Barry,
we have at least 50 remotes and Bob has probably replaced all TIU's at least a dozen times. My brand spanking new remotes - all 3 experienced the Out of Range message today.
Based on the experience I have had along with many other club members, the radio module and remote design need improvement. My bet is a little more power to the Radio found in the TIU and Remote also with a better antenna system would vastly improve this. But again, the NJ HIRailers layout is not a typical model RR.
MTH would do themselves a world of good if they took the product to Sierra Wireless or a company that has RF Engineers on staff who could dramatically improve the product and write code.
I agree with Matt, this is way too long to market and is frustrating that this us 15 months in the making.