I have had a Home Producer 8 for a while now, and am ready to through it out the window. It works great on my stuff if I point right at it, but the RF, forget it. I am in the very next room trying to control my sat. dish and it only works maybe 20% of the time. I have tried everything. Any suggestions, or even suggestions for something better? Thanks.

Do you have the learning or non-learning version?

I think its the Non-learning version.

I'm having the same problem, only more extreme -
the RF unit doesn't work (2nd unit now) unless I'm
within 3 feet of the command center. Did you ever
resolve the issue, or just toss it out?

I've been in touch with tech support, and I've done
a variety of placement/orientation experiments to
no avail.

RF range can be greatly reduced by several things. They include:

- Orientation of the sending and receiving antenni.
- Barriers between the sender and receiver.
- Battery strength of the sender.
- Other RF devices interfering at or near the same frequency.

Given all this, I give RF a low score as a useful home control and communication technology. But until someone thinks up a better one, were stuck.

What to do? (Don't laugh) Try holding the remote up to your head when pressing a button. Your body will enhance the broadcast antenna and increase the range. I do this with my garage door remote control and it make a HUGE difference. It also works with the little X10 keypad RF remotes.

Try relocating the RF antenna of your reciever. Get it as high and far away from other electronic components as possible. You can use a simple patch cable from radio shack to extend it's reach. I don't use the RF feature of my receiver, so I took that antenna to use as an antenna for my PC's FM tuner card. Listening to any station while moving the antenna around points out VERY CLEARLY that location and orientation can make a HUGE difference in RF reception.

Let us know what works for you.

Dave