REMINDER: You can’t use a Genie with a round dish (or portable dish)

Don’t take your Genie DVR on the road, unless you have a dish that can work with it. Most mobile and marine dishes mimic the round DIRECTV dish seen on homes in the 1990s, not the Slimline style seen today. Genies just won’t work with that style dish unfortunately.

Here’s the issue

Several years ago, DIRECTV changed their installation screens so that you couldn’t select the 18″ round dish when setting up a Genie DVR. They did it as part of an overall upgrade that allows Genie DVRs to detect and set their dish types automatically, and to cut down on customer service calls. Since the round dish can only get standard definition programming anyway (with a very small number of exceptions) it didn’t seem like a good fit for the Genie.

Genie DVRs also really want to be connected to the internet and they will tend to nag you a bit if they aren’t connected. This is another reason to consider whether or not to bring them on the road with you. However, if you do want to bring a Genie with you, here’s what you need.

What dishes actually work with the Genie DVR?

There are several choices actually. Unfortunately none of those “set it and walk away” domes from Winegard and King will work with a Genie, but this stationary dish will:

DIRECTV Slimline SWM Kit for Camping Tailgating RVing w/ UltraHD 4K LNB (RVSATKIT-DTVHD-SWM)

In addition, this self-aiming dish for RVs will:

Winegard DIRECTV TRAV’LER PRO Multi-Satellite TV Antenna (SK2SWM3)

The upcoming Phoenix from KING will also work in this situtation. However, all these choices are designed for you to watch TV while the RV is stopped. In order to get satellite TV while moving, you’ll want something like this Winegard dish:

Winegard RoadTrip T4 Automatic In-Motion Satellite Antenna

but unfortunately, that dish doesn’t work with a Genie because it doesn’t emulate the Slimline dish. So, your in-motion choices are somewhat limited.

Boaters use this in-motion product, which is a bit large for an RV (although there’s nothing saying you couldn’t try to mount it)

Intellian s6HD US Ku-Ka Dual Band HD System with 60cm (23.6 inch) Dish (B3-631HD)

It all comes down to the fact that a Genie DVR needs to think it’s connected to a Slimline dish. All the dishes above mimic that kind of dish.

One more thing…

One last thing to remember: You can’t bring one of the little Genie clients on the road without bringing the Genie DVR. It just won’t work. The little Genie clients, even the new Gemini, all rely on the Genie DVR to work. If you try to hook them up without the main Genie box, they will give you an error and nothing else.

If you want to know more about DIRECTV for RVs, call the experts! Signal Connect is the world’s largest RV satellite activation specialist and a DIRECTV National Accounts Dealer. We’re here to give you advice and support, whether you’re an existing customer or just thinking about satellite TV. Call us at 888-233-7563, fill out the form below, or use the chat button at the lower right of this article. We’re here for you!

About the Author

Stuart Sweet
Stuart Sweet is the editor-in-chief of The Solid Signal Blog and a "master plumber" at Signal Group, LLC. He is the author of over 10,000 articles and longform tutorials including many posted here. Reach him by clicking on "Contact the Editor" at the bottom of this page.