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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 25/03/2024 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),

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 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H max
C31 (554.0MHz)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H max
C37 (602.0MHz)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 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, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 77 That's 60s MCR, 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, 12 November 2014
J
Jeff Bond
4:53 PM
Ambleside

Reception problems over the past days 5 days or so.
First weak signal on all but BBC
Then loss of channels except BBC
Then return of all channels at good strength
Then weak on all but BBC
Then BBC only
and now for 24 hours - nothing
At The Brambles LA22 0PU
same for neighbours
at Borwick Lodge Farm LA22 0PU [ 12 Nov 2014] Roof aerials.

link to this comment
Jeff Bond's 2 posts GB flag
Jeff's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:08 PM

Jeff Bond: If you look at the top of the page, it doesn't appear thats there are any problems with the transmitter (or at least none reported).

Logically, that means its your aerial system that has the problem, although how both you and your neighbours have the same problem is beyond me, if your using different aerials.

Check for loose or broken connections, frayed wires, cracks/breaks where moisture has got in or corrosion. Of course if you've just experiences high winds, and driving rain, that might explain the problem, and possibly your neighbours as well.

If you have a booster/amp, that might be playing up, perhaps the power feed. Of course your neighbours might similar problems, but its just one of those things that its at the same time.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
J
Jeff Bond
6:07 PM

Mike B
Thank you for your comments.
I checked connections and all equipment before posting my report.
I found no problems
Oddly as of about 20 minute ago I now have all channels back at good strength.

link to this comment
Jeff Bond's 2 posts GB flag
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:40 PM

Jeff Bond: You might be fine for now, but although you've checked the connections, it sounds like there is a fault somewhere. Moisture sounds the most likely explaination, with it having dried out allowing you to get all the channels again.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Friday, 21 November 2014
H
H J Hill
10:06 PM
Settle

Friday 21 Nov 2014. POSTCODE BD24 9QS

My Freeview reception (in Settle) from Winter Hill is strong and of good signal quality. The appropriate part of my TV menu rates signal strength and quality at maximum with no bit rate errors on all Freeview channels SD & HD.

However, over recent weeks when watching Freeview-channels on 'com 7' UHF-channel 31 there have been brief (i.e. 1 or 2 seconds) blank screens with the set's "No Signal" message displayed. BBC News HD and BBC4 HD (e.g.) have been affected. I've never seen it happen on Standard Definition channels, nor on HD ones not on UHF-31.

I have watched BBC4-HD whilst recording it at the same time; and the signal loss has affected both TV and HDD/DVD recorder at the same moment (Both Panasonic items and less than 14 months old.). So the set isn't the problem (which was my first thought).

Is there a known transmission issue (e.g. like a simple transmission interruption problem) on UHF-37 or a known 4G issue? I'm running out of cables and items to change in my house.

link to this comment
H J Hill's 17 posts GB flag
H's: mapH's Freeview map terrainH's terrain plot wavesH's frequency data H's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:17 PM

H J Hill: Panasonic's have sensitive tuners. It could be that you've too high a signal, even from 51km away (my parents in law have a similar problem). Check signal strength on both the TV and the PVR, if its near 100%, then that would be the problem, and if not, at least you've eliminated that possibility.

link to this comment
MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:18 PM

H J Hill: You might need a wideband aerial as C31 is out-of-group if it's a Group C/D (i.e. not replaced since long before digital came along).

Also, it's on lower power than the rest, although the reported 25kW at 32 miles is expected to serve you well.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:37 PM

H J Hill: For more information see:

Winter Hill Transmitter

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Saturday, 22 November 2014
A
anthony
2:51 PM

Signal breaks on com 7 winter hill seem to be an ongoing problem. If you look at the Digital Spy site you will see that Arqiva agreed to this problem in September and fixed it but it seems to be returning. Please go to the Digital UK website to report this matter as they only investigate after two or three complaints. I'm afraid that complaining on forums is ineffective. Com7 seems to be cobbled together from old junk and seems not to be monitored.

link to this comment
anthony's 18 posts GB flag
Monday, 1 December 2014
H
H J Hill
10:25 AM

The Arqiva, COM7, UHF-31, intermittent drop-out appears to have been fixed (sometime between 27 and 28 November 2014). Whether it's another Arqiva fix that'll soon go wrong again remains to be seen.

There was a time when persistent faults were acknowledged with an on-screen message "There is a fault. Do not adjust your set." These days nobody bothers. The multiplex/transmission company sits on its hands/profits until enough members of the public complain. Meanwhile, some viewers will conclude their receiving equipment is faulty (as the unacknowledged fault has gone on for so long) and engage in trouble and expense trying to fix it. I did.

The whole business is a scandal; and I have complained strongly to Ofcom about it. Whatever happened to serving the public? I've also raised it with Channel Four Corporation and the BBC, since they have been paying Arqiva for a deficient transmission service off Winter Hill on COM7.

link to this comment
H J Hill's 17 posts GB flag
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Your comment please
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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