Hello all,

Just a few observations about the installation of my MRF-350 I thought I’d share. First of all, I’m not an audio/video professional installer. I’m just an audio/video buff that enjoys tinkering. Also, I’m using an MX-900 remote. Well, actually two MX-900’s because my wife likes to have her own remote set up specifically for her.

One thing not readily apparent (until I read the manual a bit closer…lol) is that you don’t have to install the included emitters. The front blaster of the MRF-350 will control the components in your cabinet. The manual states this: “The MRF-350’s built-in Front Blaster sends commands to components in the same cabinet space as the MRF-350. The Flashers relay commands to components out of sight of the MRF-350’s Front Blaster.” I couldn’t get the front blaster to be reliable enough though and ended up disabling the front blaster and using the flashers instead. I did notice that my receiver was able to take a 3.5 mono cable so I used that cable instead of a flasher. Radio Shack had a 6’ cable for $3.99.

Also make sure to set the device to a specific IR Line Output instead of ALL, and then adjust the Line Output. I was not getting reliable operation until I did that. These adjustments are made in the Editor software. I think it’s under RF Control.

Now, the most important thing I noticed was the placement of the RFX-250 RF sensor. I had originally mounted it on the back of my stereo cabinet with the antenna pointing towards the center of my family room. This method worked fine as long as I had the cabinet pulled away from the wall while validating acceptable function. As soon as I pushed it back against the wall I wasn’t getting reliable operation from the MX-900. After a day of attempting various solutions I stuck a small inspection mirror back there and noticed the RF led was flickering on the RFX-250. Pulling the cabinet away from the wall caused the LED to stop flickering. So, I repositioned the RFX-250 about 2’ to the right of my stereo cabinet on a window sill and now everything works fine. I didn’t notice the LED flickering on the base station itself even though the manual stated it was more sensitive than the RFX-250. Anyway, the WAF (wife acceptance factor) is now at about 90 %. It will take her some time to learn the “push & hold” macros and then we’ll be at 100 %.

So to summarize:

1) You don’t have to use the flashers if your system will reliably work with the MRF-350 front blaster

2) If using the flashers then set your flashers to a specific line output, not ALL (set this in the Editor software)

3) Adjust the placement of the RFX-250 until you get reliable operation

I hope this helps someone that is considering going with an RF system. For the last few days the system has been rock solid and reliable. I’m definitely happy with the reliability.

I’d also like to thank Mike at Surf Remote Control for the immediate shipment of my second MX-900 remote. It was ordered and shipped on the same day. I’d call that excellent customer service!

Carter

Carter-

Thanks for the valuable pointers. It seems that URC gets phone calls all day long in regard to RF setup, the most common is the assignment of the base station to ID 0 (zero). What's your base set for (on the bottom)?

Ahh....good question. That part I actually did notice in the manual. Both the remote and base are now set at "1". I did do the RF interference sniffing thing while set at "0".

So far so good with the RF system....the wife is happy too. I'm still teaching her the "press and hold" macros though. I might end up having to set up separate on/off commands for her if she has trouble.

My mother-in-law is going to love this system too. She doesn't see very well and will hold the remote vertically while reading the screen to see what button to push. So back when the MX-900 was IR she wouldn't be pointing at the components and things were getting out of whack. Sometimes I'd come home from work and the receiver would be on, sat box off, and TV on. This new RF system should solve that problem.

Carter

Thanks for the post, I'm going to be putting in a mrf-260 soon, and while its not the same, there are definitely some tips from your post that I will be using when installing.

Started new thread to not TC this one.