Jlawler:
I am using standard 38 kHz receivers as you put earlier. All the LED's have covers over them. I've linked a photo of one of the pairs so that you can hopefully get a better clue of what I'm discussing. Sorry again for the confusion, I'm trying to explain it simply and I think I made it more confusing.
Which one? Are you supplying power to the device? All the 38kHz sensors require Vcc and GND to produce a signal.
The datasheet for the VS1838B indicates it needs a 20k ohm pullup resistor. You might try changing your input pin pinMode() statements from this:-
pinMode(3, INPUT);
pinMode(5, INPUT);
pinMode(11, INPUT);
to this:-
pinMode(3, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(5, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(11, INPUT_PULLUP);
Which may help if you are using the VS1838B.
Ian