Considerably cheaper than the MRF-250, so I'd prefer it if it will work.

Thanks,
Harold

Yes, but:

* You lose RF extender addressing (so it will respond to all 418MHz remotes)
* You lose IR line addressing
* You don't gain the narrow band advantage of the MRF-260

Others might be able to expand more on the overall RF reliability of the 100 vs 250 or 260.

Thanks for your reply, Daniel. Unfortunately I'm new to the RF stuff and I have no idea what any of it means. Could you elaborate a bit or point me to a site that will explain some of these terms?

Thanks much,
Harold

First of all, is your mx850 narrow band compatible. If it is, you need an mrf 260. If its not, get an mrf 250.

RF addressing means you assign an ID number to the extender and an ID number the remote.

IR line addressing means you take RF addressing one step further and you assign line numbers to your devices and then plug those devices into corresponding line outputs on the mrf

Bottom line, if you mx850 is narrow band get an mrf 260. It will be worth not having the headache. Check the sticky at the top of the page for narrow band info

in addition to hog's comments.

having id addressing means that your neighbors urc remotes wont effect your gear.

thanks oex, doesn't do much good to know what it does if you don't know why you need it to do that

Hoggy, narrow band remotes will still work on non-narrow band basestations. You don't need an MRF260/350. The regular basestations will work fine.

I wouldn't even recommend an MRF-250. They don't work right most of the time. Get an MRF-300 instead.

Don't get an MRF-100...you'll kick yourself for it later.

As a side note, both the MRF-250 and 300 have been discontinued (URC doesn't even have them anymore), so you should look to the MRF-260 or 350, unless your MX-850 is too old to have a narrow-band transmitter.

Mike

Thanks for all the replies. I just ordered my MX-850 yesterday, haven't even received it yet. My system is all right out in the open, no components are blocked or behind anything, and I only sit about 12 feet away from it. I just thought it'd be nice to have the RF if I could get a base for reasonably cheap, so I wouldn't have to worry about pointing directly at this or that component.

Thanks,
Harold

As everyone's mentioned, the MRF100 will work, but you

A) might run into RF interference problems that would be hard to trouble shoot with the MRF100
B) cannot add another RF basestation elsewhere in the house and expect to control similar equipment. Both remotes will control both identical pieces.
C) hope a neighbor doesn't have a URC remote.

But besides that, it should work fine :D

Just picked up a new MRF-260 on ebay for $57, shipped. I would have payed very close to that for the MRF-100, so seems like a pretty good deal.

Harold

That price is 'way less than dealer cost, so it's a very good deal. Of course, you won't get any warranty support from URC if it doesn't work, as URC does not authorize sales on Ebay. But for that price, it's worth taking a shot.

Hi Surf,

I got both the MX-850 & the MRF-260 for $200ish, shipped, using Amazon & Ebay, so yeah, there's a certain amount of risk involved warranty-wise, but sometimes you gotta go w/your budget. I would never a buy a big-ticket item, like my 56" Samsung TV, which I also bought on Amazon at a fantastic price, w/o a warranty.

Harold