I'm pretty up to speed on Home Theatre equipment and technology but given my time constraints, I decided to hire a professional installer to handle my recent equipment upgrade (HDTivo, Fujitsu plasma, etc.)

I also upgraded to an MX-3000 which I was looking forward to running on an RF basis. My installer is telling me that I have to stick with IR b/c there is too much interference. I can't believe my house's radio frequencies are that cluttered vs. anyone elses that puts me in this situation. I have a 2.4g cordless phone system and a 2.4Ghz Linksys Wireless Router.

I guess I'm suspicious that my installer doesn't really understand what they are doing or is trying to "dumb down" what they are telling me.

Does anyone else stuck with using IR instead of RF? What could be the problems... or better yet, solutions?

The remote uses an RF frequency of 418Mhz. Your 2.4Ghz equipment should not be an issue.

There have been some issues with the RF on some MX remotes. The installer might be gun shy, as he wants the remote to work 100% of the time. There is nothing worse than having to do free service calls on an intermittent problem dealing with RF and remotes. Certain HD cableboxes and HD Sat receivers have been culprits at times.

Thanks.

Here are my specific components. Maybe someone can tell me specifically if there are known RF problems with MX-3000 with any of these devices:

1. Fujitsu P55XHA30WS
2. HD Tivo HR10-250
3. Arcam DV 79
4. Sony DVD (5 Disc)
5. Marantz SR-18 Receiver
6. Niles IR Flashers

Frustrating!

I did a 42" EDTV Fijutsu and it create alot of rf. I moved the mxf200 away (about 8') and it worked fine. Also the components created a little interference. The unit is 3' from them too with the antenna removed. It works 100% of the time. I can say it took about an hour of tinkering to get it perfect but worth the effort. There is a thread around here somewhere about how to troubleshoot the mxf-200 and would be applicable to the mxf250 too. Don't try to use a version 1 mxf200 reciever. The mx3000 use the mxf250 and they are supposed to be fine.

Your installer should come out and at minumum do a test of the RF. I've had one installation on a mountain where a whole range of radio/tv/cell/etc. antennas are on the top of the mountain. Thid house had RF everywhere and I had to use a repeater system. Just to check if it wasn't coming from inside the house we shut off the electrical in the house and checked it with no change. Then we went outside and tried it at different locations from 100-300' from the house and it was still receiving RF intereference.

If you are near something like this it might be a problem. If you are near an airport or very close to police/fire/ etc antenna it might also cause this depending on frequency. Most of the time you might have to place the receiver several feet from the receiving equipment. Cable and SAT boxes are usually ht big offenders. Plasma cause interference too but usually the receiver isn't that close to the display anyway.

Hope this helps

Bob

Greg C and oex pretty much cover the situation. The main advantages of RF over IR with the HTM products are the built in IR routing and the elimination of pointing the remote during long macros.
BTW there is a large difference between being up to speed on home theater equipment and understanding control of it. There is no substitute for hands on experience and I am assuming that you haven't installed a large amount of pc programmable remote controls.
What struck me about your post is that you are second guessing your installer yet you felt you needed his expertise to get the job done. There is a little secret a lot of pros won't tell you but every house is different and there is no way to be sure that things will always work that have worked previously in another customers home. Sometimes there are insurmountable problems so a responsible installer goes with his best judgement. I hope that your installer is doing this job on a T&M basis because if you are in charge(it's your money and your choice) then you should be willing to pay to implement your plan. That should cover all the discusion time as well once the job has been planned and has commenced. I really enjoy helping DIYs on these forums(except on acquiring cheap pricing ;-) ) but I am not going to help you complicate the life of a fellow installer. Just my small opinion.

This message was edited by Shoe on 08/16/04 10:52 ET.

Shoe,

Consumers should second guess things when the circumstances warrant.

I had mapped out the entire job with the installation company which included implementing an RF remote system. When it came to installation time, they didn't even test or try to set it up b/c of the difficulties/uncertainties mentioned above. I was purchased the MX-3000 for its RF capabilities. I hope you understand that I'm not asking that the impossible be accomplished. I would just think it is fair to do a little work, do a little tinkering and then determine if it can or can't be done... and that was the point of my first post to this thread.

Oh, and I'm not trying to complicate anyone's life -- I was just looking for some advice / experience that would hopefully help get the job done correctly.

They should have tested the MRF-250 in your installation. There's no way to come to the conclusion that it won't work without testing it first. Also, if you do have a problem with interference, there are a number of troubleshooting techniques that can determine if a solution is possible. Your components shouldn't cause any specific problems. I usually recommend an RF remote like an MX-800 or 3000 for clients with plasma TV due to the high amount of IR interference they emit.

If you want to try it out yourself, you can get plenty of help here.

They should at least check it out. URC's RF systems seem to be getting better and better, and I think it is worth testing. Honestly, I think it is lazy to tell you that it is too inconsistant to install without even checking oput how it works in that environment

Shoe,
He said he didn't have the time not the ability. Your knee-jerk defending of "a fellow installer" diminishes the value of what you have to say in this and other posts. Some installers are very good and some are very bad and, like other things in life, most are somewhere in between.

tchen9316,
Did you pay for the MRF-250 RF base station? You could always buy one from Surf.
I suggest you not recomend this installer to your friends, he sounds to be the lazy "BS baffles brains type".

I just installed a mx-800 and was having interferance problems, I think it was coming from the pioneer dvd-r with tivo. So all I did was change rec. ID and the interferance went away and the remote works great.

Were you on ID 0 and using the front blaster? Changing the ID doesnt really change the frequency and shouldn't impact an interference problem, but could mask it.
But, if it aint broke, dont fix it

I am considering the purchase of the MX3000 with RF base station, but some of the above inputs re interference from Cable/Sat boxes are causing me concern.
How big a problem is this and is there a solution? Is there a way short of the "try it and see" method of measuring if there is a potential problem.
Finally, does anyone care to share their likes and dislikes of this system?
Thanks for any help to this newbie,
Dennis

Dundas,

Because I learned in this forum that there isn't a chronic incompatibility issue to use RF with the MX-3000, I asked my installer to give it their best shot and at least try to set it up. They said, very honestly, that I was only their second purchaser of an MX-3000 and so they haven't had a lot of experience with the RF. That was an honest answer which I appreciated. They are going to try which is all I'm looking for. Thanks everyone for your input and advice!