Going to The List, I see that all the LIMA stations are in HD on 77. So how is that different for me when my Dish supplied locals ar Rochester but I get the epg for all the Syracuse stations and their sub channels.
you can't go by "thelist" when it comes to OTA guide data.
If you go
here
and scroll down to each city you will see a list of the satellite locals Dish carries in each market and below that a list of the OTA guide info they carry for each market. Using your "other" market of Syracuse here is the list of stations that have OTA info
OTA Program Guide Data:
3-01 WSTM TSID 0x0899, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 5172/7627)
3-02 WSTM2 TSID 0x0899, Subchannel 02 (DISH Channel 14898)
3-03 WSTM3 TSID 0x0899, Subchannel 03 (DISH Channel 14899)
5-01 WTVH TSID 0x089B, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 5171/7626)
9-01 WSYR TSID 0x089D, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 5170/7625)
9-02 WSYR2 TSID 0x089D, Subchannel 02 (DISH Channel 15178)
24-01 WCNY TSID 0x089F, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 5174/7631)
24-02 WCNY2 TSID 0x089F, Subchannel 02 (DISH Channel 14359)
24-03 WCNY3 TSID 0x089F, Subchannel 03 (DISH Channel 14360)
24-04 WCNY4 TSID 0x089F, Subchannel 04 (DISH Channel 14897)
43-01 WNYS TSID 0x08A1, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 5175/7629)
68-01 WSYT TSID 0x08A3, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 5173/7628)
Now when I look at ALL stations in the Syracuse market the following stations Dish does not have guide info for
5-2 Grit
9-3 Bounce
58-X Ion mux
68-2 Zuus Country
Now if we go to Lima, OH which is the market the OP is trying to get guide info for over the air its just the following
OTA Program Guide Data:
27-01 WBGU TSID 0x08B9, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 6585)
27-02 WBGU2 TSID 0x08B9, Subchannel 02 (DISH Channel 15138)
27-03 WBGU3 TSID 0x08B9, Subchannel 03 (DISH Channel 15139)
44-01 WTLW TSID 0x08ED, Subchannel 01 (DISH Channel 6584)
27 is PBS and 44 is a religious staton. So anyone picking up Lima stations OTA is screwed. None of the Big 4 stations have guide info OTA (satellite yes but not OTA)