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Topic:
MX980 CCP ?
This thread has 19 replies. Displaying posts 1 through 15.
Post 1 made on Sunday November 19, 2017 at 17:18
imt
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So customer has existing URC MX980 remotes in 3 rooms.

1 room is connected to a MRX2, the other 2 are connected to MRF350's. RFX-250's connected to each of the basestations.

Discovered that when I was playing with Media Room remote it was also controlling directly upstairs the Family Room's matching components. MRX2 for media room is set to "B", MRF350 in Family Room is set to "C".

I downloaded the media room remote into CCP and see the media room contains both the MRX2 and the MX980 and then there are the two other MRF350 base stations listed for the other two rooms. The "RF Control" for the Media Room RX980 shows the receiver for all devices as the MRX2. So why/how is this remote sending commands to the MRF350 in the family room as well?
Post 2 made on Sunday November 19, 2017 at 22:29
tweeterguy
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Are you sure the base stations are set to the correct channel on each of their dials? ...and not set to zero? If one is on zero it’s open to any others remote RF.
Post 3 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 03:51
Audiophiliac
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I have seen some random "cross talk" before. Once I could not explain it and neither could URC. The other house has 7 remotes and mrf350s. I went through and made sure all TVs were on different ports, same with directv and kscape players. Even with channel separation, different port assignments for similar devices, still intermittently, I hear of a TV turning in or off or a channel changing here and there while someone is using another remote in the house. I figure that one probably just has too many cooks in the kitchen :)
"When I eat, it is the food that is scared." - Ron Swanson
Post 4 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 11:02
tomciara
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The only time I saw that was when I inherited a job having two MRF 350's in the same closet, serving master and family room systems. They would work fine, unless both users were hitting buttons at the same time. Then there were some crossover issues from room to room.
There is no truth anymore. Only assertions. The internet world has no interest in truth, only vindication for preconceived assumptions.
Post 5 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 11:45
punter16
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On November 20, 2017 at 03:51, Audiophiliac said...
I have seen some random "cross talk" before. Once I could not explain it and neither could URC. The other house has 7 remotes and mrf350s. I went through and made sure all TVs were on different ports, same with directv and kscape players. Even with channel separation, different port assignments for similar devices, still intermittently, I hear of a TV turning in or off or a channel changing here and there while someone is using another remote in the house. I figure that one probably just has too many cooks in the kitchen :)

We've seen the above as well...when we ran into this we embraced the "i" series.
See our Youtube page for info about smart homes, great audio and more.

[Link: youtube.com]
Post 6 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 17:52
tweeterguy
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URC’s RF was pretty sloppy back then...haven’t touched it in years. I’ve seen all the above and oftentimes had to use one US and one “i” model. Still would have some issues if same device buttons were being pressed at the same time.

I was once told by URC support, when you send a command from the remote the base opens up to all channels a brief moment. I kid you not he actually told me that. Haven’t used one since.
OP | Post 7 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 18:10
imt
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MRX2 (Theater) = B
MRF350 (Family Room above) = C
MRF350 (Cabana) = D
Post 8 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 19:36
Hoggy46
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I've seen URC crosstalk before. For me it was when two remotes were being used at the same time. To me it seems as if the URC control ID's are only prefixes to the commands and if buttons are being pressed at the same time sometimes a command meant for one room would get applied to a different room. This was only happening while both rooms were trying to be controlled at the same time.
Post 9 made on Monday November 20, 2017 at 21:07
punter16
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You can try spacing the channels farther apart.

Ex: 1, 6, E

We have had luck with this before. However, I think you are experiencing the cross-talk that others in this thread have mentioned. Are there multiple users that would be using the remotes in the different areas AT THE SAME TIME and WITH THE SAME SOURCE?

Ex: Two people simultaneously changing cable channels

If so, this points to cross-talk. The only way we have been able to address this in the past was with an "i" series base and remote.
See our Youtube page for info about smart homes, great audio and more.

[Link: youtube.com]
Post 10 made on Tuesday November 21, 2017 at 02:07
Ernie Gilman
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On November 20, 2017 at 21:07, punter16 said...
You can try spacing the channels farther apart.

Ex: 1, 6, E

In this regard, URC would do us a service if they explained how the channels differ from one another. It can't be frequency since 0 sends to any other chosen code. So what is it?

The more we understand picky little details like this, the stronger we are in dealing with problems that come up.
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
OP | Post 11 made on Tuesday November 21, 2017 at 16:22
imt
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So just to clarify. This is not an issue when 2 remotes are being used at the same time (cross talk). Issue happens if I just use the 1 remote (theater) in the theater and it triggers those same components in the family room above.

I did call URC and the RF setting dial only applies to the initial string sent by the remote and once that RF connection is open it will then reply to any RF command sent from any remote picked up by the antenna if its in range. RTI skips this issue by programming commands on the processor itself and then you send trigger commands from remote to the specific processor. They said it won't make a difference if the RF setting on the base station is more separated

The remotes were originally programmed to send both IR from remote and RF commands to the processor for each of the devices. So, I downloaded the programming from the theater and turned off the direct IR. I brought the theater remote upstairs to the family room and then had no issue controlling the cable box or receiver, since they are same brands/models, via the RF trigger commands. I also held my hand over the remotes IR sensor to be 100% sure. However, when I did the reverse and brought the family room remote down to the theater It did NOT control via RF. That remote still had its direct IR turned on so it only controlled the components when I pointed the remote at the rack.

So.. here is what I am thinking:

1) The Theater uses an MRX2 and the other 2 rooms use MRF350's. Maybe there is some issue with an RF code setting for the MRX2 not being recognized by an MRF350. Thus. the Theater remote is triggering the MRF-350 but not vice versa.

2) I never got a chance to see if there is any RF interference with the current antenna placement in the Family room by setting the base station of the MRF350 to zero to verify. Not sure if there is constant interference present if that would allow the commands from the Theater remote to pass through (i.e. this is triggering the RF to be /remain open and ignore the RF base station code).

3) I can try making the theater as a standalone project in CCP and delete the other base stations from the project and then see if that makes a difference.

Short of having him buy a whole new remote and base station to use the "i" version to avoid RF issue, not sure what else.

I wish he came to me in the first place cause I would have done this in TC and there would have been zero issues.
Post 12 made on Wednesday November 22, 2017 at 12:02
goldenzrule
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Would you mind sending me the file? I'd like to take a look. I'm sure everything is setup right but you know what they say, two pairs of eyes are better than one. You can pm me if you are willing to send it
Post 13 made on Wednesday November 22, 2017 at 17:40
goldenzrule
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Thanks for sending the file Todd. I replied here rather than email just to get others thoughts. One thing I noticed is the Fios is on port 2 in all 3 bases. If I have multiple bases in a house, I typically will place them on different ports on each base. It shouldn't be necessary, but I recall way back being told this is best practice. I don't recall if it was in training or just something I heard along the way. It's one thing to try at least. I would probably change the RFID from the 0(letter) ID to just a number on the MRX2 just to see if it helps as well.
Post 14 made on Thursday November 23, 2017 at 05:49
highfigh
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On November 21, 2017 at 02:07, Ernie Gilman said...
In this regard, URC would do us a service if they explained how the channels differ from one another. It can't be frequency since 0 sends to any other chosen code. So what is it?

The more we understand picky little details like this, the stronger we are in dealing with problems that come up.

Have you called their tech "support", lately? That would answer your questions and slap your dreams of them providing this level of detail.

I called yesterday about trying to load the program from an MX-980l and the guy told me that he would fix it by using the remote log in to my computer. Sounded very confident, although he added "If you still have problems, call back". Seems that they're paid by the number of calls, not the number of solved problems. Didn't ask me to verify the equipment in the control system, didn't ask many questions at all- just wanted to get off of the phone. If I was yelling, I could understand this, but I wasn't.
My mechanic told me, "I couldn't repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder."
OP | Post 15 made on Friday November 24, 2017 at 13:40
imt
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On November 22, 2017 at 17:40, goldenzrule said...
Thanks for sending the file Todd. I replied here rather than email just to get others thoughts. One thing I noticed is the Fios is on port 2 in all 3 bases. If I have multiple bases in a house, I typically will place them on different ports on each base. It shouldn't be necessary, but I recall way back being told this is best practice. I don't recall if it was in training or just something I heard along the way. It's one thing to try at least. I would probably change the RFID from the 0(letter) ID to just a number on the MRX2 just to see if it helps as well.

Thanks for checking the file. I had noticed that as well and was planning on making sure they weren't on the same port, for each base station. The theater is a cluster os spliced together IR sensors, from what I remember but would just need to make sure that 2 components don't match the same ports across base stations. I will change to a number on the MRX2 to see, although based on what tech support said it "should" make zero difference. I will also test what I wrote for #2 above and see if there is any RF interference in the Family Room, since maybe that keeps the RF gateway open constantly and thus is processing the RF commands from the Theaters remote. I'll see if I can get in there this weekend and see.
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