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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
Friday, 27 September 2019
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:01 AM

Chris Benson:

It would have been better to use the Detailed View option as that shows more detail. Look at About us | Freeview and see the current and planned future channel usage. That shows they expect all eight major multiplexes to be easily received, but not any local multiplex.

Looking at the channels being used and proposed for future use, a wideband aerial will be essential to get all the programmes possible.



link to this comment
MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:57 AM

Chris Benson: I think MikeP is misreading the DigitalUK checker results, as it shows that your friend should have good reception of not just 1 but 2 local multiplexes at that postcode following frequency changes on 23rd October if using a wideband aerial.

It's worth noting that your friend may be eligible to have a replacement wideband aerial fitted free of charge if they loose reception of any of the multiplexes they are currently receiving and don't have satellite or cable (see link below).

Important changes to Freeview | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
MikeP
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:30 PM

StevensOnln1:

I did not misread the data main presented and stated " they expect all eight major multiplexes to be easily received".

What I didn't do was to scroll down to the local multiplexes where it show they will be only one service but on two different channels, 21 and 24 (after the October retune). Both are named 'L-MAN/L-LIV' so that suggests they are carrying the same programming - or are they trying to mislead viewers?

Why do they show the local multiplexes completely separately from the main ones? That is what leads to confusion and doubt.



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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag
Saturday, 28 September 2019
N
nobody
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

12:30 AM

MikeP: Yes Mike, it's a poor show.

They are different. "Liverpool TV" is on - you guessed it - L-LIV but L-MAN has "That's TV".

What's more, this:

About us | Freeview

shows both LOC1 (MAN) and LOC2 (LIV) moving from 56 to 24.

Confused? Not half!


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nobody's 47 posts US flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:11 PM

nobody: It's a damned poor show, and
MikeP: StevensOnln1:

I fell into exactly the same hole here Freeview 700MHz clearance (retune) dates | free and easy
David Railton: If you happen to read here see my reply over there.

I know I'd previously been caught out some while ago and since then I normally try to remember to check toward the bottom of the page for Local Mux detail but it's easy to miss or forget when you're trying to do a quick helpful reply to someone or maybe a bit tired. DigitalUK really need to get their act together, but based on my experience over the years, they are pretty hopeless. One error I pointed out to them didn't get corrected until 4 years later, and another recently pointed out still exists - luckily it won't be of any significant importance to most.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:17 PM

All:

Oh, and forgot to say, it makes the incorrect listings here on this page even more confusing!

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Friday, 18 October 2019
B
Brian Russell
9:00 AM

What is happening to ArqB (Yesterday, 5Spike, 4Seven, etc.)? ArqB is not listed in the post 23rd October 2019 list shown above.

link to this comment
Brian Russell's 2 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:25 AM

Brian Russell: According to Digital UK, COM6/ArqB remains on UHF channel 37 where it is now and is not planned to change frequency again.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
B
Brian Russell
1:54 PM

Thanks StevensOnln1, I think the confusion is that the above list shows com8 on Chanel 37 for both 2013-2017 and 23rd October 2019. If this is indeed Arquiva B, then it should say com6.

I notice two other posts, one saying that there is no re-tune and one saying that only local stations will need to re-tune on the 23rd for Winter Hill. I think I will just wait until the 23rd, see which stations have disappeared and then re-tune as necessary.

Do you know of anywhere that will say by what time on the 23rd the transmitter re-tuning should be completed?

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Brian Russell's 2 posts GB flag
S
StevensOnln1
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:06 PM

Brian Russell: DigitalUK should be relied upon for up to date transmitter frequency allocations, as the owner of this website hasn't been able to keep up to date will all of the changes taking place across 1,100+ transmitters. Frequency changes at main transmitters such as Winter Hill are generally completed in the early hours of the morning, everything is usually back on air by 6am. Changes at relay stations can take longer, but are usually completed during the morning.

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StevensOnln1's 3,605 posts GB flag
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