First, thanks to all who have posted here. I have learned so much from you.

I am a do-it-yourselfer and stumbled onto URC as a solution to my set-up issues. I am finishing my basement and will have a central A/V closet. Connected to it will be a) basement home theater TV & 5.1 surround, b) basement playroom TV and ceiling speakers, c) familyroom TV & 5.1 surround, and d) kitchen tv and ceiling speakers.

I have a 4x4 matrix hdmi splitter with digital optical outputs. Connected to the outputs on the matrix are the 4 tvs, plus each room will have its own Denon receiver fed by the optical digital out from the matrix. For inputs, I will have 2 scientifc atlantic 8300HD dvr/cable boxes, DVD player (will switch to a blue-ray if budget allows), and an apple tv.

This set-up led me to two problems in terms of remote controls:
1) Because you can watch anything in any room, how do the macros on the remotes in the other rooms know if a component is on or off.
2) I have multiples of the same component (2 cable boxes & 4 Denon receivers), so I needed a solution that had addressable IR outputs.

I originally settled on the Harmony 890Pro, but then that was discontinued. So, I decided to go with 4 Mx-880 remotes and a MSC-400. By the way, I really wanted the MX-980s, but my project has gone a bit over budget and my wife is looking over my shoulder. I'm not liking that I can't customize the images and that I don't get a charging cradle.

I just started programming the remotes. The basement won't be finished for another 2 weeks, but I wanted to get a head start. I just wanted to ask you professionals out there, does anything jump out at you as potential problems in setting up my remotes?

My general approach (2xMX-800, MX-850, MX-900) is to leave the my satellite DVRs on all the time, so they're always outputting a signal and with everything else I don't control power when I select a device - it just switches inputs.

If you notice something is off, and you want it on, then you just press the on button. Not too hard, and prevents interference.

Or you can go with the MSC-400, but if you don't add the current detect modules, you can get out of sync. People don't get out of sync. If something isn't ON, they push ON.

You might want to ask your local dealer about the MX-880z and matching MRZ-260. These work together and use Zigbee which eliminates any chance of crosstalk between remotes. Yours is exactly the type of install that we had in mind when we created the Zigbee products.

Jeff

I am going to second Jeff's opinion. Just finished an install with 5 MX-880s in a top floor of a pretty large house, one for each kids room and one in the master bedroom. Each of the 5 bedrooms had an MX-880 with an MRF-260. There was major cross-talk going on - not rampant, but occasionaly a receiver would turn on in one bedroom at night because someone else had turned it on. I tried desperately to figure out how to duplicate it when I was on the premises, but I couldnt. Finally, I figured out if I channel ramped one remote and at the same time pressed a command on another I was given a "gateway" for lack of a better word and the other base unit accpeted the command. It was hard to duplicate every time, but it was happening and I was surprised. I guess I never really did an install where the stations were that close and that many, and I would have done something different if it werent retrofitted.

So, I exchanged them all for MRF-880Z's and the MRF-260Z and problem solved. So there is a real life experience for you to NOT do at home. It was not fun running back and forth to this clients house every time someone tripped up the system. It was embarrasing for me, and a real time consuming problem. Good luck with the install - I reccomend an MSC-400 and maybe another base station if needed, but the MSC-400 should get the job done for you.

Vincent

Press and hold OFF when you want to turn off everything everything. Also, assign a DVR for each person.