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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 15/04/2024 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
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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.

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
Saturday, 13 June 2015
W
Walt
12:17 PM
Bolton

Hi jb38, thank you for the reply.

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

I had a look at the Ofcom 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 channel, or it isn't broadcasting - is any one actually receiving it today?

Thanks,
Walt.

link to this comment
Walt's 11 posts GB flag
Walt's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

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 C57 (doing so triggers reception 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 transmitter 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.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
A
anthony
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:38 PM

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

link to this comment
anthony's 58 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:03 PM

Walt : In addition to that said, although you may have drawn a blank as far as reception from C57 is concerned, but though I was wondering if you can you receive any signal from Winter Hills 2Kw Mux on C56?, and if you do what programme comes up on EPG 8?

link to this comment
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 Winter Hill

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


link to this comment
Walt's 11 posts GB flag
Walt's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 14 June 2015
A
anthony
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

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 transmitter aerial 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 signal as the GMAN aerial is only just above them.

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

link to this comment
anthony's 58 posts GB flag
A
anthony
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:51 PM

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

link to this comment
anthony's 58 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

4:57 PM

anthony: I would think that both ukfree.tv and mb21 are correct.

ukfree.tv gives the antenna height AOD (Above Ordnance Datum) and mb21 gives the structure height.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Monday, 15 June 2015
W
Walt
10:36 PM

anthony: you wrote on 1 Jun that the mux on Ch57 was "back to normal"

Has it gone offline again, and that's why I can't get it? No-one has said in reply to my original post that the ch57 mux is actually broadcasting fine.


link to this comment
Walt's 11 posts GB flag
Walt's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

4:30 AM

WINTER HILL transmitter - MainPossible weak signal [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 150,632 posts xx flag
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