Key fob trouble

Well kind of. I went to a local shop and parked the Prius. It would not lock. I figure that the battery in the key fob is going flat so I get in the car and drive back home which is only about 1.5 km. I get home, pull into the garage and test the key fob remote. It's working fine. I then try to find the spare key fob. It's not in its' usual place. So I panic and turn the house upside down looking for it. I eventually found it in a weird place...Don't ask.​

Getting back to my story, I drive back to the same shop and park in the same spot. Lock the Prius with the remote. Just to check, I press "unlock" on the remote....nothing. Ok, no biggie I figure I've got the small backup key inside the fob. First though I go to a camera shop and buy a new battery for the key fob remote. Try to install the battery in the shop, but they don't have the right screwdriver. Back at the Prius I unlock the door with the little spare key. The alarm goes off. I put the key fob in its' slot and press Start. Car switches on and alarm stops blaring. I go back home...again.​

Back home I change the battery in the remote and all is well again. Oi! I have a theory as to why the remote worked in my garage and not in the parking lot. It could be that the parking lot is much more noisy in the RF part of the spectrum where the remote works than my garage. A "weak" remote might have enough S/N ratio in a RF quiet garage to operate the car, but not in a RF noisy parking lot. Here's a video for you to enjoy. Hehe. I think this guy's serious.​

Amplify your car remote signal with your head

Update : My remote still will not work in that spot at the mall, but it works everywhere else. I would love to get a scanner or spectrum analyzer and go look just what the hell is goin on there.
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Being an Electrical Engineer I'm sceptical, but it might be that your oral cavity can act very much like a a parabolic dish reflector aiming and concentrating the signal. Yeah I would love to see Jamie and Adam test this one. Should we e-mail them?

At least your not getting radio transmissions from communist spies on your fillings like Lucille Ball. (Bless her!)