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?

P

Paul Buksh
9:57 AM
Runcorn

I live at WA73HD, see map. The map does not show any colour for my area ? I can with the aid of aone for all 4 ch get most good strength about 50% , but they can be intermitent, ( time of year, trees etc). I have a 10 element and an 18 element uhf aerials outside on my bungalow. I would like guarantee reception in order to get talk talks current offer.My plan is new aerial, better quality aerial to feed the three tvs from a new low noise , (probably located in the attic about 2 meters from aerial,Any comments please

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Paul Buksh's 1 post GB flag

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

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

9:27 PM

Paul Buksh
Forget all about a '' , there is no such thing. Any UHF aerial will receive either or digital signals just as well and avoids 'inflated prices'. A Log-periodic would be better than a 'wide band' but do you really need one? Check the used for current transmissions, I think you are probably using ? Currently a Group C/D is needed, but from 2019 it may need a Group K, so a Log-Periodic will be better as it will cover all channels now and in the future.

If you need an aerial , but that is by no means certain and worth trying first without, it should be fitted as close as possible to the connection point on the aerial, normally being mounted on the support pole within a few inches of the connection to the dipole. Always use the best UHF aerial you can afford and be careful to make good permanent connections with quality connectors. soldering where possible if not of the screw terminal type.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

S

Steve
9:08 PM

Lots of comments on the web about ITV1 SD being unavailable. ITV1 HD is fine. Is there an issue?

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Steve's 2 posts GB flag

A

andy

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

9:13 PM
Chester

No 2100 GMT

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andy's 42 posts GB flag

andy's: A's Freeview map A's terrain plot A's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage

S

Steve
9:15 PM

ITV Twitter:

ITV @ITV
For everyone who has temporarily lost @itv and @itv2, we're are working hard to get your back...

BlankScreenUpdate

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Steve's 2 posts GB flag

B

Barry
11:32 AM

I am using and with the all the sets can receive all stations.
When I try to use an indoor aerial I can't receive the BBC A mux. If I stand on my head and hold it at just the right angle I can get a very broken up . All the other Mux's are fine in the indoor aerial.

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Barry's 4 posts GB flag

Dave Lindsay

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

1:56 PM

: Well done. Is you surname Bean by any chance? Are you looking for an award?

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag

B

Barry
11:18 AM
Chorley

I was hoping for any clues as to why the BBCA mux is not receivable on an indoor (43db ) whereas the other Mux's are fine.

Is the array for BBCA lower down the for instance?

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Barry's 4 posts GB flag

Barry's: B's Freeview map B's terrain plot B's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage

Dave Lindsay

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

3:41 PM

: With knowledge of your location why on earth do you think this might be a weaker ???!!!

The terrain plot suggests you have clear line-of-sight at 7.6 miles. The is 100kW on all !

Your problem could be that the signal is too strong and that "the right angle" is one where the strength is a little lower.

As for an that has 43dB , I doubt there is such a thing. The claim is presumably one put there by marketeers and applies to a device which combines an antenna and (which as a whole is referred to as an "aerial").

If this has a variable amplifier then I would start by turning it down to minimum and work from there.

Providing it is sited in a room with good , which is preferably with as few a walls in the way in the direction of the transmitter as possible, then something like this should be suitable:

SLx Indoor Digital Aerial ANR310 UHF DAB Fully Flexible Caravan Motorhome | eBay

I have one of these and received television before , when the transmission was lower than now. I am 25 miles from with a relatively clear signal path (the top of the tower being visible above the horizon from a nearby railway bridge) and the signals were radiated at 20kW.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag

B

Barry
3:57 PM

The only mux that is a problem is BBCA. It would seem that there is line of sight to the . I am at a loss as to why the one mux is being received at a lower level than all the rest.
I have tried the amp at minimum and another indoor with a lower claimed .

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Barry's 4 posts GB flag

Page 92

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.

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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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