Hello

Hi Dorrie,

You need to push the black button on the door handle to lock the doors. You should hear a confirmation beep and see the marker lights flash. You can also use the lock button on the keyfob to do the same thing.

 

:welcome:
Hi Dorie, welcome to PriusChat! I hope you enjoy the wealth of info and friendship here. Yes, you do have to push the black button on the doors or hatch, but I often forget that I had and get about 50 feet away and double check by pressing the lock button on the key fob.

Also, a little known secret is that if you put the key fob up against your chin and press the button to lock the doors, you can extend the range of tranmission by about 30 feet. I know this sounds crazy, but it seems to work!

Lee

 

Hi Dorie, welcome. If you hold up ANY antena higher (like from your waist to your head) then it receives/transmits better. Ignore the whole 'chin' thing, or near your open mouth thing, as some urban legends have suggested. Here ... Put another way, by someone I know, when they heard the legend:

" Umm... RF (Radio frequency radiation) does not work that way. Most likely, you are just raising the transmitter to a high enough level to pass over more obstructions. You would get the same effect by simply holding the key thingy over your head, and then not look like such a twit.

Let's break this down...

Going by the legend, your mouth and skull somehow focus the RF energy forward or spread the signal outward in all directions. In the first case, this would only work if you already knew the direction of the car (thus focusing the energy in that direction). In the second case, unless you have an RF amp in your head, dispersing the signal over a wider range will decrease the strength of the signal.

But, this is not how RF works. Look at a radar dish; radar works on RF, and the dishes are made of a material that will reflect RF. The dish is shaped as a parabola so that the reflected RF is focused in a certain direction. Now, if we look at a radio or cellular antenna, it is just a rod made of metal. The idea here is to disperse the signal 360 degrees. Though these two types of antenna have a different desired outcome, one thing they have in common is that they are not made from flesh and bone. Why? Because flesh and bone are horrible for reflecting or transmitting RF radiation.

RF, at low levels, passes through the human body. Just as it can pass through concrete walls, plaster, electrical wiring (if it isn't too dense), plastics, glass, etc. What it can't pass through are engine blocks, metal rims, rebar, anything metal. In other words, the things you might find in a parking garage. Most of which are found below shoulder height. If the guy in the video had merely raised the transmitter to the same height and NOT pointed it to his chin, he most likely would have had the same result.

Now, for those who brought up the rabbit ears and such... the receiving end is a slightly different story. RF creates an electro-magnetic field and by touching the antenna, moving them or even moving yourself, you are altering the field around that antenna (yes, even you have an electro magnetic field). That's because the signal is weaker at the receiving end, and small changes make a big difference. I do not recommend trying these at the transmitter, because you will be badly burned, and the signal will go out as normal.

I have spent the past 19+ years working in ECM (electronic countermeasures), jamming RF and IR (infra red) and you can't jam it unless you understand it. "


As for me, I too have been 'in' radios for years & years, (but not 19 ... yet) and this key fob boost thingie is nothing more or less than the "hold the phone up to a fob to unlock your door" urban legend.

:focus:

 

Wow, I didn't know it was that simple! Can't wait till I field test the "raise the fob" solution.

Has anybody tried this out... maybe we need a new thread to discuss...... actually I was a chin/fob denier too till I found out it worked

 

:welcome: Hoo wee! You weren't expecting all that were you?
Welcome to Priuschat! Hope you find the site helpful and friendly!

 

dorrie,
I believe Toyota on-purposedly turned that functionality off.
My Mazda CX9's SmartKey was also from Denso (same maker as the one found in Prius, though slightly different design). On the CX9, the so called, "auto-lock" function is exactly what you are looking for. I had it turned on for 1 year now.
I can tell you that there are pros and cons to that feature. Sometimes, it becomes annoying when you merely want to leave the vehicle for a few seconds (says in gas station), it will lock the vehicle no matter you have other passengers in the vehicle or not. Apparently, the feature needs some more intelligence (such as pick up the weight sensor input from passanger's seat, etc.). I know that some CX9 owners went back to dealers and had it turned off again.

The pros is obvious. When you have your hands full while leaving the vehicle, there is no need to push the black button on the handle. That might help you. For most cases, it is just cool gadget I love to show off to my Lexus-owning co-workers.

 

I had that feature turned on in my Hyundai Tiburon. Had to call AAA twice because I had left the keys on the car seat and voila!, thirty seconds later I'm locked out!:doh: