That's exactly why he needs an IR repeater like the hot link pro. It consists of a receiver (about the size of your pinkie finger) that you place in the line of sight (wall, ceiling, tabletop, mounted in the door frame) with wires that extend to the hidden equipment. The only advantage RF gets you is you don't have to aim the remote at the IR receiver.

OTOH if your 1000 or the RF extender goes belly up you can't pick up the OEM remotes and use those or replace it with a simple universal IR remote like the harmony one. You're stuck with a RF harmony solution.