I just got an 890 to replace my 880. I want to use RF for all 7 of the devices in my system (Panny plasma; Crystalio II VP; HDMI mosquito; Olive Opus music server; Denon 3910 universal player; Arcam AVP 700 pre-pro; Moto 6412 HD STB). The manual sucks! I've got two questions:

1. Where is the best place to locate the RF extender?

I just put it on an end table near my seat but it doesn't seem to work very well after configuration. I had to switch back to IR for some devices as the RF was not controlling them at all. Other devices worked fine on RF.

I was thinking of putting the RF extender inside a middle cabinet below my plasma TV and then running those wires (whatever you call them) from the RF extender to each piece of equipment, which is in two racks on either side of the TV cabinet. I hate to have to go through the trouble of such a set up but if putting the RF extender on an end table doesn't work I'm not sure what else to do.

2. What does it mean to assign a port id to a device? This is an option in the device set up for each piece of equipment. I did not do it for any of my devices during the first set up attempt.

thanks for any help.

I don't have the 890, but I will try to help you.

1) The RF extender should have direct line-of-sight to the components, if you will not be using the IR emitters (the little things that stick on the devices). The reason some of the devices might not be controlled is (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the remote send IR commands no matter what, but if you have it configured for RF control, both the remote and the extender are sending the commands, which may confuse some equipment and cause it to not respond at all. Try covering the remote with something and seeing if the problem persists.

2) Using the IR emitters is probably the most reliable way to go (because they are immune to "blockage"). Though it is a pain to run the wires, you'll only have to do it once (unless you move equipment a lot), and you have the added benefit of being able to cover the equipment (i.e. behind furniture, doors).

3) Port ID is something I'll have to guess at - I'm assuming that the ports for the IR emitters (on the extender) are numbered, and this is the port ID. This way, if you have two of the same peice of equipment (say, two DSS boxes) you can plug an emitter into seperate ports, and commands for devices configured on port 1 are ONLY sent to that port, and the other identical device is unaffected.

I hope this helps, and please if I'm wrong let me know.

I just got off the phone with Harmony support

First, I did not understand how the 890 works and you are correct that the base unit is just using IR to communicate with the devices so line of site is crucial. The only RF part of the 890 is between the 890 and the base unit. I had the base unit turned the wrong direction so it was facing away from my equipment rack. I had no idea which was front or back and in any case was unaware that LOS was important.

Regarding the port id, it was explained to me that you can use that when you have two idential devices. If you assign different ports to them then you can control them independently with one remote (the 890) which you would not be able to do with the original remotes from the two units.

It's all working correctly now.

Yes I can see how the best set up would be to use the IR emitters. When I'm in the mood to do some fiddling maybe I will set that up.

Thanks for your help.