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 04/11/2024 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, 11 February 2021
O
Oliver5:33 PM
I have lost BBC 4 HD since its multiplex moved to CH55 Com7, I have always had real trouble with anything on that channel, I am in Glossop so can only guess I am getting multipath interference from maybe Emley Moor and or Moel-Y-Parc, I have a 18 element K group Yagi on a pole, any techy people got any ideas on what could resolve?, as a comparison I get about 55% signal strength and quality on the much lower CH57 GIM mux.
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S
StevensOnln17:23 PM
Oliver: Group K aerials aren't designed to receive UHF channel 55, you would need a Group T or W wideband aerial, although as COM7 is only licenced until next year it may not be worth the cost of replacing your aerial. The GIM mux is no longer on C57, it moved to C27 as part of the 700MHz clearance. Unfortunately the frequencies listed at the top of this page are out of date, an up to date list has been posted at Winter Hill (Bolton, England) Full Freeview transmitter | free and easy
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Friday, 12 February 2021
C
Chris.SE4:05 AM
Oliver:
It depends on which Group K aerial you have. There are some that have quite a good response at C55 and some that can give a better overall response than T or Wideband BUT not all Group K are like that! You can find examples at ATV aerial gain tests : full results - A.T.V. Poles, Brackets, Clamps & Aerials
Make sure you don't have any HDMI leads near any of your flyleads or aerial leads especially if those aerial or flyleads are not the high quality double screened types. HDMI is known to cause interference in some cases, especially to C55.
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Wednesday, 24 February 2021
J
Joanne Porteous3:22 PM
Since the high winds yesterday 23/02/21 I only have sound on the TV. There are colourful vertical stripes on the screen, but no picture. What has happened please? The TV aerial is pointing to Winter Hill and seems ok. I do not have Sky or a set top box of any kind.
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C
Chris.SE7:02 PM
Joanne Porteous:
Is this affecting every single TV channel, or just some and if so which ones?
Have a look in your TV's tuning section for where it may give the signal strength and quality figures for each UHF channel carrying the different multiplexes. You may find it under manual tuning if there isn't a specific location for signal strength.
Post that information.
If your aerial is still pointing in the correct direction, does it look as if it has any bits missing? Compare to similar neighbours' aerials perhaps. is the coax downlead secured to the pole and any other places, or is it flapping in the wind?
There is essential Planned Engineering taking place at Winter Hill which may have some effect if you are not in a good signal area. A full postcode would be needed to look at predicted reception for your locale.
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Wednesday, 17 March 2021
A
Anthony11:28 AM
I've checked on Freeview website and there is maintenance on Winter Hill this week with Possible Service Interruption indicated. My channels keep briefly going off occasionally and coming back on during the day but not in the evening though.
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C
Chris.SE8:32 PM
Anthony:
They do try and avoid interruptions at peak times, but it's not always possible.
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Saturday, 17 July 2021
J
Jim Davies11:28 AM
Poor clarity on the sound on all channels from Winter Hill. This is in particular to speech where the sound sounds muffled. Have a number of sets, Sony, Panasonic LG and same problem on all. Sound on Moel-y-parc is fine. This has only happened since the channel shift earlier in the year. I know of other people on the Wirral experiencing the same problem
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J
Jim Davies11:32 AM
Problems with clarity of speech being muffled on all channels on Winter Hill xmtr. Being experienced on a number of different sets - Sony, Panasonic and LG
I know of other people on the Wirral experiencing this problem which has only occurred since the channel frequency changes earlier this year. Moel-y-parc does not suffer this problem.
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Sunday, 18 July 2021
C
Chris.SE1:18 AM
Jim Davies:
There's no currently listed Planned Engineering at Winter Hill, and neither Freeview nor the BBC are reporting any faults.
There haven't been any frequency changes this year and only a couple of minor channel changes. The last significant shift in channel LCN numbers was November 2020 and that did not involve frequency changes.
It's not clear from the way you have phrased your post(s) whether this is a continuous problem (which would surprise me as I've not seen any reports here or elsewhere) or whether it's something that occurs from time to time - perhaps you could be more specific.
If it's something that has just recently reoccurred in the last day or two, it could be due to weather conditions which have produced some moderate but quite variable "Tropospheric Ducting" which can cause interference to signals from other transmitters in the UK or Europe, see Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | Help receiving TV and radio for a rather simplistic explanation. It can also affect FM and DAB Radio reception, but not necessarily all at the same time, nor all multiplexes at the same time, it is often very frequency dependent. Your area is one which might be currently affected according to the predictors and both the BBC and Freeview have current general warnings about possible reception problems around the UK.
You should not have any problems with reception of all multiplexes from Winter Hill at your locale, although COM7 and the Local (Liverpool) multiplex will not be quite as good as the others.
Do you receive the G-MAN multiplex (UHF C27) at all, eg. LCNs 75, 78, 79 etc (see Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which channels are on which multiplex). You are not predicted to get these, but if you do, it suggests you have some very strong signals - maybe because you have an amplifier and distribution system for your 3 TVs and so there could be the possibility of having too much signal which can cause the sort of problems you are experiencing as well as picture pixellation.
Have a look in your TVs' tuning sections for the Signal Strength and Quality or BER figures for each multiplex. If the Quality is not 100% or high BER figures this could support possible overload or possible interference. If you have a gain control on any amplifier, turn it down a touch and watch the figures.
Excessive signal can cause a set's indicated strength to go down as the overload increases as well as quality being affected.
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