Thanks for some of the "interesting" responses.... Sorry I am not at such a superior level as some of you out there. I am the electrician (25 years) who installed the Radio RA2 in my house as it is the most cost effective way to provided a decent lighting control system for an existing house. As for the choice of the Harmony 900, I would say for the average homeowner who wants an easy to use, cost effective, off the shelf, easy to program way of controlling multiple devices with the touch of a single button, the Harmony 900 works pretty damn good. Now, If I had the money to rewire the whole house and throw a boat load of money out the window, maybe I would throw a Lutron Homeworks control system in the house along with a Crestron table mounted control for A/V... Maybe even throw in some blackout shades.... but alas, in these tough economical times, I must belittle myself by having a lowly Harmony 900 and skimpy Radio RA2 in my humble, sub-par 3 bedroom Cape... Please forgive this lowly peasant for burdening some of you with my silly question..... (PS - For those who took my question seriously, thanks... LOL... And yes, I think the RS232 is a workable solution but I will most likely install an IR Keypad down at my equipment location and simply install an IR "eye" over that keypad.... That will definitely do the job!!)

Thanks

Part of the vitriol directed at Harmony is based on experience. Most of us at one time or another tried a Harmony, and so began the hate affair.

Give the Harmony to your Mother in Law (notice I didnt say Mother), and get RTI's new value brand ProControl. Its priced in the same ball park as Harmony, but the programming suite is a Hybrid of full RTI and the Harmony wizard approach.

One last word of advice, mark your AV stuff up more then 10%!!! You will need to make a real profit if you want to continue to support your clients. You are already here asking questions and that is just the beginning of the time you will spend. Training, shit not working, and dont even get me started on HDMI. If you make $30 on a remote and have 1 warranty support call you just lost at least $40.

he is the end user.....this is for his own system.....never mentioned this is for clients...he mentioned he is an electrician so we can all bow to his greatness

Eddie,

We all like RA2. No one is suggesting it is the problem. Most are commenting, albeit not very effectively, that the 2 products are at opposite ends of the quality spectrum. The reasoning you most likely used in selecting RA2 as your ideal solution for lighting control is similar to our reasoning for suggesting a better control system. While it might seem good enough, it simply is not up to the task or expectations of a client that can afford ra2. It doesn't help that we see a lot of jobs done by electricians who sold harmony as the best product available and we have to convince clients it is the main source of their problems. Just because it is the only solution you have access to or ability to work with doesn't mean it is the righ.t product for the job. I am sure there are areas in your industry where you feel the same.

huh, interesting. I did see a little cutout in the back, i just assumed that was a vent or acess for something. Sry, i rest my case then ra2 can only be controlled by rs232.

Kevin (OEX) was in training with me, i swear that they didnt mention IR capability Maybe he remembers different. Thanks for the info on that! its gtk