JSeis
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Approaching 14,000 miles on the OD and I had my first law of unintended consequences. My iPhone went dead late in the afternoon during a video conference, the car was a 1/4 mile away and the campus was dead quiet. Home being 75 miles a away.. I realized that if I could find a soul with a phone I could call and have the S.O. unlock the car and then I could recharge my phone & drive off. But quickly wising up I hustled over to admissions where a student hauled out a Lightning plug and after a few minutes I was soon on my way.
While driving home I recalled our salesman saying one of the best backup plans is the fob in a Faraday Cage and then hidden in the car. On the weekend I made such a cage out of a small cardboard tube over which a slightly larger cardboard tube fit. I assembled such using 4 wraps of aluminum foil (including ends), then completely covered the foil with duct tape. I then custom fit the larger tube over the completed small one and repeated the process. The fob 1st goes in a plastic ziplock bag (avoiding incidental metal-metal contact) and that gets stuffed in the tube which is hidden in the car. I tested mine for two weeks and it never blinked.
The real trick is the door-code. The S.O. And I discussed this a bit and we memorized it in two ways: The first as a straight number broken up into meaningful number segments. Ours are essentially random and not tied to anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
The second as a mnemonic device in which the segments are also described as a phrase. Example: “Moonwalk Indy 1st” could be “69501”. You are far more likely to remember both a phrase and a number. Do I’ve a backup to the backup? Of course.
Hilarity results. Now we can’t forget the damn door code and all I have to do is walk up, whisper three words, and much laughing happens, and an elbow in the ribs too.
Could someone break in and find the fob? Sure.. after tearing the car apart.. Am I going to tell you all of my secrets? Nope. Can you find a better Faraday Cage on Amazon? Maybe. Mine is cheap & very effective. If you read up on Faraday Cages.. there is one important thing to remember.. metal is a conductor. Test your cage!
Have fun!
While driving home I recalled our salesman saying one of the best backup plans is the fob in a Faraday Cage and then hidden in the car. On the weekend I made such a cage out of a small cardboard tube over which a slightly larger cardboard tube fit. I assembled such using 4 wraps of aluminum foil (including ends), then completely covered the foil with duct tape. I then custom fit the larger tube over the completed small one and repeated the process. The fob 1st goes in a plastic ziplock bag (avoiding incidental metal-metal contact) and that gets stuffed in the tube which is hidden in the car. I tested mine for two weeks and it never blinked.
The real trick is the door-code. The S.O. And I discussed this a bit and we memorized it in two ways: The first as a straight number broken up into meaningful number segments. Ours are essentially random and not tied to anniversaries, birthdays, etc.
The second as a mnemonic device in which the segments are also described as a phrase. Example: “Moonwalk Indy 1st” could be “69501”. You are far more likely to remember both a phrase and a number. Do I’ve a backup to the backup? Of course.
Hilarity results. Now we can’t forget the damn door code and all I have to do is walk up, whisper three words, and much laughing happens, and an elbow in the ribs too.
Could someone break in and find the fob? Sure.. after tearing the car apart.. Am I going to tell you all of my secrets? Nope. Can you find a better Faraday Cage on Amazon? Maybe. Mine is cheap & very effective. If you read up on Faraday Cages.. there is one important thing to remember.. metal is a conductor. Test your cage!
Have fun!
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