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the finicky lock issue resolved... you won't believe what it was!

A few weeks back, I posted here about the fact that my car's remote sometimes wouldn't function and the single key I have wouldn't unlock the doors. I found out why the key wouldn't work, but that's a separate issue. Today, the remote did it again and wouldn't unlock the car. This time, opening and moving the battery, etc did no good and I had to go back into the hardware store, grab a small steel flag stick (like is put around wet concrete), and break into my car through the passenger side door. No damage, I've had to do it before but luckily I didn't have to walk miles this time. Anyway, the remote is fine. A few weeks ago, I picked up a 12v cigarette lighter adapter with two USB outputs. When the adapter is plugged in, my remote won't work! This cigarette lighter to USB adapter must be causing an interfering signal that prevents remote function. It is the brand that Dollartree carries. I guess in this case, you definitely get what you pay for!

Reply to
Jim Horton
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There are so many devices around that work on radio waves there can be lots of interference. Items that are not suppose to have any radio emissions often do. Especially the 'Dollar Store' ones.You would not think a battery charger would put out radio waves, but they can.

It would not surprise me that many that have wireless router problems don't have some odd device in their house that can do the same thing.

Reply to
Ralph Mowery

I wondered for several days where a high pitched noise was coming from in the car. Turned out to be the adapter! That's definitely not a good sign, probably some oscillation going on somewhere putting out loads of interference. For now, I'm going to switch back to the old one I had and move this one into the house. There isn't much it can interfere with in here.

I used to be into Ham radio and had a certain noise on a band for years and could never figure out the source.... until one day when I accidentally unplugged my ultrasonic rodent repeller (which never worked anyway!).

Reply to
Jim Horton

I have an AM-FM stereo clock radio that cost about $250** and I have an alarm clock*** that cost about $20, and when the alarm goes off on the second one, the radio sound stops coming out of the first one!!! Starts again as soon as I turn the alarm off. The alarm clock sits right on top of the expensive radio.

**Couldn't get the stations I wanted at work, steel-frame building, so I bought this to get them. IIRC, it still didn't work. AM and FM presets. Separate speaker for the other channel. ***Also nicer than average, two alarms, music or beeping, plus a nap setting up to 2 hours, 15 minutes at a time. All of these start softly and get louder over a minute or so.
Reply to
micky

I got tired of waking up in a panic when my Radio Shack alarm clock went off. I switched to my cell phone on its lowest volume. It doesn't take much to wake me up, and I don't need snooze or any of that other stuff. My feet are on the floor pretty much before I've silenced the alarm.

Even when I'm watching a movie and hear an alarm clock, I get an adrenaline rush.

Cindy Hamilton

Reply to
Cindy Hamilton

You'd make a good gunslinger.

Actually the 2 hour limit on the nap setting is too short. I'd like it to be 10 hours, so maybe I'm up all night and go to sleep at 8AM, I'd wake up no later than 6PM. Or at least 4 hours.

So I've looked for even more options on a clock radio, but the stores I went to didn't have more than one model. They're not the big thing anymore.

Maybe changing to the cell phone is what I need.

(When I'm traveling, I have a nap program (a countdown timer) and an alarm program on the laptop, but when I'm home the laptop's usuually stuffed in a corner.)

Reply to
micky

Nowadays I'm hardly ever still asleep when the alarm goes off anyway. The thing I miss most about being young was how well I used to sleep.

Last night I slept like a baby: I woke up every 2 hours.

Cindy Hamilton

Reply to
Cindy Hamilton
[snip]

When I was using an alarm regularly, I programmed my computer to produce the alarm I wanted. The sound had three parts:

  1. medium volume beep for 1 second, which was usually enough.
  2. silent for 1 minute, so I have time to turn it off without hurrying (DO NOT ALLOW TURNING OFF FROM BED)
  3. loud 2-tone alarm for maximum of 1 hour.
Reply to
Mark Lloyd

Last night I slept like a baby: I woke up twice with dirty diapers.

Alexandria Occasionally-Coherent

Reply to
Alexandria Occasionally-Coherent

Me too, the last few years. Too fat now to sleep on my stomach, I can sleep on my back, almost sitting up, but no matter how long I do that, I feel like I haven't slept, and I have to sleep on my side for a while.

During my long vacation, I had a room for a little over half the time, but slept in the car for about 32 nights. I got a better night's sleep in the car, almost sitting up, then I do at home.

You maybe stole that from ... I forget whom. His line was, I wake up every two hours and cry. John McCain, maybe.

Reply to
micky

First year in college, the dorm desk was in line with the bed at the foot of my bed, and I put the alarm clock at the far end of the desk. My head was at the far end of the bed. I could sit up and dive over the typewriter, but I risked being impaled by the carriage return lever. Safer to get out of bed.

Reply to
micky

Several folks I know sleep sitting up. Usually in a recliner type chair. Especially folks with Reflux issues.

Reply to
Anonymous

I was always a side sleeper, but now my it hurts if I try to sleep on my side all night. I mix it up between on my back, almost sitting up, and on my side for as long as I can stand it.

Cindy Hamilton

Reply to
Cindy Hamilton

Thanks. I don't have reflux. Maybe I just have to get better at sleeping sitting up, or almost sitting up.

Reply to
micky

In my case, it's compression of the disks between the lumbar vertebrae.

Cindy Hamilton

Reply to
Cindy Hamilton

Yes, it hurts to sleep on my side now too, but it's not my back that hurts. Instead when I sleep on the right, my right side at my waist, a few inches in and up and down hurts a lot. An aread about half a baseball size. For months it used to be only for 5 minutes after I got out of bed but lately it doesn't completely go away.

I know I should try sleeping on the other side, but I can't see the clock or the radio and I'm also afraid I'll fall out of bed.

Reply to
micky

Your mattress should be the right firmness to allow a neutral spine in whatever position you sleep.

Most people probably have too firm a mattress.

I'm not sure how you could get a really neutral spine in both side and back with the same mattress, but you can get close if you add a pillow to one.

Reply to
TimR

Mount some guard rails on the side of your bed.

Reply to
Davis

I happened to be listening to AM radio in the car when an electric streetcar pulled up. It was putting out a significant amount of radio noise, although probably not as to impair cell phone use by the passengers. They would notice that. I had a touch base table lamp that did the same thing, whether the lamp was on or off.

Bottom line: use cables as much as you can and hope that all this EM radiation we're stewing in doesn't shorten our lives too much.

Reply to
Neill Massello

Had some LED light bulbs that would block a garage door opener remote control signal from closing the door.

I used to have CFLs that would block a TV remote from working.

And an old 4-port network hub/switch used to spew out some nasty stuff that would basically prevent an AM radio from working.

All that chunk is resting quietly now at the bottom of the local landfill.

Reply to
Bob

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