Community Forums

joelyn5 · 02-15-2011, 09:34 AM

Need some info please. We have a new coach coming down the line shortly. Yes, we feel fortunate. The coach will have a KVH R6 system. We'll use Direct TV as our sat provider. We're doing a factory pickup. Newmar says there will be two feeds from the antenna. We want to install a DVR. I've been told two different stories: #1 I need both a receiver and a combination receiver/DVR. #2 I need only a combo receiver/DVR. Has anyone gone this route (DVR) in a new build coach using KVH and Direct TV? Which story is correct? Thanks. Joel

deaton · 02-15-2011, 11:09 AM

Your choice with Direct TV (or DISH for that matter) is to go with a regular receiver OR a DVR, you don't need both.... it's one of the other. If you go with the DVR, it also serves as your receiver. Of course if you want to watch two different TV's at the same time on different channels with Direct, you will need two receivers or one receiver and a DVR. If you just want to watch one show and record the other, the DVR will work fine.

I have a DVR in the front and a regular receiver in the BR.

When ordering your DVR/receiver, specify that you want a remote that can provide radio control instead of just infrared. The radio works a lot better in the coach environment, and you don't have to worry about leaving the door open on the cabinet where you install the receiver (assuming it doesn't have a glass front or a repeater).

FWIW, I had a KVH on my former coach and it gave me constant problems - losing it's programming - so with my new coach, i went with the Winegard Traveler 3005 since "in motion" is something that didn't matter to me. I'm not saying you'll have problems with KVH, and I hope you don't, but I have found many who have. What I did want was HD and the Traveler does that very well. Not sure about the KVH R6, but my old one did not do HD.

My coach came with two feeds from the roof for my Traveler, but the dish could actually accomodate four, so I had the installer put in two more. You have to add another line for the 12V to the dish anyway, so we just used the same new hole in the roof. I'm guessing that Newmar is installing the power line along with those two feeds in your case.

If you ever want to run a third or fourth TV (like one in the bay), you will need a third and fourth line if you want different channels.

Parkerrs · 02-15-2011, 02:28 PM

I don't know if direct has similar recievers but this is what I did with dishnetwork. I have 3 tv's, one in front, one in bedroom, and one outside. My children are still young enough that they travel with us or bring friends, so every tv needs to be able to accomodate a different channel simultaneously at night.

Dish offers a reciever that is actually 2 in 1. It is the same size as 1 normal reciever but has two remotes. One remote is IR while the other is radio, the IR controls the inside tv above the dash, the radio remote is for the outside tv since it doesn't need line of sight to operate the reciever. This unit is two recievers in one housing so each tv can watch a seperate channel simultaneously yet it is the same slim size as a single reciever. Then for the bedroom I have a single reciever with IR remote. Each of these reciever types are also available as DVR. I don't use a DVR since we're on vacation and tv is limited to the weather forcast for the area or late night entertainment before bed.

I also went with the Winegard Trav'ler and it's a great unit. I have no need for in motion since seeing the sights rather than tv is half the reason for traveling by RV and driving.

Route 66 · 02-15-2011, 02:32 PM

The DVR has a receiver built in so you'll only need the one unit.

If you are considering HD, no dome can receive DirecTV HD. You need an open face dish for that.

RickO · 02-15-2011, 04:13 PM

We went with the Winegard 3005 and run it to our DirecTv HD DVR. From there I ran HDMI cables to all three TV sets and use the RF remotes already mentioned. I cannot watch different DirecTv channels on different sets at the same time but that's not something we do so this set up works for us. If we really need to watch different programming at the same time we can use the cable or OTA feeds for the different sets.

Congrats on your new rig!

Rick