# Extending the range of your car's keyless entry **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 9, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741 "2005-03-09T23:59:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741/1 "2005-03-09T23:59:25Z")
OK, so my friend showed me this which seemed to be common knowledge to him. If you hold your keyless entry fob(?) up to your chin when you press the button, it extends the range by up to about 25%. Being the cynic I am, I immediately derided him and asked where his tinfoil hat was. Then I demanded that he prove it to me. We started walking away from the car, unlocking and locking it again, until the clicker no longer worked. I was satisfied that it was out of range. He held it up to his chin and sure enough it worked! Convinced of some sort of trickery, I grabbed it from him and tried it myself. Sure enough, connected to your chin: works. Pressing it regularly: doesn’t work. Anyone ever encountered this before? Any ideas why it works? Perhaps your jaw bone somehow amplifies the signal transmission? btw, my car is a 98 Passat and my friend also owned a VW, so possibly this phenomenon is limited to VW zappers? Anyone out there want to try your own experiment? ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741/2 "2005-03-10T00:09:43Z")
It works on my 1997 Ford truck so it’s not just a VW thing. As far as why and how it works, I don’t know, I always guessed that it was some kind of “antenna” deal. Unclviny ---
**Author:** ![GilaB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@GilaB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GilaB)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741/3 "2005-03-10T00:35:45Z")
I can’t find it right now, but there was an old thread in which this very topic was discussed. (It was about car alarms rather than keyless entry, but I’d assume that the two are controlled by similar mechanisms.) I think the consensus wasn’t so much that holding it to your chin helped as much as holding it higher than you otherwise would. If you normally would pull your keys out of your pocket/purse and signal from that height, the signal won’t travel as far as if you hold it over your head, several feet higher. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741/4 "2005-03-10T00:36:00Z")
There have been threads about this before, though none that I could find with a quick search. But then again, the search engine hates me. From memory: The shape of your head and the fact that it’s mostly water make it a decent passive antenna. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741/5 "2005-03-10T01:19:43Z")
[Is my head a transmitter?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=250972) and [The Physics of Car Alarm Remotes](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=42004) ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extending-the-range-of-your-cars-keyless-entry/293741/6 "2005-03-10T18:21:54Z")
Cool. Thanks!