Home Theater

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :)

picky — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 14:16:03 GMT

Mystery-solved!

After 5 evenings of research, I figured out why my new URC MX-980 remote was seemingly plagued by the fact that it failed to control my Lightolier Compose PLC lighting control system: The lighting bolt that struck very near our house in early July while we were up north at a lake for a week apparently did a bit more than just scramble the brains of my lighting controller. Some of you may recall my recent thread which discussed the incident and the eventual determination that the lightening didn't fry anything; it simply set the controller's logic address to a different one that no longer matched any of the 11 zones it controls. Setting it back to the default address cured that issue.

However, I now discovered that the lightening also changed the Infrared (IR) remote sensor's status to the "OFF" position. This was discovered when I realized the controller would not respond even to the Model: CLMIRTES remote that came with it! There are 5 possible settings: "Rooms 1, 2, 3, 4 and OFF". I reset the controller to respond to Room 1 commands and viola: The lights now respond via the MX-980 remote from anywhere in the house via the RF to IR extender.

The final thing I have to do is to connect the projector IR emitter to the RF extender and the entire theater will be remote-wise, back-in-business once again! I am nearly finished messing around with the remote's programming and I must say that the URC Complete Control Editor software has made this a relatively easy task. There is a bit of a learning curve for folks who have never programmed a sophisticated remote before. But, having owned and programmed a Phillips Pronto NG remote for the past 4 years, pretty much made programming the MX-980 a walk-in-the-park. So far, so good! - Glenn

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :)

picky — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:26:49 GMT

spacelord_87:
I just bought the harmony 890 pro for my new home theatre system. I have everything other than my tv in a closet and i am running the wireless extender. It was a little bit of a pain to get everything working well to be begin with, but it works great now.

What sort of issues did you run into? I'm having a little problem getting mine to run my lighting system even have having it learn the commands directly from my lighting remote. I probably need to turn the IR brightness intensity down on the emitters a bit.

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :)

spacelord_87 — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:16:18 GMT

I just bought the harmony 890 pro for my new home theatre system. I have everything other than my tv in a closet and i am running the wireless extender. It was a little bit of a pain to get everything working well to be begin with, but it works great now.

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :)

Bill H. — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:58:43 GMT

But the Question is............will it do the Dishes??????????????

90 componets !...........wow talk about over developing a Product !

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :)

IndyKlipschFan — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:54:22 GMT

"to control a total of up to 90 separate components or zones, all from this one remote."

Woo Hooo Yes, but can it tuck you in bed at night, and give you a kiss good night too? hehehehehe

Good Choice Glen!

Let us know what you think!

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

SoundTowne — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 04:44:36 GMT

Personally I would opt for the rf. Those long strings can miss as well. I am just not a big fan of Universal rf. It works when the tech leaves then at some point developes problems with the rf being reliable. I just about went broke running service calls on rf base stations..lol.. I will admit they are better than in the past, but they still give us heck sometimes.

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

kelA — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 02:25:06 GMT

OK, all my equipment is line of sight. Would I be better off just staying IR even with long macro strings, or should I invest in the RF base? Still waiting on my MX-900 since it was on backorder.

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

SoundTowne — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 22:17:00 GMT

Ok I sell Universal and sell alot of Universal. IR only solid as a rock. If you need rf features they are very hit and miss. Dosen't really matter on model of remote or rf base. If I have a budget customer ir only I go with Universal. For the last several years we have used RTI (Remote Technologies Inc.) for rock solid rf performance. Just our experiences, yours may vary...

Todd

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

picky — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:22:19 GMT

I reviewed the handsome, MX-880, too and simply decided to go with the MX-980 because it has more buttons and selections on its larger screen. By the way, my MX-980 arrived along with the RF Extender yesterday. It sure is purdy (pretty blue lights)! Since I've played with the software all week long in anticipation of the remote's arrival, I already had the programs pretty much written when it got here. After charging the remote for a couple of hours, it only took a few minutes to upload the program from my laptop to the remote via the supplied USB cable. Tonight I will hook up the RF extender system and see how the whole thing works. -Glenn

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

kelA — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:37:24 GMT

I see URC is set to release (2)new models in the coming month. The MX450 and MX-880 priced at $250 and $499 respectively. I may have to cancel my order for the MX-900 and look into the MX 880 instead. Much like the MX810, but software editor is based on the MX-900. Much easier programming so I'm told.

http://www.universalremote.com/resources/pdfs/MX-880_features.pdf

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

picky — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 13:16:50 GMT

You do need the RF extender for this remote. I have ordered it, too. It's a 2-piece affair with an FX-250 antenna module and base unit. The MRF-350 base unit has an infrared flasher on it capable of flooding nearby components with IR signals. Also there are plugs in the back into which six (6) IR flashers plug with 10 foot wires that allow you to glue each flasher over the front of any theater component's Infrared sensor. It can be expanded to include up to 15 MRF-350s to control a total of up to 90 separate components or zones, all from this one remote.

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

kelA — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:12:59 GMT

Glenn, Yes please let us know how everything goes. I have purchased the MX-900 which is the younger stepbrother to the 980. I just decided to let the dealer program the remote, since I probably would not have the patience to program it. They are still programming it, so I havent had a chance to play.I am going to ask if they can leave me the software along with a copy of their remote control database for future upgrades to my system. I have read a lot of reviews where the user gets frustrated with the programming and returns it. I did have a chance to play with my dealer's MX-980 demo and I am sure you will love it once you get it programmed. Good luck.-Kelly

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

IndyKlipschFan — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:31:52 GMT

If it is like the other universal remotes... Yes, plug it in... the leads go to your components (eyes) So just hang it next to your system or on the wall next to it..

Works great!

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

InVeNtOR — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:20:06 GMT

i like that universal remote. i saw it at starpower. i have one of those questions.....regarding the rf extender. do you just plug that into a wall and have it sitting out? is there any other cords you need to plug in for it to work? i was looking at the harmony 1000 and i think that remote doesn't even use a rf extender. are there any other remotes that don't use that?

thanks guys....

Re: Reluctantly searching for a new Theater Remote :(

IndyKlipschFan — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:07:59 GMT

Universal is a great company... Your choice looks cool!

Let us know what u figure out!

Roger