We finished up an install shortly after the Pronto Pro's came out we used 7. The job consisted of 3 Sat receivers and 3 cable boxes that were placed in an Air Conditioned closet in the garage, per customer request. The signals were modulated and sent through out the house. The Plan to control the Receivers and CBL boxes was to use the RF capabilities of the NEW ProntoPro. Well it works but not that well, there are a couple of really bad "Dead Spots". I have been able to take care of a couple of them by IR injecting and changing the remotes back to IR, but I still have some places that I am unable to do that. Does any one have any other ideas? Maybe some way to boost the RF transmitter?
Oh by the way I believe some of the cause for my problem is the house has a lot more concrete walls internally than I expected and the runs distances would have been sufficient according to the initial advertised RF range but Philips over advertised this range, so I have found. The farthest is about 60ft.

Thanks ahead of time

I don't know about the rest of the world, but I have had very poor experiences with RF remotes over long distances, with the notable exception of the Crestrons. I have not used a Pronto Pro, but have resolved if I do to only use it as an "in-room" remote, meaning the customer is restricted to using it in only one room.

Have you tried a trial with one of these units at your shop, or at the customer's house outside the concrete walls? I've even put FM antennas in customer's basements and attics connected to the antenna inputs on these things to try to help, with only marginal results.

I've tried and tried with other RF remotes, with only pain and unbillable hours as the results. Keep the phrase "Cut your losses" in the back of your mind as you try to get this to work.

Thanks for the advice unfortunatley the house is installed and the system has been used for some time. I kinda nned a way to modify the system as is any Ideas?

Why not wire IR to a closet, attic or crawl space that you can reach with rf and go ir the rest of the journey ?

This message was edited by kabster on 07/02/02 04:11.47.

I have had the same problems with the RF unit. The 60 ft. distance will work but that is with no walls in between. The concrete is probally not the real issue. I have a couple that do not work in the room above the RF module.

Thanks Kabster That might work, but any other ideas would be helpful too. Any one else?

--Thanks

At the risk of telling you something you already know, RF does not work from home pages or panels. Code must be sent from device and macro pages only(alias's won't work either)Just thought I'd tell the obvious stuff first (like "did you check the batteries"?)

not true, it was fixed in the last firmware (that came with PE4) now if a button on the home page (or anywhere else) aliases a button that is RF it will send RF

You're right , but once again if the firmware was not updated or you're using the rc9200, it won't work. As a Marantz dealer I made the mistake of ASSuming that the 9200 would follow suit but it doesnt, nor do the prontopros that were set up with the software in the box(or have been on the shelf for awhile.)

Yeah FYI I am using a ProntoPro and i haven had problems with aliases on the home pages. The problems I have seem to be entirely intermittent and unpredictable. Any ideas on boosting signal??

The only one I know of is what I told you for reliability ,you can also cup the front of the pro with one hand and use it with the other it helps add a couple feet to the rf .

Hey,
I just wanted to get my message back up to the top and see if any one else had any good ideas.

-Thanks

I like the idea of putting the RF base in a closet, cabinet, or other central space to where the remote will be used, then possibly use an couple unused nearby cat5 conductors to carry the signal either out to the equipment rack, or to a central wire closet, then just loop them from the incoming line to an outgoing line to the equipment bay. As far as getting stronger RF, I think you're kinda up the creek.

Yea its a good Idea but unfortunatley not possible in my situation.

How can that not be possable ? Is it a glass house ?
There is allways a way to pull a peice of cat 5 .
I've been in this feild for almost 20 years and I have yet to see a job that cant be fished in one way or another that is not obtrusive , and is asteticaly pleasing .
Peter can you get pics of the job ?


This message was edited by kabster on 07/20/02 18:41.30.