Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 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 25/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 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 | |||||
| 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-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 | ITVwaves | ||||||||
| C12 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C24 | _local | ||||||||
| C29 | SDN | ||||||||
| C31 | com7 | com7 | |||||||
| C32 | BBCA | ||||||||
| C34 | D3+4 | ||||||||
| C35 | BBCB | ||||||||
| C37 | com8 | com8 | |||||||
| C40 | LOCAL2 | ||||||||
| C48 | C5waves | C5waves | |||||||
| C49tv_off | ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C50tv_off | BBCA | BBCA | |||||||
| C54tv_off | -BBCB | -BBCB | -BBCB | ||||||
| C55tv_off | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | ArqB | ArqB | ArqB | com7tv_off | ||
| C56tv_off | _local | _local | _local | LPR | |||||
| C57tv_off | GIM | GIM | GIM | GIM | |||||
| C58tv_off | SDN | SDN | SDN | ||||||
| C59tv_off | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | D3+4 | |||
| C61 | ArqA | ||||||||
| C62 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | |||||
| C65 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves |
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 GranadaWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area
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Thursday, 22 September 2016
A
anthony5:32 PM
Heaven knows why they keep posting this, I have never seen any instances of it so they must be rare and brief. The problem is that people with faulty aerial systems seem to keep latching on to it instead of investigating their systems.
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Friday, 23 September 2016
J
js12:09 AM
anthony: "Possible weak signal [DUK]" is next to useless as date/time, duration, reduction in power and affected multiplexes are not given.
In the last few months I have been recording items off (Winter Hill) com7 during the daytime and have become all too aware of periods of reduced power, which have resulted in failed recordings.
On every such occasion both com7 and com8 were down by 6dB, other multiplexes being unaffected.
Here are my reports for two such events, in a week wherein they happened daily. (Given previous experience, I started logging at 9am, continuing until power was reduced and again from 4pm until power was returned to normal levels):
Winter Hill Reduced Power:
com7, -6dB, 24 August 2016 09:05 to 24 August 2016 16:50
com8, -6dB, 24 August 2016 09:07 to 24 August 2016 16:52
Winter Hill Reduced Power:
com7, -6dB, 25 August 2016 09:57 to 25 August 2016 17:40
com8, -6dB, 25 August 2016 09:59 to 25 August 2016 16:58
The most recent examples of this kind of reduced power occurred Monday 19 September and Tuesday 20 September.
My loft-mounted C/D aerial is not optimal, but all ten multiplexes are normally receivable without error. A 6dB drop in power-output for com7 puts it at or beyond the cliff edge.
Winter Hill Reduced Power scans:
http://i.imgur.com/bvsWDfE.png
Winter Hill Reduced Power - Album on Imgur
Tools used:
http://i.imgur.com/lhbcVu4.png
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Saturday, 24 September 2016
A
anthony9:06 AM
A loft mounted group C/D aerial is not suitable for reception of channels 31 and 37, which are used for comms 7&8, as the response at those frequencies together with the fact that they are transmitted at lower power means you are operating at the edge of the digital cliff unless you are in a very strong signal area. A log periodic together with a head amplifier might work but the only sensible solution is to have a roof mounted aerial installed by a competent rigger. What is your approximate location?
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Thursday, 3 November 2016
B
Brian Norton8:22 PM
We live in Skelmersdale and have historically had poor signals from Winter Hill (Ashurst Beacon blocks out some of it). Recently we seem to be regularly losing HD signals for hours at a time. Very frustrating!
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Friday, 4 November 2016
N
Nigel10:41 PM
It's ridiculous here in the Preston area. not had Com 7 at all since last saturday and lost 3 quarter of the HD channels alongside the SD one's on the same mux. I contacted Freeview, digital UK but they say there is nothing wrong with the transmitter.
Funny it was all ok up til then so something has gong wrong
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Saturday, 5 November 2016
MikeP
12:51 PM
12:51 PM
Nigel:
It's possibly due to atmospherics that has been around in various parts of the UK for the past 10 days or so. Nothing anyone can do about this natural phenomenon that occurs every year and often more than once. Do NOT retune your equipment but be patient. It should diminish soon according to the weather forecasters.
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Friday, 11 November 2016
J
Jim11:28 AM
Is there a problem with Com 7 and Com8. For the past three weeks all channels on these frequencies are breaking up badly. (Affecting 3 Tvs each with separate aerial
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M
Martin B12:32 PM
There are no known issues with the winter hill services. If you wish for help from the forum, we really need much more information -
Your postcode is essential for a start, so we know where you are in relation to the transmitter, but also, what exactly is the issue you are having? exactly which services? Are any other services affected in any way? What make and model equipment do you have? Have you an outside antenna and is it known t be working properly? Is it a wideband antenna or an old banded one?
For some odd reason, winter hill seems to get a lot of these sorts of complaints yet is not at fault? There certainly seems to be some sort of collective downer on it amongst the viewing public!
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Saturday, 12 November 2016
P
Peter12:47 PM
Rochdale
Hi, We are having nightmares with Winter Hill transmissions after a couple of faultless years. Postcode is OL12 7GQ. We have some high trees surrounding the close - could this be a problem. We have Freesat which works perfectly but we don't really want to have to install another dish or dishes for the other TV's in the house and but two more Freesat boxes....Any ideas? PS neighbours are reporting similar problems. Many thanks in advance
Pete
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Peter's: mapP's Freeview map terrainP's terrain plot wavesP's frequency data P's Freeview Detailed Coverage
MikeP
2:01 PM
2:01 PM
Peter:
Have you asked if your neighbours are having the same difficulties? If they are and are using Freeview from the same transmitter then that would need investigating. Do you have many trees or hills nearby between you and the transmitter? If they are not then your equipment may have developed a fault. Start by checking all the signal wiring from the aerial into the TV set, including any STBs in use.
Regarding Freesat, you do NOT need a second or third dish! Most dishes are not installed with a quad output LNB (the small box on the outside end of the arm in front of the dish surface). This can feed at least two separate TVs and/or STBs. If you need to feed signal to further equipment you can have the LNB changed to an octal output type that can feed at least 4 sets of equipment.
Note that to install a second or subsequent dish you will need to obtain planning permission from your local planning authority. Some are reluctant to give such permission. That option is the most expensive way of achieving your desired result.
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