One of the interesting challenges with using Professional level remotes programmed by a professional instaler is what to do when the indstaller goes out of business.  I committed when I had my house built to use the URC line of equipment.  I have 2 MSC-400 bases that control multiple different types of AV equipment.  

I recently switched from MediaCom to AT&T uVerse DVRs.  Called up installer to have what should have been a pretty easy programming change.  Found installer went out of business.  Went to Best Buy who said the "Geek Squad" was capable of making change.  When they saw the equipment they said they would not touch anyone else's programming.  If I wanted to have them make any changes to my remote they would want to completely reprogram the remote and I was looking at $10k-$15k for the work.

I have been a progrmmer in a recent life, now I a senior IT guy, and wanted to have the remote done by someone in the trade.  I was given an archive copy of the programming software when they company folded.. My desire  to give the work to a local company and helping a local company stay in business ended up screwing me.  I was given an archive copy of the software and have downloaded the remote comfiguration and will start the programming effort myself.  

I would caution anyone wanting to use these custom remotes to ensure they have access to multiple installers in the event one folds.  In my case I have 2 msc-400s, 2 mx250 units and 7 MX900 remote controls running my home audio/video distribution.  I am lucky, while I do not desire to become fluent on programming URC equipmnt, I have enough programming experience, training, and aptitude to accomplish the task.  The normal reiial customer would be totally screwed.  This industry needs to come up with a better way to help the installers without hosing the retail customers or it will go the way of the dinosaur.

If you don't want to do it yourself, call someone else in your area. $10-15K is outrageous, even if they were programming from scratch (which there's no reason to do in your case). Shouldn't take more than an hour or two. Heck, for $10K-$15K I'd fly there and reprogram everything for you. ;-)

Mike

Have you contacted URC and explained the issue? There's a good chance they could direct you to someone else in your area.

I would think with the size of your system, the 1-2 hours would be best case but no more than 4-6. The BB quote is so high because it would take them weeks to learn how to program a system like yours as I'll bet they've never tackled anything close to it!

LOL, nothing like charging the customer for your training time.

I agree.
Call URC. They can give you the name of someone in your area.
Please don't judge us on the response Best Buy gave you.

Thx,  I will contact them tomorrow and see what they say...  

According to URC's dealer locator (see here: [Link: universalremote.com]), there are at least 10 dealers within 25 miles of your location (per your profile). I'd start with them.

They probably quoted that amount to put in a new control system to run everything. Their statement if true is equivalent to someone telling you that your oil change will cost $2000.00.

The Harmony upgrade?

With 7 remotes I can just picture the "array" if IR bugs on each component!

Either that or they wanted to price it so high to make it worth their while or as noted above, pay for their on the job training with the MSC. If this was a Magnolia they also carry C4 and I believe some do Crestron so it could easily have crept to that price range with that many zones. We do the same thing at times...pricing something higher than normal if we aren't really interested or don't think it's worth our time; however there becomes a point where it is worth the hassle and every once in a while it's accepted.


Indeed. Just yesterday I was chatting up a guy who lives in my building who owns a 2010 Murcielago. I inquired about the true cost of ownership. His response was "you really don't want to know but to give you an idea my last oil change was 1,800 dollars". In this context...those better be some really sweet custom graphics on those new color remotes they were planning on providing :-)

PM Sent

Each remote is an exact clone of each other.  The way the reomtes are configured you first selct floor of the house you are on, then select the room, then select the video source you would like to view.  The Key Digital video switch routes the signal via component video to the room, and the audio via a Russound Cav controller or  a dedicated Devon receiver depending on the audio capability of the room. The devices are controlled by 2 MSC 400s through serial (first choice) or IR (2nd Choice) depending on the capability of the device.  All of the video, audio components are on 2 computer telecom racks in my telecom room.    

First of all, no they are not. They may look similar on the LCD screen but what's happening in the background is different for each zone and is different in reference to each corresponding MSC.

Refer to my earlier post as to why you are being quoted so high. I will further expand this by pointing out that a new programmer, coming in to take over what someone else did, initially has no idea how it was programmed or if indeed everything is working correctly or up to their standards. That requires research into the system design and connectivity and oftentimes breaking it down to the basics and starting from scratch. That takes time, time is money. The other justification is this...as soon as the new programmer touches your system, he's on the hook for it, its changes and oftentimes in the clients mind anything that happens down the road whether it's related to the programming change or not. The willingness to accept ownership involves risk; accepting the future risk is often mitigated by collecting payment in advance to cover such risk in the future.

I find it hard to swallow defending the geek squad here but I have to say I don't blame them. Based on the very limited information you are providing us with as far as system design and interoperability; we would have quoted you one guy at a full day of labor to do recon and calibration (1,350) and then a complete reprogram of the system based on 7 zones and 2 MSCs (4,500). Total estimate would be 5,850. You have to realize this is more than walking into a room and saying "oh, there's a TV on the wall with a cable box and DVD player sitting below it x 7". Where BBY came up with their number? No idea but like I said, I suspect they were pricing it so high to make it worth it and/or to cover their in the field training on a system they know nothing about.

It's also possible depending on the age of the system that this was programmed under CCS in which case there are 11 discrete control files, one for each device. CCP made the programming system-centric instead of device by device and while you can import .mxg, .mxj, etc files into CCP I'm not sure what the challenges of importing ALL devices in from a CCS system and maintaining all of the codes, macros and remote layouts.

BB might be quoting what it takes to reverse engineer and program the system from scratch in an integrated CCP environment, but $10k is a lot of money.