Vancouver - Local Phenomenon

[calvan]

I'm curious if anyone else on the West Coast has run into an odd but very local problem. Quite simply, I have found that if I park my Elise on or near Granville Island the key fob won't work to unlock the car or release the immobilizer. It first happened last year - the key fob shorted out and I had to get a tech from Weissach (the local Lotus dealer) to come down and reset the system. I ventured back a few months later and it took a couple of minutes of determined button pushing before the car responded to the fob and unlocked. Today I parked at 1st and Fir and it happened again. I eventually got the car to unlock by intentionally triggering the alarm and hoping it would unlock when cancelled - it worked on about the fourth push of the button. And before anybody asks, it has a fresh battery and since the roof was off I reached into the car with the fob. 

Once I got back to sunny, albeit smokey, White Rock it worked normally.

Has anyone else encountered this? And more to the point, what could be causing It? Is some level of government trying a nefarious experiment of broadcasting thought-control from the underside of the Granville Bridge? Are our friends at Weissach, or more likely one of their nearby competitors, blanketing the area with a Lotus death-ray beam?

Whatever it is, my poor Elise is now exiled from Granville Island. 

[Bibs]

This happens sometimes due to electromagnetic interference, perhaps from a local power supply or sometimes a government mind control experiment. It's localised, so shouldn't affect the car too often! 

[ramjet]

Something that may work was a thing I saw on Top Gear if I remember correctly. When you press the buttons on the fob, hold it against your head.

I know, I know. It sounds stupid, but it seems to amplify the signal.

If it doesn't work, I didn't tell you anything.  

 

[calvan]

Now that you mention it, I recall that technique but don't dare try it. The cavernous echoing of my head would likely produce a beam that would trigger SETI, and then all hell would break loose.