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

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 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, 10 December 2014
A
anthony
4:13 PM

Thank you for all the time and effort you have spent on this problem. As you probably know there has also been a log running thread on the Digital Spy site as well. We also got Arqiva to admit to a fault earlier in the year which they fixed but it has come back again albeit not as badly.

The main problem is that not that many people watch BBC4 HD via Freeview so that, combined with the fact that the SD service is OK, means that complaints are few. Unfortunately many people think that posting on a forum is enough but broadcasters don't read forums because of all the "odd" posts on them. Like us you followed the correct procedure and it looks like it will be fruitful.

If anyone else is experiencing these problems, not severe signal loss but the type listed on previous posts, please put in an official complaint via the Digital UK website.

link to this comment
anthony's 18 posts GB flag
A
anthony
4:15 PM

Thank you for all the time and effort you have spent on this problem. As you probably know there has also been a long running thread on the Digital Spy site as well. We also got Arqiva to admit to a fault earlier in the year which they fixed but it has come back again albeit not as badly.

The main problem is that not that many people watch BBC4 HD via Freeview so that, combined with the fact that the SD service is OK, means that complaints are few. Unfortunately many people think that posting on a forum is enough but broadcasters don't read forums because of all the "odd" posts on them. Like us you followed the correct procedure and it looks like it will be fruitful.

If anyone else is experiencing these problems, not severe signal loss but the type listed on previous posts, please put in an official complaint via the Digital UK website.

link to this comment
anthony's 18 posts GB flag
M
mazbar
sentiment_satisfiedGold

4:46 PM

anthony: Isn't it funny I work all over Liverpool and west Lancashire and have no problems with com 7 other than the banks area and some parts of southport. Some areas just don't receive com 7 but most get it great. Like to day I done a job Just an rx12 aerial going into a 4 way splitter not amplifier and still got 56dbuv of signal. That is great for receiving com 7 all the people posting there is a problem with winter hill might just be in an area that just carnt receive the signal the others are just too cheap to pay someone to check the signal with a proper meter to see if they do have a problem, like the post from Liverpool 16 the other day I done a aerial not far from him in Liverpool 12 if a worst signal area and got 65 dbuv of a mzr20 aerial. The North west is the cheapest area for tv aerials in England so instead of putting up with picture break up just call someone in the worst it will be is a call out and to be told sorry I carnt get you any signal

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mazbar's 384 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:24 PM

With there apparently being an admitted problem at Winter Hill with COM7, it would be interesting to collate the locations being affected. It is just possible that the problem could be with one or more of the aerial elements on the mast. That would affect just those areas served by those elements and not others whose receptioon is from a section unaffected by the reported fault.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
M
Mike
10:50 PM

For the last half hour at least Com7 has been on and off with severe drop outs here on the Fylde coast, much worse than usual I hope it is the engineers tinkering to resolve the ongoing issue.
Mike

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Mike's 5 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:16 PM

MikeP: Yes!, thats exactly my own line of thought on this matter, because faults of that nature are not necessarily picked up by indications on TX meters, as even although an iffy connection on an aerial element would normally upset the loading on a transmitter, the auto matching devices between the TX and the aerial would smooth this out to a certain extent whereby its not noticed.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Thursday, 11 December 2014
Briantist
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

1:33 AM

mazbar: just checking... You have seen the radiation pattern for com7 on this transmitter?

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Briantist's 38,915 posts US flag
M
mazbar
sentiment_satisfiedGold

5:53 AM

Brian I have seen the radiation pattern for winter hill, I'm in ormskirk and according to the pattern this is coloured black I think this means poor or no signal but I get great signal.

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mazbar's 384 posts GB flag
Thursday, 18 December 2014
M
Michael Draper
11:18 AM
Sandbach

Paul Ryan: like a number of other people I have spoken to, and a number on Digital Spy, I am having problems of signal dropout on BBC4 HD and BBC News HD. It lasts only a second or two, but can happen several times during a single evening's viewing. Obviously it's very annoying, and my wife is convinced that I have broken something, so I get it in the neck from her as well! My aerials ( I have two, for my two newish TVs, and it happens on both) and cables are in good condition, and I have retuned many times to try and overcome the problem, but to no avail. It seems that there may be a problem at the transmitter end. Are you aware of a problem, and is a fix in the pipeline?
I live in Sandbach, Cheshire CW11 1BT

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Michael Draper's 2 posts GB flag
Michael's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
A
anthony
5:06 PM

Michael, please report the problem on the Digital UK website. The problem started simultaneously for everyone in I think August, It was fixed but has returned and seems difficult to locate and fix probably due to the winter weather. I live in an area with a very high signal strength, the signal occasionally can be seen to fluctuate for a second on the TV's signal strength meter but because my signal is strong it usually doesn't show on screen, other people with lower signal strengths may not be so lucky. Sometime though the signal drops to zero causing pixilation or a no signal message. My wife is also intolerant of this fault so I record her programmes in SD. The problem affects everything on com7 and ruined the first part of the BBC proms season, fortunately it was fixed for a time and the rest of the season was ok.

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anthony's 18 posts GB flag
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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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