Receiver(s) not receiving guide information; and searching for satellite issues. Please help.

This error usually occurs for one of two reasons. The first is to have the wrong dish type specified in the receivers satellite setup page. The second is to have a Slimline 5 LNB dish and have a poor or missing signal on the 119 satellite.

Here is the corrective action. Go outside and absolutely confirm which dish you have, SL3 or SL5, see pics. Then go to each DVR and press and hold the info button on the remote then select "more system info". Scroll down and confirm that the dish specified is what's on the roof. Assuming all that checks out, look at the signals from the 119 satellite. While you're at it, you might want to post all of the signals and let us take a look.

You'll find these readings under "Menu" -> "Setup" -> "System Setup" -> Satellite -> "View Signal Strength". Note the "+" and "-" symbols next to the "Satellite" and "Tuner" entries where you can toggle the readings between the various satellites and both DVR tuners. If you have a DVR it's important to check BOTH satellite tuners.

Fill in your readings for each satellite and tuner on the new post you create, using the example below as a guide. (The example below is only an example and not a form that will appear in your post unless you "cut" and "paste" it.) A properly aligned dish will show 80-90s on most of the relevant transponders (although some will be low or zero):

Satellite transponders (32 total at 101º)

[Most of your standard definition channels are beamed from 101ºW]

1-8 # # # # # # # #

9-16 # # # # # # # #

17-24 # # # # # # # #

25-32 # # # # # # # #

Satellite transponders (3 total at 110º)

[A few HD channels, also beamed from 99 & 103º]

1-8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA #

9-16 NA # NA # NA NA NA NA

Satellite transponders (11 total at 119º)

[Local SD channels for some cities, Spanish package]

17-24 NA NA NA NA NA # # #

25-32 # # # # # # # #

Satellite transponders (16 total at 99º(s)) [or 99º(b)]

[Local HD channels for some cities]

1-8 # # # # # # NA NA

9-16 NA NA NA NA NA NA # #

17-24 # # # # # # # #

[Note: these can be very slow to appear]

Satellite transponders (14 total at 99º(c)) [or 99º(a)]

[National HD channels]

1-8 # # # # # # # #

9-16 # # # # # # NA NA

[Note, these can be very slow to appear]

Satellite transponders (16 total at 103º(s)) [or 103º(a)]

[Local HD channels for some cities]

1-8 # # # # # # NA NA

9-16 NA NA NA NA NA NA # #

17-24 # # # # # # # #

[Note, these can be very slow to appear]

Satellite transponders (16 total at 103º(ca)) ["0" until new D12 satellite live]

[National HD channels]

1-8 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

9-16 # # # # # # # #

17-24 # # # # # # # #

Satellite transponders (14 total at 103º(cb)) [or 103º(b)]

[National HD channels]

1-8 # # # # # # # #

9-16 # # # # # # NA NA

17-24 NA NA NA NA NA NA NA NA

I will be back at my house later this afternoon with provide the satellite transponder values and verify the dish type. 

Assuming I have the dish type assigned correctly, and a properly aligned dish but I have poor strength on the 119, is there corrective action? I understand that mostly Spanish language television comes from the 119, which i could care less about viewing. Does the guide information also come from the 119? Would leaving the receiver set to a certain channel when not in use be beneficial? Could I replace the SL5 LNB unit with a SL3 LNB unit to resolve the issue?

I will repost later today with my signal strength readings.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

Yes, you say you have a slimline 5 but you don't make any reference to the 110 and 119 signals. I assume that's because you don't see them on your receiver, and that's almost certainly because your dish type is incorrectly set in your receivers to slimline 3. 

If you have a slimline 5, when you are tuned to a channel on 103 (most HD) then the guide data comes from 119. If you set the dish type to slimline 3, then the receiver does not see 119 and so gets no guide data when you are on a 103 channel. This causes the diagnostic message you see about not receiving guide data. When a receiver gets into this state, the receiver usually restarts, although as you have noticed the behavior is different between boxes, since it is a major failure situation.

If you tune to an SD channel, they are on 101 and the guide data comes from 101 so the receiver recovers.

Just resetting the dish type to slimline 5 will solve this problem UNLESS you don't have line of sight to the 119 satellite. If you don't have line of sight, your 119 signals will be low and you will lose guide data again. In that case, you will need to relocate the dish so it has line of sight to 119, or convert to an SWM system - using SWM the guide data always comes from 101 so that solves the problem. You can just buy an SWM LNB and replace the existing LNB in your slimline dish - if you are careful you can replace it and not need to re-align the dish.

I have to ask, how did the receivers get set to slimline 3?

I am not able to verify the setting at the moment, however I am certain that it is set to the correct dish type on both receivers - I simply didn't reference the 110 and 119 because based on what I know (which isn't much) I thought the only relevant satellites for my situation and viewing were the 99, 101, and 103. Sorry for the misinformation. 

Probably a dumb question, but if it is set to a slimline 3 would the receiver even know that the dish is a SL5 since it has all the LNBs that a SL3 would have so that if you are tuned to a channel coming from the 103, it would look to the 101 for guide data?

I'm confident I could switch out the LNB without disturbing the alignment of the dish; would you recommend I purchase a SL5 SMW LNB or a SL3 SWM LNB? Would there be any difference based on the slimline dish? Would I replace the 4 lines currently coming from the LNBs with 1 or 2 lines to a SWM junction box or something along those lines?

The slimline 3/5 setting on the receiver does not work like that. The SL3 and SL5 LNBs are different ELECTRICALLY and whatever you do in the receiver can't change that.

Here's how it works (reduced to the basics). DirecTV's stack plan sends the 99 and 101 signals together, and the 103/110/119 signals together. That's what the SL5 delivers. The SL3 emulates the same stack plan, even though it does not see 119 (or 110). To do this, it takes the 101 signals and puts them with the 103 signals, in such a way that the receiver thinks it is seeing 119 signals from the guide along with the 103 signals. So when you are watching a 103 channel,  the guide data system thinks it is getting the guide from 119, even though it's really coming from 101.

  If you set the receiver to SL3, but have an SL5, the LNB is still an SL5 so the "faking out" of the guide data when you are tuned to 103 does not happen (because of course the SL5 LNB does not do that) and you get the situation you are describing

.

FYI,  there is a belief among some DirecTV techs (and CSRs) that changing the dish type from SL5 to SL3 will overcome situations where there is no LOS to 119, but it won't!!  Only switching the actual LNB from an SL5 to an SL3 will work, with a regular (non-SWM) LNB.

If you use an SWM LNB (or use an SWM multiswitch) the situation is different. The SWM system takes guide data from 101 and delivers it down a single SWM path (think of it as a dedicated ninth SWM channel) regardless of what channel you are tuned to.

Let's look at your situation again. If you have LOS to 119, just set the dish type to SL5 and everything will be OK. If you don't have LOS to 119 (signals should mostly be 100 or close to that) then you can replace the LNB with a regular non-SWM SL3  LNB .

Or you can use SWM LNBs instead, if you need the ethnic package or the few religious and music channels that are on 119, and you have LOS to 119, then an SL5 SWM, otherwise an SL3 SWM will be OK. . You'll need the LNB, an SWM power inserter and an SWS "green label" splitter. A four-way splitter would be enough (the power-passing port will go  to the SWM power inserter, then one cable to each DVR, giving one spare).

You might also look at upgrading your whole system to Whole Home DVR. That upgrade would include the SWM dish, the PI, the splitter, the necessary DECA box for the HR20 (the HR24 already has one) and the DECA internet connection. You might get that upgrade for less than the SWM, PI and splitter - some people who are longtime customers have got WHDVR at very low cost. Call DirecTV and see.

Otherwise you can get the SWM LNB, PI and splitter from vendors like solid signal, or on eBay. You can't get them from DirecTV, except as part of the WHDVR upgrade.

The others who are giving you advice are stepping through a troubleshooting sequence in a logical order.  If you follow their advice and report satellite signals, including the 119, it will be easier for them to diagnose your problem.

I see I forgot to post the dish pictures, that's the absolute must first step, identify the dish. Without going into all the cross info, my original post identified the two major causes of the problem described.