Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter

Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV

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53.625,-2.516 or 53°37'30"N 2°30'56"W

BL6 6SL

The symbol shows the location of the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter which serves 2,690,000 homes. The bright green areas shown where the signal from this transmitter is strong, dark green areas are poorer signals. Those parts shown in yellow may have interference on the same frequency from other masts.

Are there any planned engineering works or unexpected transmitter faults on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) mast?

Winter Hill transmitter - Winter Hill transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 18/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name

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Which Freeview channels does the Winter Hill transmitter broadcast?

If you have any kind of Freeview fault, follow this Freeview reset procedure first.

Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.

Mux	H/V	Frequency	Height	Mode	Watts
PSB1 BBCA	H max	C32 (562.0MHz)	726m	DTG-	100,000W
	1 BBC One (SD) North West, 2 BBC Two England, 9 BBC Four, 23 BBC Three, 201 CBBC, 202 CBeebies, 231 BBC News, 232 BBC Parliament, plus 17 others
PSB2 D3+4	H max	C34 (578.0MHz)	726m	DTG-	100,000W
	3 ITV 1 (SD) (Granada), 4 Channel 4 (SD) North ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 North ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Granada), 71 That’s 60s,
PSB3 BBCB	H max	C35- (585.8MHz)	726m	DTG-	100,000W
	46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD North West, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, 105 Channel 5 HD, 106 BBC Four HD, 107 BBC Three HD, 204 CBBC HD, 205 CBeebies HD, plus 1 others 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H max	C29 (538.0MHz)	726m	DTG-8	100,000W
	20 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others
COM5 ArqA	H max	C31 (554.0MHz)	726m	DTG-8	100,000W
	11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others
COM6 ArqB	H max	C37 (602.0MHz)	726m	DTG-8	100,000W
	12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others
LM	H -20dB	C40 (626.0MHz)	572m	DTG-12	1,000W
	from 1st October 2014: 7 That's Manchester,
LL	H -17dB	C24 (498.0MHz)	572m	DTG-12	2,000W
	from 30th June 2014: 7 Bay TV Liverpool,
LPR	H -20dB	C56 (754.0MHz)	572m	DTG-12	1,000W
	from 1st October 2014: 7 That's Lancashire,
GIM	H -20dB	C57 (762.0MHz)	572m	DTG-2	1,000W
	Now 90s, Spotlight TV, Clubland TV, Country Music Entertainment , Classic Hits MCR, 77 That's 60s MCR, 78 TCC, 80 That's 80s, 86 That's 90s MCR, 88 TV Warehouse+1,

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-2 16QAM 2K 3/4 18.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Winter Hill transmitter?

BBC North West Tonight 3.1m homes 11.8%
from Salford M50 2QH, 22km southeast (140°)
to BBC North West region - 92 masts.

ITV Granada Reports 3.1m homes 11.6%
from Salford M50 2EQ, 22km southeast (139°)
to ITV Granada region - 80 masts.

How will the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

	1956-80s	1984-97	1997-98	1998-2009	2009-13	2013-18	2013-17	20 Feb 2020
	VHF	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E	C/D E T	W T	W T
C9	ITV_waves
C12	BBCtv_waves
C24								_local
C29								SDN
C31							com7	com7
C32								BBCA
C34								D3+4
C35								BBCB
C37							com8	com8
C40								LOCAL2
C48			C5_waves	C5_waves
C49_{tv_off}						ArqA	ArqA
C50_{tv_off}						BBCA	BBCA
C54_{tv_off}					-BBCB	-BBCB	-BBCB
C55_{tv_off}		BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	ArqB	ArqB	ArqB	com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}					_local	_local	_local	LPR
C57_{tv_off}					GIM	GIM	GIM	GIM
C58_{tv_off}					SDN	SDN	SDN
C59_{tv_off}		ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves	D3+4	D3+4	D3+4
C61					ArqA
C62		BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBCA
C65		C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves

_{tv_off} Being removed from Freeview (for 5G use) after November 2020 / June 2022 - more
Table shows multiplexes names see this article;
green background for transmission frequencies
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W T
_waves denotes analogue; digital switchover was 4 Nov 09 and 2 Dec 09.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4	500kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB	(-7dB) 100kW
com7	(-12.9dB) 25.7kW
com8	(-13.4dB) 22.6kW
Analogue 5	(-16dB) 12.5kW
Mux 1, Mux 2, Mux A, Mux B, Mux C, Mux D	(-17dB) 10kW
LL	(-24dB) 2kW
GIM, LM, LPR	(-27dB) 1000W

Local transmitter maps

Winter Hill Freeview Winter Hill DAB Winter Hill AM/FM Winter Hill TV region BBC North West Granada

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area

May 1956-Jul 1968	Granada Television†
May 1956-Jul 1968	Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Feb 2004	Granada Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014	ITV plc

Feb 1983-Dec 1992	TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010	GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014	ITV Daybreak•

• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

R

Richard

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

11:25 PM

My sony tv keeps saying the selected programme is not available. The guarantee runs out in 4 weeks. Do you think I should bring it back to the store and see what they can do to stop it from happening?

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Richard's 67 posts GB flag

P

PP Ainsworth
10:59 AM
Bolton

Is anyone else having problems with the from ? Today,21st April 2012, I have no HD signal at all. All other showing 10/10 . This has happened before and it usually comes back on a few hours afterwards.

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PP Ainsworth's 2 posts GB flag

PP's: P's Freeview map P's terrain plot P's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Dave Lindsay

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:44 AM

PP Ainsworth: Bring up the strength screen whilst on one of the HD and check that it is tuned to UHF channel 54.

If it is on , then perhaps it is signal overload, you being only 7 miles from the :

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice

Try fitting an attenuator inline with the incoming lead.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag

J

Jim Davies
10:56 PM
Wirral

Are there any problems with Pick TV from the Xmtr which should be on UHF 61 according to the listing. I can only receive it from UHF Channel 52 from Moel - Parc Xmtr. All other are OK. I have done a complete reset and setup with no avail. This is effecting three tvs and two recorders. Fault first appeared three weeks ago. Have done a manual of channel 61 and Pick is missing.

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Jim Davies's 8 posts GB flag

Jim's: J's Freeview map J's terrain plot J's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:15 PM

Jim Davies; I realise that its listed as 61- on this page but since April 13th ArqA has been transmitting on Ch49 from .

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

M

Mark Fletcher

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

11:43 PM
Halifax

Jim Davies,Wirral.Having just did a check around 11.20pm i can confirm that using a borrowed larger group W aerial for testing purposes only and temporarily clearing my current set up,i can get the ArqA from on 61 in my location (somewhat pixellated without the amplification,less pixellated with on) and Pick TV is on programme channel 11.
You may have to do a reset procedure.
Do you have any boosters as such,and also did you accidentally delete programme channel 11 as such or is the whole of ArqA from Winter Hill on frequency 61 missing from your set up ?

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Mark Fletcher's 673 posts GB flag

Mark's: M's Freeview map M's terrain plot M's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

12:25 AM

Mark Fletcher; Yes, you are of course quite correct as its not April 13th but April 2013, so Jim Davies please ignore what I had said.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

M

Mark Fletcher

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

12:38 AM
Halifax

JB38.No,ArqA from is still broadcasting on 61,not on frequency 49 at this moment in time.I just did another with my borrowed group W aerial and there is nothing on frequency 49 around 12.10am,yet a minute later on frequency 61 without and with amplification i did pick up ArqA from Winter Hill as the system information denotes name North .
I do know once the UK is all TV that Winter Hill ultimately will have to relocate both muxs ArqA and BBCA from frequencies 61 and 62 respectively to 49 and 50 respectively to clear the band or simply frequencies 61-68/69 for upcoming 4G mobile phone .
It will be even more interesting if rumour speculates that possibly the -800mhz band too may also one day be cleared for other services not known at present,effectively putting frequencies 49-60 out of use,this certainly will effect Winter Hill altogether.

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Mark Fletcher's 673 posts GB flag

Mark's: M's Freeview map M's terrain plot M's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage

M

Mark Fletcher

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

12:40 AM
Halifax

JB38.Whoops you just beat me to my response.

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Mark Fletcher's 673 posts GB flag

Mark's: M's Freeview map M's terrain plot M's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage

B

Brian Wood
10:47 AM

Jim Davies. Do you still have this problem? I'm also in Wirral and pointed at and tuned to . I have just checked and have full strength and for Pick on 11 on CH61 so it's there today and was 2 days ago when I recorded Futurama.

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Brian Wood's 4 posts GB flag

Page 30

Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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