mine was operable I live in cape cod mass...but ive also found that attaching the IR eye to the left hand side of clock on the one part of the unit that isnt smoked/glazed over. stick it on vertically and PLEASE shut off IR/RF and make sure only RF is checked because you will run into a TON of problems that way. attach the unit vertically along the clear part of the plastic and enjoy. Please turn the power of that particular output ALL the way DOWN on the base station. Make sure you are using any channel but 0 and it also helps to knock down the RF distance to approx 1/3 power. good luck

ps you dont need to use a russound 56k ir remodulator...ive found that problem only exists in russound products and SciAtl products.