I have exactly the same problem as Dan.

Bill sent me a High Gain Ant. and the reception is a little bit beter, but still a lot of problems.
I live in an open area close to the mountains and not in the middle of a big city.
I try eveything on positioning.
The reception is very bad. The IRF-6 works sometimes, sometimes no.
With the high Gain Ant. is better but just 13 or 15 feet.
There is a lot of null areas. As soosn as I move further to another room, it does not work at all.

I do not have any complain with the remote, I program every thing since the first moment, I learn all the IR from my remotes without one single issue, I copy IR code from Pronto, etc.
The support from Bill is wonderfull, but the IRF-6 does not work in my house. Or it works just sometimes and depend on the direction and position of the remote.

I need some help here,
I guess I have RF noise.
Dan or other people: how did you resolve the problem?