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 11/11/2024 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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Sunday, 4 September 2011
J
jb381:55 PM
Liam McLoughlin: Well although I do suspect that this problem is most likely to be out with your control, as it could possibly be due to Mux Ch61 being interfered with by some distant transmitter, this due to the atmospheric conditions prevailing at this time of the year causing a signal to travel further than normal, something that's happening in some other parts of the country and likewise causing similar problems.
However, it would be beneficial though if you could try a signal strength / quality check on Ch61 at various times of the day, as this would be an indication of whether or not its normally running at a level reasonably above the cut off threshold of your TV (65%+ quality) or is just hovering above it, this making reception much more vulnerable to picture break up, although it should be said that the percentage figure mentioned varies quite a bit between different brands of sets, but it does give some indication as to what is happening.
PS: Even try a signal check on Ch61 should the picture completely vanish, as a signal level should still be there.
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jb38: My TVs tuner won't give percentages, only bars on a scale of 1 to 10. For C61, I get a consistant 2 for signal quality, and 4 for signal strength. These two readings are whilst the picture/audio are breaking up. Error rate shows as around 3.5-4^10-2. Channels that show as signal quality/stength 4 on my TV are perfectly watchable (C55). C54 shows quality 9 and stength 7.
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Liam's: mapL's Freeview map terrainL's terrain plot wavesL's frequency data L's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
P
Phillip Howe9:44 AM
Is there a recommended bandwidth and number of elements please these days for digital aerials in the Preston area receiving freeview signals from Winter Hill?
The aerial is to go in a loft space if possible
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M
Mike Dimmick11:42 AM
Liam McLoughlin: Sounds to me like your communal system wasn't retuned properly after switchover, and it's not amplifying C61 to the same level as C62. Do check for any other equipment of yours that might be outputting on C60 or C61, such as an old VCR, a Sky box, or your Freeview box if it has an RF modulator - often the filtering isn't very good and it can interfere from a few channels away; using a much lower channel should give better results.
If you're certain you don't have any other equipment with an RF modulator, check to see whether the analogue tuner on the TV will show a picture on C61. If it does, probably the communal system is allowing that through from someone else's flat - report this to the landlord or building manager.
See PARAS - Professional Aerial Riggers Against The Sharks for some advice on who to contact regarding the communal system.
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M
Mike Dimmick11:49 AM
Philip Howe: It looks like Preston should be a strong signal area, so I'd go with a 40-element log periodic. See Online TV FM DAB Aerial sales for one seller and what you're looking for.
Winter Hill only requires a Group C/D aerial at present, and the proposed local service is also in group, but there's a possibility that new services could start in the C31-C38 range, which a Group C/D aerial wouldn't cover very well. Wideband aerials - and the Log40 is wideband - cover the whole range from C21 to C68, and aren't that much worse than an aerial designed for only Group C/D over that group.
For advice on fitting a loft aerial, see Loft and indoor aerial installations for TV, FM and DAB and http://wrightsaerials.tv/….pdf .
If fitted outside, you might not even need as much gain as the Log40.
There may be holes in coverage across the city, so do check the Digital UK postcode checker, or if you provide your full postcode here, one of us can take a look for you.
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Thursday, 15 September 2011
R
Richard2:31 PM
What time on Wednesday will Arqb go to full power?
Will we get any more Mux's 2 on this day?
Will there b any engineering work going on this day?
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Richard: The transmitter is taken off at at midnight and the services are "back" at 6am.
Not sure what "more Mux's 2" are.
It is unlikely there will be any engineering work on the transmitter until 2013-16.
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M
Mike Dimmick7:34 PM
Richard: No, there will not be any new multiplexes. The 'local' services on C56 are at least 18 months away. It will require some engineering work as you'll have spotted that Ofcom are proposing three different services using the same channel - the aerials will have to be carefully constructed to avoid these services interfering with each other.
There could later be services in the C31-C38 range, but Ofcom have not yet confirmed that they are not going to flog these to mobile phone or wireless broadband companies.
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R
Richard8:24 PM
What I ment to say was there was going to be a new mux 7,8 and 9 after switchover back in 2009 and it didn't happen will we have them soon.
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Friday, 16 September 2011
Richard: The plans have changed, see Local TV on Freeview - new Ofcom maps | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
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