I finally got around to calling DISH. The tech I spoke to said he sees this problem about once or twice a month. He said that sometimes when the receiver gets new data/updates/etc that the internal program gets a little confused/corrupted.

The way you correct is by performing a "marriage test" - with the receiver on, pull out the smartcard and then reinsert it.
He then had me do a hard restart by unplugging the receiver powercord and waiting a few seconds and then plugging it back in.

The tech also said that most problems can be corrected with this method.

Sounds like voodoo to me, but it's worth a try. I'll post if it works or not.

Chester