Total stranger saved my day at Mt. Wilson Observatory

[Vinc]

Just wanted to share a quick story. First, to show how amazing the Tesla community can be, and also in case the person happens to read this forum.

Last weekend I went to visit the Mount Wilson Observatory near Los Angeles. I parked my Model S at the visitors lot and away I went.

When I came back, there was a handwritten note on the windshield. It just told me to move the key fob around the back window if I found out that I could not unlock the car, and to put it between the front seats if the car would not start.

At first I was confused. Why would the car not open? Was this note intended for somebody else?

But when I tried to unlock the car, just as the note said, the key fob would not work. It was only by following its suggestion that I got to unlock the car and drive away. In retrospect, I take that this probably has to do with some of the observatory equipment messing up with the fob’s signal.

The place is rather remote, with almost no cell coverage. It was also the end of the day, and most visitors had already left. Had it not been for this note, I would have certainly been in trouble.

So if the person who wrote the note happens to be reading this, THANK YOU! You saved the day and restored my faith in humanity. Maybe it was some park employee used to rescuing Tesla owners every evening, but still, it is pretty amazing.

And for any Tesla owners using a key fob… watch out if you visit the Mount Wilson Observatory

 

[ThomasD]

There is a place like this in WV. No cell connection and Microwave ovens are banned.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/06/us/green-bank-west-virginia-quiet-zone.html

 

[Earl]

I take that this probably has to do with some of the observatory equipment messing up with the fob’s signal.

It's not the observatory. That's just passive sensors.
If you look to the west from the observatory, you'll see a massive antenna farm containing all of the TV, Radio, and various telecom transmitters blasting out literally millions of watts of radio energy.
They overwhelm your little key fob.
The Sutra tower in San Francisco presents the same problem. It also isn't only Teslas. Many car remotes and keyless ignitions have trouble in those areas.
I suspect someone either from the observatory or the antenna farm saw your car and preemptively offered assistance. Most people, even in LA, are basically good.

 

[bradtem]

In these situations it is of course good to have your keycard, and also to know that your NFC equipped phone with the Tesla app can also act as a keycard, not just as a bluetooth key.

 

[Vinc]

In these situations it is of course good to have your keycard, and also to know that your NFC equipped phone with the Tesla app can also act as a keycard, not just as a bluetooth key.

Thanks! Unfortunately, with a "vintage" Model S, the only options are the fob and the less reliable app

 

[Tress]

What a heartwarming story. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Earl]

In these situations it is of course good to have your keycard, and also to know that your NFC equipped phone with the Tesla app can also act as a keycard, not just as a bluetooth key.

The keycard could also be problematic since it depends on RF energy too. I haven't tried it at either of those places though.

 

[cybergates]

2019 model 3 yesterday - no problems at mount wilson with the keyfob (I dont use the cards that came with it). Could tell no perceivable difference from the RF interference but saw the notice that's posted there warning model S owners posted outside the bathroom.

Does the 3 keyfob use a different RF frequency than the 2017 model S?

 

[ThomasD]

What is the range of signal loss there? Is it less than a mile. Two miles.

 

[Rocky_H]

Does the 3 keyfob use a different RF frequency than the 2017 model S?

I think it maybe does. The old S was originally built to use a key fob. So it is using the more normal key fob frequencies that a lot of cars use. When Tesla built the 3, they thought they were being all clever about how using the Bluetooth connection on your phone is all the key you will ever need, so that's all it uses. But very quickly they discovered that Bluetooth is kind of a convoluted mess about how many different implementations there are across so many different phone manufacturers and Android and iOS versions and Bluetooth versions. There were a lot of service complaints with Bluetooth unlock and operation not working or not working reliably for a lot of people, and people were very angry asking why Tesla tried to change something that worked fine, and why couldn't they have just used a key fob.

So Tesla did create a key fob for the Model 3/Y. But since they weren't originally made to use key fob frequencies, I think the fobs for those are made to send a Bluetooth signal to the car to activate it.