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 04/11/2024 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?

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

4:14 PM

Keith Wright: On having a quick study of your area I can immediately see one major problem that will no doubt be affecting for not only yourself but most Foxwood(?) residents receiving a signal from (@ 17miles / 38degrees) being, the somewhat dense range of trees that can be seen at the end of the incline on Cypress Gardens, and with the trees in question stretching far out to the left and right.

Trees as such do not always cause serious reception problems if they are located a few miles away along the signal path towards the , as elements of signal reflection along the way can smooth the blocking out effect provided that a multi-element (sharp pick up) is NOT being used as the reception aerial, albeit this negative characteristic not quite so important with reception, but when trees are so close to the receiving aerial then its quite impossible to benefit from this sort of thing.

As you can probably imagine, reception under these circumstances is liable to fluctuate rapidly during windy conditions due to the density of the obstruction changing, and with wet weather bringing another factor into the equation as the leaves will act like multiple reflectors to the signal bouncing it in all sorts of directions, neither of being of any value to reception.

I cant honestly see you having really good reception at any time unless you have installed, it offering glitch free reception for 99.9% of the time, any time not being for only a few minutes during a really heavy thundery downpour.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

M

Mark Fletcher

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

6:00 PM
Halifax

Max Richardson,Middlewich.If you believe your is pointed towards ,then the polarisation of your aerial will be horizontal.If on the other hand your aerial is polarised vertically then it will be facing a nearby as such.If also your aerial is horizontally polarised as you stated to believe check the local news bulletins,if your news bulletins are both tonight and ITV1 Reports as well as being on programme channel No 4 on your device's EPG guide then it is facing Winter Hill.If on the other hand your horizontally polarised aerial picks up news bulletins from both and ITV1 Wales as well as S4C on programme channel 4 (Channel 4 on programme channel 8 in this case),then your aerial is facing Moel-Y-Parc instead.

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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

Max Richardson
10:14 PM
Middlewich

Mark.From what you describe we are definately receiving from , as we get Northwest News and Reports. Nothing from the at all. Still here in CW10. All the tv's are dead, apart from the set in the lounge that is wired up to Sky. Dont know whats going on but, is a non starter. No wonder so many people end up changing over completely to Sky. never ever gave us any problems at all, and we were receiving the signal from Winter Hill then too. So why has our always been poor on Digital with regular pixelation most nights, cumminating in no signal for the last 4 days now???

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Max Richardson's 2 posts GB flag

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

M

Mark Fletcher

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

11:42 PM
Halifax

Max Richardson,Middlewich.
I would look up has changed?
There are so many possibilities,but i can confirm that in my location i did a just recently and apart from BBCB (HD) on 54 (my set-top box is non-HD,i did pick up ArqB on frequency 55,SDN on frequency 58,D3+4 on frequency 59,ArqA on frequency 61 and BBCA on frequency 62 all from with and without signal amplification as such.
Difficult for me to answer your question about why your freeview reception from Winter Hill is poor in your locality with regular pixellation on most nights you described which now culminates in for the last four days or so but i reiterate if you look up Freeview Reception Has Changed there are many possibilities.
One other option you could consider is ,if you find digital freeview TV signals from Winter Hill troublesome,either that or change the to either Moel-Y-Parc, or a nearby local if this suffices or barring these then its a case of making do with what you have got.

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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

K

Keith Wright
9:09 AM

'jb38', many many thanks for your informed advice. We have looked into the possibility of having a installed ( does not currently cover our estate); installers have twice visited our house to a satellite dish but have been unable to obtain a on both occasions; so I suspect any TV service which relies on satellite dish is out of the question. As I keep saying, can I have back please ? Our reception was so so much better in those days.

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Keith Wright's 7 posts EU flag

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

8:35 PM

Well, and especially is definitely about the only choice that you have for virtually guaranteed glitch free reception, and indeed on further checking I see is already installed in the first three or four properties on your left hand side starting just across the footpath that leads to Buckthorn Gardens, the dishes being mounted on the rear of these buildings.

With regards to your own property, I just fail to see why the engineers could not obtain a signal, and quite frankly feel its a case that they either did not try hard enough or alternatively just wanted to make life easy for themselves and not be involved mounting a in an awkward position, that is for them! because as far as your property is concerned, and "if" I am viewing it correctly, then a dish mounted on the very rear of the left hand side (or just around it mounted on an angle arm) of your property should be able to have a sufficiently clear enough view to pick the signal up, or failing that at a position slightly down from the apex of the on the left hand side wall.

Just purely for information purposes, an approximate way for anyone to judge if they are able to get a signal is to stand with their back against a wall and be facing 28.2 degrees to the left of due South, and if they can look up at an angle of approximately 25 degrees from the horizontal and see an unobstructed view of the then they will definitely be able to receive a signal.

That said, you have to transfer the fact of this being done standing on the ground to the higher up position that the dish would be installed at, as any obstruction seen at ground level is liable to clear when the dish is mounted higher up.

By the way, if you draw an imaginary line through your property running from the front right hand corner to the left hand side wall rear corner, then that line runs from North to South, unless Google has a serious error!

Anyway, the info may prove to be of assistance.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

Les Nicol

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

10:05 PM

Keith - I concur with JB38 in his posting. I think you would be better in contacting a Local installer and going with a "" , rather than than the contracted in installers who for the most part work to a prscribed installation policy.

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Les Nicol's 991 posts GB flag

M

Mrs L Parry
7:02 PM

Dear sir/madam
Could you please explain why when the weather is bad we loose our and the tv comes up with or bad signal. breaking up skipping through the program. After 2 years of the we still have problems when the weather is bad can you please explain.

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Mrs L Parry's 3 posts GB flag

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

7:41 PM

Mrs L Parry: This can depend on where you reside (which isnt known!) and the level of that you normally receive, a post code or one from nearby (a shop) being necessary to check on this, as the level received when all is working OK might not be that terribly much above the minimum threshold level thats required to resolve a , and if the signal you receive passes over areas where trees are located then that can have a very bad effect on , and especially so if its raining as nothing blocks signals more than wet leaves.

If you come back with the info on location further advice can then be given once checks have been carried out on the levels expected wherever you are, as well as the being used.

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M

Mrs L Parry
9:24 AM
Blackburn

Dear sir/madam
Thankyou for your reply i live on housing estate near lower darwin my postcode is BB2 3UR when the weather is settle we normal do have a good only when the weather is bad it plays up.

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Mrs L Parry's 3 posts GB flag

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

Page 32

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