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 15/04/2024 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),
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 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)	726m	DTG-8	100,000W
	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)	726m	DTG-8	100,000W
	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)	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, 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?

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?

J

js

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

4:44 AM

Walt: The ch57 mux has been broadcasting fine since going "back to normal" - I use it daily to grab the EIT cos it takes 50 seconds rather than the tedious 270 of t'others.

Ensure your connections are good as HDMI sourced RFI can wipe it out.

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js's 827 posts GB flag

A

anthony

_{sentiment_satisfied}Bronze

10:47 AM

I can confirm that ch 57 returned to my Sony TV and is still there. It disappeared from my Humax T-2 at the time and never returned. I haven't tried retuning the Humax to see if it re-appears as there is nothing on that of interest to me. The Humax detection shows a usable level and although GMAN is weak in Altrincham where I live.

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anthony's 58 posts GB flag

J

js

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

1:52 PM

New today in the NIT:

begin Change Notifications

cell_id = 0000

network_change_id = 01
NetworkChangeType = Minor - service changed
network_change_version = 01
ReceiverCategory = DVB-T2 capable receivers only
start_time_of_change = 23/06/2015 09:00:00 UTC
change_duration = 01:00:00
invariant_ts_onid = 233A
invariant_ts_tsid = 200B

end Network Change Notifications

233A.200B is D3&4

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js's 827 posts GB flag

J

js

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

2:53 PM

Nearly maxed-out the red bars with that last one.

Anyone know exactly what change the Change Notification is referring to?

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js's 827 posts GB flag

M

Mrsouth
6:11 PM

HELLO very SADLY I MOVED to the slum called blackpool . can't get here . back in southern england I got 50 through indoor .

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Mrsouth's 1 post GB flag

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

8:43 AM

Mrsouth: If you are referring to "not" getting a via a rooftop mounted ?, then the problem has to be caused by a fault on the aerial system, as the (@25 miles) covers the Blackpool area.

If though you are referring to the indoor aerial previously used for in the South of England?, then you must have been located in an exceptionally strong signal area, as indoor (same room) aerials are not really recommended for reception unless used in area's close (within sight) of the transmitter.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

H

Heather wood
8:38 AM

tv is working but other freebies tv sets say they've got . At other times the tv's do work. Can you explain?

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Heather wood's 1 post GB flag

J

jb38

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:12 AM

Heather wood: TV is not connected in any technical way with what its assumed you are referring to, that being TV via a normal . However, its not possible for anyone to advise as to possible reasons for your problem unless they are aware of your location, this preferably provided in the form of a post code or one from somewhere nearby such as a Post office etc, as this info will enable access to details of the covering the area.

Other info which could prove helpful being, whether (or not) you reside in an apartment block connected into a communal aerial system?

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag

J

James lincoln
11:11 PM

That's rubbish . I live in an extremely poor area apparently and get 100 percent and full service via indoor aerial in my bedroom apart from no other issue . so don't put down Becusse I've found my indoor aerial has much better signal than my rooftop one and no lie ... I do have a good indoor aerial though .. I'd recommend using the ones there best trust me ... The 30 pounds ones are useless for real ..

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James lincoln's 1 post GB flag

M

MikeB

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

11:41 PM

James lincoln: If an indoor works for you, thats great, but generally, they are not that good. They are pretty small, and are of course generally right by the TV, which tends to be fairly low down. When customers ask about them, we tend to say 'they work as well as they work'. If your close to the , high on a hill, etc, then you might be OK, but one on the or even in the is liable to get a much better . Perhaps you should check your rooftop aerial if it does give you a worse aerial than an indoor one.

Of course to some extent you get what you pay for, but they are not generally recommended. You havn't given a post code, but it would be interesting to find out how you are getting 100% signal (?) in a poor area with an indoor aerial. And what sort of do you get?

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MikeB's 2,579 posts GB flag

Page 127

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.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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