Master System Controller W/Rfx-250

by Universal

Product Details

• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000I54MWE
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Product Description

MSC-400 MSC-400 Master System Controller

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really great idea in an all in one unit., April 27, 2010

By 

A. Salazar (New Jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Master System Controller W/Rfx-250 (Electronics)

I am a DIY'er (not a pro) and I own this as well as 2 MX-980 and 2 MX-350 remotes. Using compatible remotes is key with the MSC since they all use "Narrow Band" RF. If you have ever looked into setting up a IR device in one room or closet so it can be controlled when out of sight, you have undoubtedly looked into an RF repeater setup. The MSC is meant to be an "RF Repeater" but is some much more.

It is hard to describe exactly what the MSC is in one sentence but basically it is meant to act as a brain for your Home Theater setup. The unit is setup so it will send remote commands and macros to all of your devise when received from the remote controls. You program the MSC with all of the codes for your devices and create macros that will be executed when you tell it using a "Trigger" in the remote (a auto-generated unique IR/RF code). The best part is the macros can use logic like If-Then-Else, Toggle (kind of like Do-Loops), and store Boolean (true/false) variables. So it is smart enough to remember when it has turned something on or off for example using the booleans and can run the right macro based on the variable using If statements. At first you might not see this as a big deal but when you try to do any kind of macro programming on a basic remote, you will quickly run into situations where this would be very useful.

From a hardware point of view, this is the other thing that makes the unit so intelligent. It cannot only control devices using the IR repeaters (bugs) but also Serial connections. Controlling devices via serial is a more advanced topic especially for the DIY'er but it isnt that much harder to figure out and is much more secure since it is "hard-wired". Also, if you have ever had to deal with a device that does not have discrete on/off codes (TOAD) such as Samsung Blu-Ray players URC was smart enough to put sensors inputs that you can hook up to the video output of the TOAD device and will know if it is on or off based on voltage.

Keep in mind that this unit has to be programmed from scratch which is not for everyone. URC actually gives classes on programming their gear for the professional installers that sell them. I was able to figure everything out for this and the remotes myself fairly quickly but then again I do Software Programming for a living so it comes very naturally. YMMV. Also, YOU CANNOT DOWNLOAD THE SOFTWARE! It is locked down by URC and you cannot get to it unless you are a dealer or a dealer decides to give you a copy. Without it, you are out of luck so make sure you are getting it from whoever you buy from before ordering.

But if you are up to the challenge, you will be well rewarded in the end. I for one could not be happier which the performance and functionality my gear.

Ernie