one. Depending on the frequency of the RF remote (must be RF, not IR) you can use your head as a resonant cavity to increase the directional gain of the transmitter and send more energy in the direction you're pointing your melon. On my Jetta's remote, it works better if you open your mouth for a larger resonant cavity (although some say my yob is big enough already *LOL*.) I'm looking for an IEEE paper where some Elec.Eng students actually wrote a paper on this topic (it was actually "radiation pattern shaping for cellualr phones by exploiting electromagnetically conductive characteristics of the human head". (Thaaaat's nice!)

On trick that will work, guaranteed, is to place the transmitter up against a vertical metal pole (road sign, metallic light stand) or other metallic structure...again the goal is to increase the directivity, or directional gain in the H-plane...oops, geeky E.Eng term, means in a horizontal plane (for a vertically mounted monopole or dipole antenna)

If folks don't believe it works, just do a little experimentation and see how much you can increase the range. Don't worry, a car remote has 50-100 times less power output than a cell phone. <- but not a legal/medical disclaimer to imply that life is not dangerous to one's health! ;)

Cheers,
Duey

[MikeV]

Yup... even better, carry around a nice metal parabola, that'll really focus that energy. ;) A nice DirecTV dish would do it....

[AZ_Jason_S]

Jeff, you're not too far off the mark on this one. Depending on the frequency of the RF remote (must be RF, not IR) you can use your head as a resonant cavity to increase the directional gain of the transmitter and send more energy in the direction you're pointing your melon. On my Jetta's remote, it works better if you open your mouth for a larger resonant cavity (although some say my yob is big enough already *LOL*.) I'm looking for an IEEE paper where some Elec.Eng students actually wrote a paper on this topic (it was actually "radiation pattern shaping for cellualr phones by exploiting electromagnetically conductive characteristics of the human head". (Thaaaat's nice!)

On trick that will work, guaranteed, is to place the transmitter up against a vertical metal pole (road sign, metallic light stand) or other metallic structure...again the goal is to increase the directivity, or directional gain in the H-plane...oops, geeky E.Eng term, means in a horizontal plane (for a vertically mounted monopole or dipole antenna)

If folks don't believe it works, just do a little experimentation and see how much you can increase the range. Don't worry, a car remote has 50-100 times less power output than a cell phone. <- but not a legal/medical disclaimer to imply that life is not dangerous to one's health! ;)

Cheers,
Duey


Do you ever listen to Cartalk on NPR? The guys on Cartalk talked about this and had (I think) an MIT professor look into this. You might be able to find something on their website www.cartalk.com

[Unregistered]

It's not an urban legend. Your body act as an antenna. Increase mass to increase performance. Have you ever tried adjusting old rabbit ear antenna and noticed that it works better when you touch it?



Urban Legend...kinda like thinking about baseball while. Well never mind :D

You can reduce interference, make sure the batteries are fresh, antenna is extended, and that is about it. If you want more range you probably need to go aftermarket or make your own range extender. How about a cell antenna attached to the trunk that doubles as a spoiler. Ha Ha!!

Best,
Rory