High Quality Universal Remotes for RF/IR

[jsunstrom]

I was reading through this post http://cocoontech.com/forums/topic/22476-alternative-to-logitech-harmony-remote-control/ and found a few different ideas from other CTech members but would like some clarity in regards to my specific situation.
 
I recently moved our DirecTV DVR to my home run in the basement from our living room upstairs.  I configured the stock remote and receiver to use RF but reliability is spotty and not ideal.  I have extra CAT runs to the plate behind the TV upstairs so I could do a remote IR sensor (I think I read you can do those over CAT).  I like the idea of RF though as it seems "cleaner" but prefer reliability any day of the week.  I'm also interested in a nice universal remote that supports RF/IR and works with an IR or even RF extender/converter to IR if necessary, and that will work with my TVs (Sony Bravia and Samsung), DirecTV hardware, and allow custom programming.
 
What path would you guys recommend and/or universal remotes that any of you have had good success with?

 

[johnboy70_99]

A couple of months ago I got a URC MX-450 remote and an MRF-350 to go with it. Remote is in my bedroom, MRF is in a closet about 15 feet away.
 
I use it to control a FIOS STB and a Panasonic Plasma TV. Moving the STB  to the closet and going RF has eliminated the Cisco/Plasma interference problem and is quite stable.
 
I am pretty happy with it, it was easy to program and URC seem to be generally more reliable and last longer than Harmony, etc. I also have an older MX-500 that I have had for 11 years, I use that for my Living room and it is still going strong. Both remotes are programmable via their own LCD screens they don't hook up to a PC.
 
URC does make remotes that are PC programmable, but they only release and support the software for dealers. It is a really annoying practice IMO, I almost hate to buy remotes from them at all because of this but their simpler remotes are still the best option so I went forward anyway. I guess their thinking is they only need properly trained remote programmers, but as someone who has a MS in EE and currently writes enterprise software for a living I am pretty sure I could handle it. I wish they were more DIY friendly.

 

[jsunstrom]

johnboy,
 
Do you know if you can connect the detached antenna with the MRF-350 via CAT cable?  Or would that be a matter of just snipping the end off the detached antenna and manually wiring into it?  I'm assuming it would work but would rather someone with more knowledge shed some light on the idea before I buy one and run an expensive "test".  

 

[jsunstrom]

Nevermind, I read the manual (shocking, I know) and it appears you can use CAT5 to connect the detached antenna.

 

[johnboy70_99]

For remote operation I think it might be even more reliable to extend the emitter via a cat5 pair. I have done this between my living room and a basement control area, been running for years and is very stable. You could probably extend it a couple hundred feet pretty reliably.

 

[az1324]

Nevermind, I read the manual (shocking, I know) and it appears you can use CAT5 to connect the detached antenna.

 
Jut for clarity, you are actually extending a receiver module not just an antenna.