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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter.

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?

K

KMJ,Derby

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

6:59 PM

: COM7 details are given after the local petal details in "non- muxes".

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag

A

anthony

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

5:10 PM

If I understand that page correctly, and it's not easy to follow.
Com 7 is 25.7kw
Manchester and Liverpool petals are 2kw.
petal is 1kw
GIM is 1kw.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag

A

andy

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

9:15 PM
Chester

Wirral Radio on Block 10D

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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

G

Gary
12:07 PM

As most people using have a group C/D , why is com7 being broadcast on 31? My BBC Four HD and BBC News HD is appalling and variable with constant break ups whereas reception of the (lower ) local multiplexes is much stronger and uninterrupted. Who made this decision? Are they mad? Are they going to pay for a wholesale aerial replacement programme throughout the North ?

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Gary's 2 posts US flag

A

anthony

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

4:40 PM

These were the only spare , and levels, available, all modern aerials are wide band so channel 31 isn't a problem for many people. The BBC has been recommending the use of wide-band aerials ever since transmissions. began. The band (channels 61-68) was reallocated to 4G and the band might well follow. As this is a government, not a BBC, decision you must address your complaint to your MP including any claim for a replacement aerial. That's what he is for.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag

G

Gary
5:10 PM

Take a look around at the rooftops and you'll see plenty of original group C/D aerials here. The Government's decision to reallocate 700 MHz is a poor one. I will take your advice and complain to my MP.

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Gary's 2 posts US flag

D

David Roberts

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

6:51 PM

Gary: A similar situation occured in TSA.My father in-Law's previous was a Group A,in Day's,but when DVB-T came along a Group W was required,to be able to receive all the Mux's.

I have to say that here in the North coast area,most aerials are Group W,directed towards .There are a few Group C/D 'contractor' type,but i would expect these will be replaced with Group W type.

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David Roberts's 23 posts GB flag

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

8:46 PM

Gary (and Anthony)

The original aerail groupings were worked out very carefully in the sixties so that there would be maximum coverage with minimum . Sadly, modern planners have not had the forethought to consider the affect on millions of viewers who had perfectly good aerials - until the frequencies used were changed or added to.

Not all modern aerials are wide-band, many Yagi pattern aerials are still grouped. A 'wide band' version of a Yagi type is not the best solution as they are not so good at the lower frquencies (/Mux numbers). The group W types mentioned by David Roberts (above) are of the poorer Yagi pattern and not to be recommended.

The best solution, if your old is not so good with the newer , is to change it to a log-periodic type which is good across the whole band by its design. And don't fall the con of a 'digital' aerial, all UHF log-periodic aerials are ideal for both the old signals (no longer available) and all digital signals.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

D

David Roberts

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

10:12 PM

MikeP: Totally agree with the comments on the use of a Log-Periodic ,in preference to the Yagi type. In mentioning the former type of aerial,it appears that many Households in North Shropshire,have Log-Periodic type aerials fitted,in preference to the Yagi. I haven't seen as many in the North coast area,where the Triax 'Unix' type or the SLX,seem to dominate. For the record i have a Televes DAT45,located on the end of our house.It's a bit like overkill now,as it was originally used for the pre 10kw erp&lower Mux's,from .

Regarding who should foot the bill for replacement aerials,i took this issue up,with the consumer rights people,in 2010,just after DSO,at Winter Hill,&.Their opinion was that viewers had no real grounds to claim compensation for having to replace aerials or associated equipment,because of the change to DVB-T from .

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David Roberts's 23 posts GB flag

K

KMJ,Derby

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

10:23 PM

MikeP: Even log periodics might be "grouped" Vision make a Group A version for use on , , , etc. It is well worth sourcing one of these aerials for those transmitters which are using entirely Group A . It is benchmarked class2, the version is only class 4, so offers quite a bit more for viewers who need it.

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KMJ,Derby's 1,811 posts GB flag

Page 101

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