I had the RCA receiver that you have. It is the 515. This is the 3rd. gen. high end receiver. It use IR because that is what I used. I only had it for a few days and sent it back so I could buy a Toshiba DVD, so I never even used the remot ethat came with it. I used a universal. The 1 or 2 channels that broadcast DD wasn't worth paying what I did for the DSS. But it is IR compatible, unlike Dish network's receiver.