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Topic:
MRF-260 interference
This thread has 28 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 13:20
Jay M
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Last night there was no way I could make the MX-450 work with the MRF-260. This morning it was fine.

What kinds of things cause interference? URC told me that A/V equipment can cause it. Being that the only purpose for an MRF-260 is to reside along side and control A/V equipment I have to wonder if there is a major design flaw.

I can exchange it for an MRF-350 if moving the antenna a few feet away will help.

What is your experience with RF interference?

The URC tech assured me that the MRF-260 is not susceptible to interference. It just happens to be getting interference. I guess I have been lucky my whole life that any RF remotes I have used just happened to never get interference when I needed them to work.
Post 2 made on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 13:27
goldenzrule
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On August 24, 2011 at 13:20, Jay M said...
Last night there was no way I could make the MX-450 work with the MRF-260. This morning it was fine.

What kinds of things cause interference? URC told me that A/V equipment can cause it. Being that the only purpose for an MRF-260 is to reside along side and control A/V equipment I have to wonder if there is a major design flaw.

I can exchange it for an MRF-350 if moving the antenna a few feet away will help.

What is your experience with RF interference?

The URC tech assured me that the MRF-260 is not susceptible to interference. It just happens to be getting interference. I guess I have been lucky my whole life that any RF remotes I have used just happened to never get interference when I needed them to work.

Cable and Sat boxes are notorious for emitting interference. Quite honestly anything with a large power supply can do it. the MRF-350 is far better then the 260 and I would swap it if you have the ability to. Relocate the antenna away, if possible, put it in the basement. Also make sure your ID is not set to 0 as it will pick up all kinds of interference in "sniffing" mode.
OP | Post 3 made on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 13:45
Jay M
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I didn't ask the URC guy, but do you happen to know how long of a cable, and what kind, I can use with the MRF-350 antenna?

~Jay
Post 4 made on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 15:52
Duct Tape
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On August 24, 2011 at 13:45, Jay M said...
I didn't ask the URC guy, but do you happen to know how long of a cable, and what kind, I can use with the MRF-350 antenna?

~Jay

it comes with a cable about 10 feet long.  you can use Cat5 in its place.  i've gone 60+ feet on the Cat5 with no issues.   Just double up the pairs of the Cat5 for the 3 connections, and you will end up with 1 pair left over.

[Link: facebook.com]
OP | Post 5 made on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 16:30
Jay M
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Thanks for the help. I went ahead and got a used one on Amazon. Wish me luck ;)

~Jay
Post 6 made on Wednesday August 24, 2011 at 20:23
kgossen
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On August 24, 2011 at 15:52, Duct Tape said...
it comes with a cable about 10 feet long.  you can use Cat5 in its place.  i've gone 60+ feet on the Cat5 with no issues.   Just double up the pairs of the Cat5 for the 3 connections, and you will end up with 1 pair left over.


We've gone 150' but had to use single's. When we doubled up range went for crap.
"Quality isn't expensive, it's Priceless!"
OP | Post 7 made on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 01:22
Jay M
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So tonight I think I figured out the problem. The video projector causes interference.

So what do I do about that? The RF receiver is already inside a cabinet about 15 feet away from the projector. I don't think a Faraday cage around the projector would look very good.

Would the zigby products work better? I've never had any RF issues before.

Is there another brand of remote that is compatible with home theater equipment?

thanks,
~Jay
OP | Post 8 made on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 16:31
Jay M
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The search function is pretty awesome!

[Link: remotecentral.com]
Post 9 made on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 18:46
Surf Remote
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On August 25, 2011 at 01:22, Jay M said...
So tonight I think I figured out the problem. The video projector causes interference.

So what do I do about that? The RF receiver is already inside a cabinet about 15 feet away from the projector.

That's odd. As the calibrator for ProjectorReviews.com, I've had about 50 different projectors (besides the one I own) in my theater room and none of them have interfered with my MRF-350 that's less than 10' from any of them. What projector is it?

Mike
www.SurfRemoteControl.com

THX-certified video calibrator and contributing writer, ProjectorReviews.com
OP | Post 10 made on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 19:15
Jay M
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Hi Mike,

I have the Joe Kane Samsung A800B DLP projector. Inside the cabinet is where the MRF-260 sits right next to the HDMI cables and the HDMI matrix. I use the blaster to control the Matrix, lighting, and Roku. They are all stacked up inside the cabinet facing the MRF-260.

Once I turned on the projector the RF commands on the remote stopped working. After the movie was over I was able to use the MX-450 to turn off the projector via ir, then as soon as it was off I had fully functioning RF again.

I just bought some ferrite filters at Radio Shack to see if that will help.

thanks,
~Jay
Post 11 made on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 19:50
Surf Remote
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Definitely strange. While I haven't had the A800 in my room, I've had no problems with the A600 or 700.

When you turn the projector on, does the Status light on the MRF-260 come on (or flicker or any response)? If the Status light stays out, you're not getting RF interference. Conversely, the Status light should come on each time you send a signal from the remote to an RF-controlled device.
www.SurfRemoteControl.com

THX-certified video calibrator and contributing writer, ProjectorReviews.com
OP | Post 12 made on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 20:30
Jay M
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On channel 0 the status light is solid when the projector is on. If I put my hand on the antenna the status light goes off. URC did suggest I try to remove the antenna.

In all fairness I likely do have an EMI nightmare in my cabinet, it has a bunch of stuff:

3 sonos zone players
250x5 watt amp
200x2 watt amp
HTPC
TiVo
Onkyo receiver
Roku
6 channel mixer for outside ambient mics
Sharp LCD TV
Wii
Hava (like a sling box)
Monoprice 4x4 matrix
ISY99ir lighting controller
gyromouse mouse and keyboard
and of course the MRF-260

But turning on the projector across the room is what kills the remote.

~Jay
OP | Post 13 made on Friday August 26, 2011 at 02:49
Jay M
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The ferrite filters did nothing. I ended up removing the antenna and it appears to work. The reception from the remote isn't perfect, but at least it works with the projector on now.

thanks for the help!

~Jay
Post 14 made on Saturday February 11, 2012 at 18:47
jcasharper
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June 2009
3
Hi everyone -- we've been installing MRF260s since they came out and once in a while we have mysterious interference issues especially when they are located with a bunch of other equipment. Besides the constantly firing emitters today we had a different symptom -- one emitter not firing at all. We had tried everything listed here and more to resolve it-- swapping out jammed transceivers with new ones, taking off the antenna, ferrite cores, turning off WAPs, turning off DirecTV HD tuners, etc.

Out of desperation we swapped out the power transformer and plugged it into a different electrical outlet. Once we did that all interference vanished. Given the fact that there 4 or 5 different power transformers plugged in the defective one may or may not have been URCs, so it may have been the act of separating it from the other plugs.

Since we weren't going to spend all day experimenting at out customer's house we're going to test different configurations at the office -- hopefully we'll uncover the configuration mix that consistently triggers the problem and then from that put together a solution.
Post 15 made on Sunday February 12, 2012 at 02:29
woodfin
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February 2012
5
I have the same setup , MX-450 and MRF-260, and I am at a loss. I have tried everything I can think of. Sorry, I've been a lurker for a long time ( normally someone already has found a solution) but help would be appreciated. The IR is fine but the RF is terrible. No interference on "0" but RF is very inconsistent.
Have tried blaster, emmiters and direct input and it's all the same. Highly sporadic. It seems to work better the closer I get but, it should be good from 50' feet at worst. I'm talking 10 feet. If I was reading interferrence I could understand but. the sniffer is clean. The base seems to receive the signal but the IR translation seems to be inconsistent.

Last edited by woodfin on February 12, 2012 10:36.
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