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.

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

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?

Dave Lindsay

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:18 PM

We know where gets its name from, but it's certainly not winter up there now!

Video: Aftermath of huge moorland blaze on Winter Hill - Manchester Evening News

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag

W

Walt
11:53 PM

Hello, is the GIM on 57 still broadcasting?

I moved house about 2 months ago and finally got my installed today, but no sign of Ch.57 mux.

My location is 53.597519,-2.443126 with a very clear line of site of the about 6km away on a bearing of 304 degrees.

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Walt's 11 posts GB flag

Walt's: W's Freeview map W's terrain plot W's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

10:27 AM

Walt: According to that seen on digitaluk's coverage checker it is, and although numerous dead spots exist along the beam angle of this , your particular location would appear well to the right of the one nearest to your area.

If you have recently retuned your TV or box and was indicated on , this does not necessarily mean that the signal isn't there, as it could be, but is being received at a level just under that necessary to resolve a .

The way to if it is or not, is by going into your Freeview devices "manual" tuning menu and entering C57, but stopping at this point and waiting to see if anything shows up on the signal strength / indicator bar, as on most Freeview devices this procedure results in the tuner acting in a similar fashion to a signal meter, i.e: no threshold cut off levels involved.

Further advice dependant on outcome of test.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

W

Walt
12:17 PM
Bolton

Hi jb38, thank you for the reply.

I've done a manual tune on all devices I have, but no sign of any on Ch57.

I had a look at the document (http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/notice524/im.pdf) - page 27 (numbered as Page 22) shows that I am in the high signal area.

It's very strange. I can only conclude I am in a 'dead area' for this , or it isn't broadcasting - is any one actually receiving it today?

Thanks,
Walt.

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Walt's 11 posts GB flag

Walt's: W's Freeview map W's terrain plot W's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

1:14 PM

Walt: Yes, but this is where the difference between theory and practice comes into the equation, as indeed as stated in the qualifications mentioned under the map.

If you carried out the manual check exactly as stated, that is "not" pressing tune or search after having entered (doing so triggers threshold levels) and nothing was indicated, then the signal doesn't appear exist in your area, this possibly being due to the signal from the very low powered 1Kw being blocked by the numerous trees seen in your area, whereas the six main muxes (100Kw each) and with Com7 and Com8 rated at 25Kw/22Kw respectively can.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

A

anthony

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

4:38 PM

If that is an OS grid reference (SD 535244) then I assume you live just south of . The GMAN is transmitted on a narrow beam in the direction of , it is not available in your area.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

8:03 PM

Walt : In addition to that said, although you may have drawn a blank as far as from is concerned, but though I was wondering if you can you receive any signal from Winter Hills 2Kw Mux on ?, and if you do what programme comes up on EPG 8?

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

W

Walt
10:13 PM

Thank you for the responses Anthony and jb38

Hi, Anthony - my location (53.597519,-2.443126) is latitude/longitude - approx. SE of

Hi, jb38 - I am receiving Ch56 (LCN 8 - This is Manchester) with 91% strength on my Humax HDR-T2 and similar almost maximum levels on my 3 other devices.

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Walt's 11 posts GB flag

Walt's: W's Freeview map W's terrain plot W's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage

A

anthony

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

4:48 PM

Enter your details into this site for a terrain map.

Terrain - shows radio profile between two UK sites to optimise you DTT, Freeview, DAB or analogue TV reception

UK Free TV says the height of the is 572 m but mb 21 give the impress it could be up to 100 m lower. You need to be able to see the transmitter buildings to receive a as the GMAN aerial is only just above them.

I assume you live close to BL16PE in which case the UK site does say your should be OK but the terrain map, which I only did roughly, shows reception as marginal.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag

A

anthony

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

4:51 PM

impression not impress needless to say, no idea how you edit on this site.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag

Page 120

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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