I've heard about the "remote on the chin" idea too, but I still haven't decided if it really works or if it's just urban legend. The theory is that your head acts as an antenna and sort of amplifies the signal. I've always wondered how smart it is to shoot radio waves into your skull, with all the talk of cell phones causing brain tumors, but then again, I've been doing it for so long it's sort of a habit. If the first press of the button doesn't unlock the VX, stick in up to my chin and try again.

The battery mod I believe was just to switch out the original battery for a lithium of the same size.