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Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps53.625,-2.516 or 53°37'30"N 2°30'56"Wsa_postcodeBL6 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 Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
_______

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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C32 (562.0MHz)726mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)572mDTG-121,000W
Channel icons
from 1st October 2014: 7 That's Manchester,

LL
 H -17dB
C24 (498.0MHz)572mDTG-122,000W
Channel icons
from 30th June 2014: 7 Bay TV Liverpool,

LPR
 H -20dB
C56 (754.0MHz)572mDTG-121,000W
Channel icons
from 1st October 2014: 7 That's Lancashire,

GIM
 H -20dB
C57 (762.0MHz)572mDTG-21,000W
Channel icons
 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?

regional news image
BBC North West Tonight 3.1m homes 11.8%
from Salford M50 2QH, 22km southeast (140°)
to BBC North West region - 92 masts.
regional news image
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?

1956-80s1984-971997-981998-20092009-132013-182013-1720 Feb 2020
VHFC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TW TW T
C9ITVwaves
C12BBCtvwaves
C24_local
C29SDN
C31com7com7
C32BBCA
C34D3+4
C35BBCB
C37com8com8
C40LOCAL2
C48C5wavesC5waves
C49tv_off ArqAArqA
C50tv_off BBCABBCA
C54tv_off-BBCB-BBCB-BBCB
C55tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesArqBArqBArqBcom7tv_off
C56tv_off_local_local_localLPR
C57tv_offGIMGIMGIMGIM
C58tv_offSDNSDNSDN
C59tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C61ArqA
C62BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCA
C65C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area

May 1956-Jul 1968Granada Television†
May 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Feb 2004Granada Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only.

Comments
Wednesday, 20 August 2014
K
K Watterton
12:52 PM
Wirral

I have a problem recording BBC4 HD on a Humax 2000T recorder. I often get weak or no signal messages. Other channels work fine and my aerial is a new one recently professionally installed. Sometimes these recordings are successful sometimes not. Would a wideband aerial solve this problem?

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K Watterton's 3 posts GB flag
K's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
A
anthony
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:23 PM

If it is a new aerial it is almost certainly wide band but your installer should be able to confirm this. BBC4 HD is on com 7 which is a temporary lower powered multiplex, that combined with the fact that the 2000T has an insensitive tuner is likely to be causing your problems. You can check the signal strength and quality via the menu (settings then signal detection) Com 7 is on channel 31.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:13 PM

anthony: 'the fact that the 2000T has an insensitive tuner'?

Humax tuners tend to be on the sensitive side, if anything. There might be lots of reasons why Com 7 isn't showing up (you could just try changing the aerial lead - its worked for a couple of people who have posted here), but a Humax box being insensitive is seldom one of them.

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Thursday, 21 August 2014
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:08 AM

K Watterton: Check the 2000T is tuned to C31 for Winter Hill rather than C32 for Moel-y-Parc.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
A
anthony
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

11:37 AM

I have found the tuners on the Fox T2 and 9200 to be sensitive but not the 2000T, also confirmed in other forums.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag
K
K Watterton
2:23 PM
Wirral

Thanks. I am tuned to Channel 31. The annoying thing is that it works some of the time but is not predictable. I also had a recent recording on BBC 2 which worked perfectly for 57 minutes of a 60 minute recording when suddenly the screen went black with a "weak or no signal" message. This is a different channel.

link to this comment
K Watterton's 3 posts GB flag
K's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:36 PM

K Watterton: If your getting a 'weak or no signal' on another channel, and your only 49km with a clear line of sight, you really need to check your system. Although Anthony has a point with a possible change to the sensitivity of Humax 2000T boxes compared with the T2 (although the later batches of the T2 and the 2000T do apparently share the same tuners), there is no reason for any average Freeview tuner to be so poor as to loose a signal like this (although the reverse could be true - the signal hitting the upper limit and the box returning a 'no signal').

Try changing the aerial lead, and perhaps check what your TV is reading for signal strength on the same channel - it sounds more likely to be your system, and that way you can eliminate possible causes. And of course making sure you are actually tuned to Winter Hill, as Dave Lindsay suggests.


link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Friday, 22 August 2014
K
K Watterton
4:26 PM
Wirral

My Humax box reading for Channel 31 on Winter Hill is 51% signal and 100% quality. This signal reading is actually higher than for the other WH channels serving this box. The TV reading (Sony Bravia KDL46W 905) is 94%. My Humax 2000T has signal readings of between 65 and 68% for the WH channels when I attach the same aerial, so I doubt it's the system. My aerial and cable are all newly professionally installed. I'm wondering if it's a Humax software issue which they are keeping quiet about? I have the 2000T connected to a separate Moel Y Parc aerial and I'm wondering if switching the new Humax to Wales would solve the BBC 4 HD problem.

link to this comment
K Watterton's 3 posts GB flag
K's: mapK's Freeview map terrainK's terrain plot wavesK's frequency data K's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:03 PM

K Watterton: Its really a case of, if you view any of the programmes broadcast on Mux Ch31 for say an hour or so on your TV, (not via the Humax) do you witness any abnormalities with reception, picture glitching / audio screeching etc?

By the way, signal level indications seen on Humax boxes are more in line with the reality of the situation if a comparison is made with a proper dB signal meter, whereas the indications seen on most TV's are somewhat inflated, many of giving the impression of a signal being more powerful than it really is, some to the extent of it being on the point of overloading the tuner.

This type of thing is also being misleading by giving the impression of a TV or box having a super sensitive tuner over that of some other device, by the level appearing as being higher on some devices over others, when in reality its only the indicator as there are no standards where this is involved, indications seen only being for reference purposes on that particular device and not comparison purposes with devices manufactured by other companies.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
A
anthony
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

5:58 PM

Have you tried entering your post code into the Digital UK coverage checker? Tick detailed view for extra information.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag
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