The MRF-200 is version 3.5 and was purchased years ago with an MX-800 (since sold). I never did get the MRF to work with the 800 but it was not important at the time so I never worried.

However I now have a definite use for it with my MX-850 (manufactured April 9 2005) but I'm not getting anywhere so either:

* the two are incompatible or
* the MRF-200 is faulty.

The power light comes on with the MRF and it indicates it has received a signal (red flash) but no IR is coming out the other end to control the gear. I should add I've altered the setting on the MRF to 2 and did the same in the MX editor program (and of course downloaded it) when setting 1 did not work but no joy with that either.

I've done a search here and suspect incompatibility. Someone please confirm that and tell me which Base Station will work with my MX-850. Am starting to think that selling the 800 was a mistake although I never had it working with it either :-(

TIA - you guys have been exceedingly helpful in the past

John

EDIT: I see the MRF-200 version 3.5 is actually identical to an MRF-250 and both are supposed to be compatible with the MX-850.

I just reset the address on the Base Station to 0 and did likewise with the MX-850 but the blaster does nothing at all to any of the components even when set up in front of the gear.

So, I guess the 200 is faulty after all and as it is an obsolete item it will be unrepairable and a piece of junk. As it is well and truly out of guarantee, my only hope is to locate a new or used 200, 250 or 300. Anybody have one or know where I might get one?

LATER EDIT: Purchased a used MRF-300 at Amazon. Hopefully it will work ok when it eventually arrives.

Tassie,

I can't say much on the MRF-200. I have never used one but, right off the universal website is says...

CAN THE MX 850 CONTROL RF DEVICES DIRECTLY?
The MX 850’S radio signals will not directly control components that operate with “no pointing” RF remote controls. The only devices that will receive the radio signal from the MX 850 are the addressable MRF base stations (MRF 200, 250 and MRF 300). The component must have the ability to be controlled direct line of sight in order to be compatible with the MX 850.
[Link: universalremote.com]

So, I'm guessing you have a faulty unit if everything is setup correctly.

The MRF-300 should work fine as long as the RFX-150 antenna module is included.

Good Luck.

MRF300 (w/RFX150) is still the old wide-band RF receiver, but should work OK w/MX850 from 2005.

 I've used a lot of MRF-200s with the 800s and they are 100% compatible. If by "blaster" you mean the blaster built into the front of the 200, have you turned it on in the RF setup? The blaster is off by default. 

I would also try an emitter to see if you can get one to work and make sure you set a device to output on a specific port instead of ALL. The emitters that came with the 200 may not be a "flasher" depending on exactly when you got it. I think they switched to flashers later in production, but the earlier ones did not visibly flash.

Also, I believe version 2.0 and later added the RF sniffer capability. If you set it to ID 0, it will flash the LED when it receives any signal in it's freq range so you can test for interference, this also means it will pick up an RF button push no matter which ID you have the remote set to. This is for testing only though, always make sure the IDs match on the 200 and the remote for normal operation. When checking for RF interference make sure the light on the 200 stops flashing immediately when you release the button. ANY lingering of the light will indicate RF interference. 

I hope this helps.

Thanks Eric - I did try all those options so I guess the 200 I have is faulty. I should have returned it when it was under guarantee & I could not get it to work, but being slack, did not.

However I have a used 300 on the way so that should set things up properly. Until now I've never bothered about having to point the 850 but now have a use for it in the room next to the main setup so the RF option has become more useful.

John