Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
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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 11/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 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 | |||||
| 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-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 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C12 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C24 | _local | ||||||||
| C29 | SDN | ||||||||
| C31 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C35 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C37 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C40 | LOCAL2 | ||||||||
| C48 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C49tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C50tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C54tv_off | -BBCB | -BBCB | -BBCB | ||||||
| C55tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | com7tv_off | ||
| C56tv_off | _local | _local | _local | LPR | |||||
| C57tv_off | GIM | GIM | GIM | GIM | |||||
| C58tv_off | SDN | SDN | SDN | ||||||
| C59tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C61 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C62 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | |||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 GranadaWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area
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Tuesday, 2 December 2014
H
H J Hill5:18 PM
Mike
You can't believe how relieved I am to read your message; I really appreciate your support and information with this. I've been starting to doubt myself.
Last week (Mon 24 Nov) I complained to DigitalUK, and they asked permission to forward my details etc to Arqiva. They haven't been in touch.
Today (Tues 2 Dec) Channel 4, to whom I'd complained (and told them they are not getting what they pay Arqiva for) have requested permission to forward my details etc to Arqiva. Let's see if that makes them get in touch.
Meanwhile, whatever was going on when Winter Hill reduced power this morning (Tues 2 Dec), it hasn't cured COM7. It dropped again at 16:19 whilst I watched 15-to-1 on CH4+1 HD.
So, I just log the events!
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mazbar5:55 PM
H J Hill: The majority of people complaining about com 7 will have an aerial fault or an old banded aerial to cd these will pick up com 7 but not as good as a wideband aerial. Com 7 is also reduced in power compared to other multiplexes, I normally expect about 60 to 65 dbuv of signal on all multiplexes except com 7 with this I expect about 50 to 55 dbuv still more than enough to work I have yet to have a problem. Com 7 isn't broadcast totally omni directional some areas do have black spots. What I seem to see is people just blaming the transmitter but they refuse to have there aerial checked, I spent hundreds of pounds on aerial meter so I can check signal strength and signal quality. It's been said that people all over the area have problems but people all over the North west have aerial problems as well so instead of complaining spend a small amount of money have your aerial checked just for peace of mind.
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jb386:50 PM
mazbar: Re: the issue concerning COM7, I suspect that the problem referred to is concerned with reception in the Settle area.
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H J Hill7:52 PM
COM7, has transmitted on UHF-31 from Winter Hill for about a year now (since December 2013; I cannot find the exact date).
The drop out problem (in my experience) started about September 2014. I know I shrugged off the initial ones and took no notice, believing them to be freak events; but I've been taking note of it since October. Where for months there was no problem; now there is.
On the web page BBC4 HD winter hill - Freeview - Digital Spy Forums there are people complaining in August 2014 about the drop-outs. And have a look at Mike's comment timed at 2:28 pm today (2 Dec 2014) on this web page.
They are not field measuring equipment, true, but the indicators of "signal strength" and "signal quality" on my one-year-old Panasonic TV and Panasonic PVR/Blu-ray all register the same maximum readings for COM7 that the 100 kW multiplexes achieve. The bit rate error display stays unmoving at "0.00E+00".
It is also true that receivers at the limits of the service area are going to be more sensitive to any brief loss in radiated power than those closer to Winter Hill.
However, the evidence is that this is a transmission problem; not a reception problem.
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MikeB9:10 PM
H J Hill: I'm not sure that there is evidence of a 'reception problem'.
You have a Humax and a Panasonic, and in the case of the Panasonic, you say that your getting 100% for both strength and signal quality. You then report a glitch on an HD channel. Since HD problems (including brief 'no signal' messages) are often a sign of too much signal strength (see 'too much of a good thing' on this site), and you report 100% strength, whereas perhaps 75-80% would be ideal, that would normally be a sound diagnosis. You have Humax and Panasonic, two brands known to have sensitive tuners, and I notice on the Digital Spy page you linked to, the complainents who said what their equipment was, tended to say Humax.
You havn't given us a postcode, so we have no idea where you are in relation to the transmitter, but its certainly possible, even though Com 7 is supposed to have low power, that your signal is simply too powerful for the tuners. Also remember that different tuners (even of the same brand) can react slightly differently - my father-in-law has both a Panasonic G10 LCD TV and a Panasonic 720 PVR. The TV has slight problems with too high a signal strength (they have a mast head amp which they can't switch off), but the PVR suffers far more.
Mike seems to have a similar problem, and again, 100% signal strength, the same kind of glitch, and at least one Humax.
Try getting an attentuator or two (you can put them in series). See if they work. They are really cheap, so its worth a try. I suspect that might cure the problem. As Mazbar points out, he hasn't noticed any problems, and since, as you've said, the transmitter serves some 7 million people, if there were serious faults, wouldn't complaints be more widespread?
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Mike9:28 PM
mazbar: You are just mouthing cliches without observing the facts. You have not apparently seen this fault so you say it doesn't exist, yet many have. So your explanation is that you are correct and every one else must have faulty aerials/equipment? Has it occurred to you that you've simply missed this effect that is irritating so many? Explain to us how one can be receiving a mux at good strength and 100% quality only for it to switch off like a light for one or two seconds, and then recover at full strength and quality immediately. Is that an aerial problem that you are familiar with, that affects one mux specifically? There is a fault with the signal from Com7 WH for certain areas and sticking your head in the sand won't help those of us who are getting fed up with it.
Mike.
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Mike9:40 PM
MikeB: I never said anything about 100% signal level: I said the postcode checker gave the area as a good signal area (100%). My actual aerial signal is around 75% although that's arbitrary as all brands measure it differently . However it would be interesting to have explained to me how a half-power mux is causing overload when all the full-power muxes are received with absolutely no trouble?
Mike.
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Wednesday, 3 December 2014
M
MikeB12:01 AM
Mike: Fine, I'm just trying to diagnose a problem based on the evidence available. However, if there is a problem with Com 7 from that transmitter, what is it, and why is it only manifesting itself to some people?
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jb3812:25 AM
H J Hill : Although many others may well have reported a similar problem to yourself with regards to experiencing intermittent signal drop outs on Winter Hills COM7 transmitter, the fact of them residing in other areas is not necessarily always the best way of proving a point, as other factors of misleading nature can apply applicable to their particular locality.
However, much as I doubt if your installation is in any way to blame, a way of positively determining whether it is or not is simply by making one or two local enquiries, much as I fully appreciate that many people are loathe about having to resort to this, and of course sometimes with good reason!.
But though, should the result of any local enquiry reveal that others in your immediate area are also experiencing difficulties with reception from COM7, then your installation is instantly out of the equation as far as any suspicion of a slightly over the top signal is concerned, as it would be an immense coincidence for this type of thing to affect two separate installations, this to the extent that it can safely by taken as something that doesn't happen.
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Mike1:10 AM
MikeB: I don't have answers to those questions: all I know is that after a number of us complained in October Arquiva said they were "looking into it and viewers could expect an improvement soon." Which means there was a fault,or so I interpret it. That same fault is ongoing, in fact as I type this on the Nexus I've just seen MotorsTV glitch, which makes three times in the last hour. All my kit is on a mains filter, and anyway I never get any problems ever with any other MUX. The two Humax receivers have, I believe, different tuner chips but both exhibit the same behaviour. The original complaints came from all over the NW and involved Humax, Sony and Panny equipment so it wasn't just isolated cases. I am simply trying to get this resolved one way or another because it's frustrating having HD recordings messed up by this glitch, which has been going on for long enough.
Mike.
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