Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
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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 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 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 | |||||
| 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-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 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C12 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C24 | _local | ||||||||
| C29 | SDN | ||||||||
| C31 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C35 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C37 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C40 | LOCAL2 | ||||||||
| C48 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C49tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C50tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C54tv_off | -BBCB | -BBCB | -BBCB | ||||||
| C55tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | com7tv_off | ||
| C56tv_off | _local | _local | _local | LPR | |||||
| C57tv_off | GIM | GIM | GIM | GIM | |||||
| C58tv_off | SDN | SDN | SDN | ||||||
| C59tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C61 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C62 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | |||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 GranadaWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area
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Tuesday, 24 July 2012
R
Richard11:55 PM
Will it keep saying the message even tho I have returned. When I record a programme I won't be able to take the message off when I want 2 watch it or is there a way? because it will record the message
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Friday, 27 July 2012
Joe
11:30 PM
11:30 PM
I've just moved to a new location and my current terrestial aerial only lets me receive Freeview Lite from, I assume, the Darwen Transmitter. I'm not bothered about my main TV because that's on Freesat. Will I be able to receive from Winter Hill if I put up a new aerial aimed in its direction? My postcode is BB2 4TX. I also want to be able to split the feed to two bedroom TVs.
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Saturday, 28 July 2012
J
jb3812:16 AM
Joe: Winter Hill is located 9 miles away from your location @ 184 degrees and uses (H) polarity signals, whereas Darwin is at 4 miles 147 degrees (V) polarity, and so should you be able to access it you could swing your aerial around clockwise (from above) to the 184 degree position and alter it to horizontal polarisation and see how that goes.
Unfortunately I cant check the predictions for reception for Winter Hill as DUK's predictor refuses to accept the code provided.
By the way Winter Hills channels are : 62 - 59 - 54(HD) - 58 - 61 - 55.
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Joe
10:59 AM
Blackburn
10:59 AM
Blackburn
Thanks jb38. Sorry postcode should have read BB2 4TS.
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Joe's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb3811:54 AM
Joe: Just checked again using the new info and which hasn't really made that much of a difference, insomuch that Darwen is still at 4 miles but at 132 degrees but with Winter Hill being slightly closer than before @ 7 miles / 183 degrees.
By the way Darwen is only a 100 watt station whereas Winter Hill is 100Kw, so I would be inclined to do as suggested using the same aerial albeit that it "might" be one group low depending on what had been fitted.
If you try as was suggested check what colour the plastic end plug is that's fitted at the front end of the horizontal support arm that the elements are fitted on to, as that indicates an aerials band grouping.
Only asking this out of interest!
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Sunday, 29 July 2012
Joe
10:41 PM
Blackburn
10:41 PM
Blackburn
JB38: I can't tell the colour until I get a ladder up. Would love to get the terrain view between my location and Winter Hill but I don't know how to do it. I suspect there may be too much hill between the two points to get a satisfactory picture.
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Joe's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 30 July 2012
J
jb388:28 AM
Joe: You can get this by clicking on "terrain" seen at the top of the list seen to the right hand side of your posting, but!! this will not show properly with certain types of browsers like IE8 etc albeit it will do perfectly OK on Firefox to name but one.
The link below is to the Megalithia terrain indicator, although its far more trouble entering the info required in this compared to the comparative ease when using the link next to your posting, but though always remember with these terrain indicators that they only take account of natural landscapes and totally exclude forests or anything man made no matter how large.
As far as the aerial is concerned you have nothing really to worry about as far as the colour is concerned, as "if" an aerial is one group out its always better if its lower rather than the higher one required as it has less of an effect in that direction than if the other way, although you might not have a dedicated group anyway.
Just in case you cannot manage to view it, the predictor on this page only indicates a clear path between Darwen and your location, although the reception predictor does indicate that Winter Hill is possible but not quite at the level of Darwen.
Click on "Digital UK tradeview" on the same list as terrain and you can see what DUK predicts as being possible, of course taking the indications with the usual pinch of salt!
Terrain - shows radio profile between two UK sites to optimise you DTT, Freeview, DAB or analogue TV reception
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Tuesday, 31 July 2012
K
Ken Clay9:44 AM
Warrington
I've just installed a Humax Fox t2 box for HD Freeview reception. The signal is usually at 70% strength and 100% quality but frequently drops (about every 10 mins) giving pixelated picture and sound muting. My arial is a high gain in the loft (under a slate roof). I can see Winter Hill from the roof. My postcode is wa42pg. What is the reason for these fluctuations? Also my box can show strengths for channels 54-60 but doesn't tune in channels 55-60. Should I attempt to tune in 55-60 manually and would that fix the problem?
I had no trouble on non-HD digital on my system
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Ken's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 14 August 2012
M
Mark Fletcher6:48 PM
Halifax
Ken Clay,Warrington.One possible reason for your fluctuating signals on the BBCB (HD) multiplex from Winter Hill on frequency 54 is the siting of your aerial,in the loft under a slate roof.And it is common for BBCB (HD) multiplexes anywhere in the UK to suffer picture pixellations more so than the normal SD multiplexes which are often unaffected as such in normal conditions.
You may have to consider either moving your aerial within the loft to alleviate the difficulties you stated or to relocate the aerial externally onto the roof.
As for manual tuning or scanning this is highly recommended as auto tuning or scanning often picks up weaker transmissions on the lower frequencies while more often occasionally failing to pick up stronger transmissions on the higher frequencies,and believe me Winter Hill currently uses the higher frequencies and these transmissions can be omitted when the weaker Moel-Y-Parc transmisions lower down the frequency bands (middle bands) are often picked up first during automatic tuning/scanning around Warrington,Liverpool and South Manchester conurbations,etc.
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Mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Joe
9:33 PM
9:33 PM
JB38 I've not got round to doing anything with my aerial yet. I'm tempted to swing it round and point it to Pendle Forest rather than try for Winter Hill.
Thanks for your suggestions.
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