RF Remotes and Sage

[jillsy]

I am fairly new to Sage, but so far I really like it. I am using Vista Home Premium and also the USB-UIRT to control my STB and it works fine with an IR blaster (it was hit-and-miss without). I tried using the USB-UIRT as a receiver as well, but it doesn't seem to be working out. The first time I thought the problem was that I had originally had the Media Center remote/receiver installed. After installing the USB-UIRT and teaching Sage the IR codes from the Media Center remote, I would get messages that the Media Center remote service (or something like that) had stopped working. Then, the USB-UIRT stopped transmitting commands to the STB. I went back into Sage and changed it to no remote and the UIRT began transmitting again.

I was having some other minor problems and wanted to install a new hard drive, so I decided to reformat and reinstall everything. This time, I installed a RF keyboard and the USB-UIRT. I taught Sage the commands from another IR remote, again trying to use the UIRT as both receiver and transmitter. This was OK for a couple of days, but then the same problem started. I also noticed that if I opened Vista Media Center, I would get that same Media Center remote service has stopped message. Since the most important thing is that the UIRT change my STB channels when necessary, I again changed Sage to no remote and placed the UIRT behind the computer so it's blocked from receiver any IR signals.

So the problem now is I have no remote to use with Sage. The RF keyboard has some media buttons, but the Rew and FF skip a certain amount instead of just speeding up the process so they're really not helpful. I don't want to try another IR remote since it will likely do the same thing the others have. So I would like a RF remote, and I have seen evidence of users getting the Firefly remote to work with Sage. The information I have found here and elsewhere is spotty and some is quite old. So I'm looking for any current info on getting a Firefly (or other RF remote) to work with SageTV 6.3 for Windows. I'd really appreciate any advice, especially from anyone currently using the Firefly with Sage.

Thanks for reading my post and for any helpful advice.

Jill