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?

D

David H
12:50 PM
Manchester

I live at postcode M43 7LA and my LG tv does not get enough strength to display channel 50 BBC . I emailed LG and the reply is below.

Dear David,

Thank you for your email.

unfortunately there are issues occurring that are beyond our control with regards to the BBC channel package, which should be rectified shortly.there are a number of retune events happening and some UHF channels are being cleared, which explains why you cannot find BBC!

Unfortunately the advice I can offer extends as far as asking you to be patient in this frustrating time as we to see a resolution fairly quickly!

If the information I have provided does not you or if you have any further questions please email again or contact our Customer Service Team again on 0844 8475454 or via the Web Chat facility on our website and we will endeavour to do our best to resolve your query.

Kind regards,
Tom
Television & Media Department

LG Electronics UK Help desk

A bit on the vague side? I doubt if getting an ' man' will resolve the problem. I could buy an external box, but feel aggrieved spending money over this as it was all working perfectly before the retune.

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David H's 4 posts GB flag

David's: D's Freeview map D's terrain plot D's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage

K

KMJ,Derby

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

1:37 PM

David H: Before you consider buying a box, is it possible to borrow one and then observe how the strength compares between the muxes? - that is assuming you are able to tune them all in! If is found to be low on strength or poor it might be an problem, but in the first instance do routine checks on cables and connectors, then check for from a VCR or box RF modulator which could be set to a previously unused arround to . Also check for interference from HDMI cables if you have any, which could be picked up by the aerial fly lead. Also if your signal is amplified it could actually now be too strong.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag

D

David H
2:27 PM

KMJ: Thanks for your reply. The television in our bedroom retuned okay and has good on BBC. This TV uses an external box and is using the same rooftop as the main TV. The aerial itself was replaced and repositioned last summer as nearby trees were causing some problems. I have just tried this box on the LG tv and it still can't receive BBC so now I haven't got any more ideas! Oh yeh - no HDMI cables or box. There is a DVD plugged in via and a Wii via composite.

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David H's 4 posts GB flag

M

mdt
4:04 PM
Bolton

after re-tune on my main tv and bedroom tv(both using mpeg2 internal tuners) all are fine and working without issue. bl2 5jf using the ,regards

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mdt's 7 posts GB flag

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

J

JohnH
9:01 PM

Thanks to those who pointed out that some communal systems would need re-configuring. Had our block's done this morning, and all now back.

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JohnH's 2 posts GB flag

P

P M Haworth
6:29 PM
Bury

I have had problems with "" and continuous pixelated since about the 10th of April 2013.
I have spoke with many people in my area
BL8 4DR who are having the same problem. I have done all the necessary tuning and an inspection of my Ant.
Just the same.
Is this a fault on ?

P M Haworth

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P M Haworth's 1 post GB flag

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

R

royston Futter
6:56 PM

My tv says when I switch to radio ( 701,2,3,4 5- Tv is all fine - any ideas

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royston Futter's 1 post GB flag

Dave Lindsay

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

7:22 PM

P M Haworth: The BBC definition TV and radio services changed from last week. Can you view BBC One?

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag

Glenn Davies
8:38 PM
Southport

Interesting how messages were posted onto the sections in droves, yet not a whisper from the latest re-tunes in Scotland. I would most tuning problems will have been solved by advice posted by the likes of UK, , etc. I trust those still out of luck will see their problems solved as fast and as cheaply as possible. Having re-tuned equipment at home and at work with few problems, I'm reluctant to lay blame at the door of those in charge of trying to provide the best for our .

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Glenn Davies's 7 posts GB flag

Glenn's: G's Freeview map G's terrain plot G's frequency data G's Freeview Detailed Coverage

C

cake
9:37 PM

Not sure what you mean by your post Glenn Davies ? I'm in , have successfully retuned several times in the past but simply cannot get 50 at all since the works. I'm convinced the fault lies with the engineers.

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cake's 5 posts GB flag

Page 68

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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