Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
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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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Monday, 28 August 2017
MikeP
10:37 AM
10:37 AM
Woz:
Look at the predicted signal reception at Coverage Checker - Detailed View This shows you should get signals on the L-Man multiplex (channel 56) reasonably well but unlikely to get reliable reception on the G-Man multiplex (channel 57).
If your signal strengths are above 85% for any channel, especially HD ones, then you have too much signal and that can cause serious break up of sound and/or picture. So fitting an amplifier would be counterproductive as it would destroy what is currently reasonable reception! In fact, you should reduce the received strngths slightly with a 3 dB attenuator, that should give better results, especially on the HD channels. You do not want the strength to be less than 60% for HD or 50% for SD.
I suspect that you will not be able to enjoy the G-Man services and may not have reliable L-Man services.
Transmission of the L-Man and G-Man multiplexes is directional and now all round the transmitter, so it seems you are outside the predicted reception area for G-Man and perhaps on the edge for L-Man.
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MikeP
10:46 AM
10:46 AM
woz:
Signal radiation patterns are determined both by local measurements and computerised predictions based on those measurements and knowledge of the terrain. The operators do recheck from time to time by doing field measurements, especially if a new aerial is fitted to the mast. For example, a local multiplex is usually intended to have a limited coverage area and to avoid interference with other signals they check that the aerial it uses is aimed correctly to give the desired coverage.
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Sunday, 1 October 2017
A
Andy7:07 PM
Wigan
Hi, I recently got a new TV (old one didn't have freeview hd) and now have HD but have noticed some HD channels are saying no signal. They all seem to be com 7 (and maybe com8) and show on the EPG. The aerial is high on the roof and seems to have two rods however all the neighbours have a single rod. The gent I bought the house from was 88 so it may not have been updated for sometime. Do you think the aerial may be the issue or that I am not in the right area (wn68ds) for com 7?
Cheers, Andy.
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Andy's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 2 October 2017
MikeP
3:14 PM
3:14 PM
Anday:
Having looked at the blue links below your posting, namely the 'digitaluk trade' (at Coverage Checker - Detailed View and the 'Freeview map' (at Freeview reception at WN68 DS) it should be perfect reception. However, is your aerial a Group C/D type or a wide band type? Com7 is on channel 31 and most Group C/D aerials are poor at that lower frequency, so will need to be replaced by a wide band type, preferably a log-periodic which will be suitable for several years. Com8 is on Channel 37 which should be being picked up by your aerial, though it may be weaker than you 'main' channels.
So you need to do a signal strength check on channels 31, 37 and 49 (the ArqA multiplex). For good HD reception you need signal strength between 60% and 85%, any less is too weak and any more is too strong for reliable reception of HD services.
One other possible source of problems are the 4 mobile masts quite close to your location. If they are a source of problems you shoudl contact At800 (see https://at800.tv/contact-us/) and discuss any issues with them.
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M
MikeB10:45 PM
Andy: Give us a model and make of the TV to make sure it does have an HD tuner. But if you are getting 101, etc, but not other HD channels, then your either in an area which doesn't have those services (light transmitter?), or you have a problem with your system.
Check signal strength and then the signal path - if the TV is telling you there is no signal, the TV is OK and telling you its your system. Could be as basic as a rubbish aerial lead into the TV.
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Wednesday, 4 October 2017
A
Andy10:09 AM
Wigan
Hi Mike & Mike,
sorry for the delayed reply but didnt get a notification of your comments so just found it when re looking.
I think the tv should be fine as like you say I am getting other hd channels but its a panasonic TX-50CX700B. I'm not sure what aerial it is but I don't think its wide band.
Just done a signal check and 31 is 0 signal quality and flashes on and off between 0- 52% signal strength. 37 has 100% signal quality and 30% signal strength and 49 has 100% signal quality and 94% signal strength.
Thanks.
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Andy's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB10:56 AM
Andy: That TV CERTAINLY has an HD tuner, so its almost certainly your system, and sounds like a dodgy wire somewhere.
Look at your readings for strength - 94% on one mux, but zero for another, and 30% for another. This can happen with a loose connection or damaged aerial cable, where some muxes are fine, while others are messed up.
Since your just 14km from Winter Hill, it might be that 94% reading shows just how strong your signal is, even though something is seriously borked. Start with changing the aerial lead, it might be as simple as that.
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A
Andy2:06 PM
Wigan
Hi Mike,
Well I changed the aerial lead and it worked!
I've got all the com7 channels now although the signal still isnt great - 50% signal quality and 9% signal strength.
But the picture is fine, no freezing or cutting out.
Thanks Mike!
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Andy's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
M
MikeB6:34 PM
Andy: Com 7 is on a quarter of the power of the other muxes, so I'm glad it helped, but 9% is still very low (do you get Com 8?), so I suspect the problem is ultimately further up the chain.
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MikeP
7:43 PM
7:43 PM
Andy:
Glad you got sokme things working. However, the low strength of the Com7 signal suggests your aerial may well be of the Group C/D type, which are poor for receiving channel 31 signals as they are outside of the designed response range. So a change of aerial to a log-periodic typre is likely to improve the signal strength and hence the reliability of those channels reception.
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