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Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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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 25/03/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
_______

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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 H max
C32 (562.0MHz)726mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)726mDTG-8100,000W
Channel icons
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)572mDTG-121,000W
Channel icons
from 1st October 2014: 7 That's Manchester,

LL
 H -17dB
C24 (498.0MHz)572mDTG-122,000W
Channel icons
from 30th June 2014: 7 Bay TV Liverpool,

LPR
 H -20dB
C56 (754.0MHz)572mDTG-121,000W
Channel icons
from 1st October 2014: 7 That's Lancashire,

GIM
 H -20dB
C57 (762.0MHz)572mDTG-21,000W
Channel icons
 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?

regional news image
BBC North West Tonight 3.1m homes 11.8%
from Salford M50 2QH, 22km southeast (140°)
to BBC North West region - 92 masts.
regional news image
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?

1956-80s1984-971997-981998-20092009-132013-182013-1720 Feb 2020
VHFC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D E TW TW T
C9ITVwaves
C12BBCtvwaves
C24_local
C29SDN
C31com7com7
C32BBCA
C34D3+4
C35BBCB
C37com8com8
C40LOCAL2
C48C5wavesC5waves
C49tv_off ArqAArqA
C50tv_off BBCABBCA
C54tv_off-BBCB-BBCB-BBCB
C55tv_offBBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavesArqBArqBArqBcom7tv_off
C56tv_off_local_local_localLPR
C57tv_offGIMGIMGIMGIM
C58tv_offSDNSDNSDN
C59tv_offITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4D3+4
C61ArqA
C62BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCA
C65C4wavesC4wavesC4waves

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

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area

May 1956-Jul 1968Granada Television†
May 1956-Jul 1968Associated British Corporation◊
Jul 1968-Feb 2004Granada Television
Feb 2004-Dec 2014ITV plc
Feb 1983-Dec 1992TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014ITV Daybreak•
• Breakfast ◊ Weekends ♦ Friday night and weekends † Weekdays only.

Comments
Thursday, 13 August 2020
J
Jim Cooper
12:27 PM

I have 5 samsung tv's in the house. After yesterdays re-tune - I cannot get a signal for Sky news on channel 233 on any of the tv's. I have done the re-tune 3 times on each tv now - still the same. When looking at signal strength and quality - they are 100% on 234 and 100/98% on channel 232. Channel 233 shows zero for both. I am in Culcheth, Warrington and have always enjoyed perfect picture quality. Can anyone assist?

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Jim Cooper's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:26 PM

Jim Cooper:

Those three channels are all on different multiplexes (groups of channels) and hence different UHF channels. For which channel LCNs are on which multiplexes see Channel listings | Freeview

You are well within the service area so shouldn't really have any problems.
Sky news is on COM5/ArqA UHF C31. Are you missing any others such as Pick at LCN11, Really at LCN17?

What signal and quality have you got for Quest at LCN12, Drama at LCN 20 etc both on COM4/SDN mux?
Are you getting the Local TV station at LCN7?

As you have 5 TVs I guess you have a distribution amplifier/splitter, does it have a gain control?
What's the signal & quality when you check BBC1?


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Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
C
Craig Howarth
7:08 PM

Since re-tuning, my Mother-in-Law's (lounge) Panasonic TV cannot get Channel Nos 40 or 70, but the one in her bedroom (cheapo) can, via Ch29.

It looks like the Panasonic can only get channels on Ch34 - how do I get it to scan Ch29?

We are in Bolton, ~8 miles from Winter Hill.

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Craig Howarth's 3 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:56 PM

Craig Howarth:

Are you not getting the BBC multiplex which is on UHF C32? That's the ITV, C4, C5 etc on C34.
An automatic retune should make it cover all the UHF channels. Does it have a Manual tune option in the menu?

How portable is the bedroom TV, can you take it down and see if it still gets the channels downstairs? That might indicate if a strong enough signal was not getting downstairs or if the Panasonic is not receiving.

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Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Friday, 14 August 2020
C
Craig Howarth
11:55 AM

Chris.SE: I will try what you said with Portable TV.

The reason I mentioned UHF C29 was that (I think), this is the only one which carries Ch70 - Horror, which is what my mother-in-law misses - No Jokes about MiL's and Horror please. :-)

From what I remember yesterday, I tried all Cs around 34 (up and down), as part of a Manual Retune, once the repeated Automatic ones had failed.

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Craig Howarth's 3 posts GB flag
C
Craig Howarth
5:30 PM

Chris.SE: Based on what you said, I tried the problem TV in the bedroom, and that did get everything, so I now know it it the aerial signal downstairs.

I am going to check / renew all of the connections and if that doesn't fix it, it must be the aerial itself, or its connection. I'm not going onto the roof, so that will mean getting someone in.

Thanks for your help.

link to this comment
Craig Howarth's 3 posts GB flag
P
PaulC
6:57 PM

js: m46

Since changes on 12th Aug we are missing all Channels that we're on CH29 Multiplex COM4

Done several retunes reset to no avail. Has the frequency of these changed or does it suggest an aerial issue since it was installed before digital tv

link to this comment
PaulC's 1 post GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:15 PM

Craig Howarth:

It could simply be a case of the signal from your aerial isn't strong enough on C29 and it's weaker on the longer cable run to downstairs, this could be because it's an older Group C/D aerial. All the channels have been moved down to Group A apart from the Preston Local multiplex C40 and COM7 C55.
See What is 700MHz clearance? | Freeview for a bit of an explanation about it all.

Are you getting any of the Local multiplexes, you should get at least one of them! Here the channels for all -
Local Liverpool, Local Manchester, Local Preston, Manchester GI on C21, C24, C40, & C27.
The main multiplexes are as previously listed C32, C34, C35, C29, C31, C37, C55 for PSBs1-3, COMs 4-7.

For which channels are on which multiplex see https://www.freeview.co.u…ngs.

If it's the case it's an old aerial, no need to get a man in, you can get the free help with a free replacement aerial from Freeview providing it's their own home (not rented from a landlord) and aerial and there's no cable or satellite there.

I wouldn't mention you can get it on the upstairs set, just say the multiplexes on the lower channels are breaking up C32, C31, no C29 and if it's the case, no Local multiplexes either.

You need to phone Freeview on 0808-100-0288, they'll want to take you through the retune procedure first no doubt, 1st with aerial out, then back in etc. Just say you've done all that for your MiL.

PaulC:

It sounds very much like you've got an old C/D aerial if it's that old, so same applies to you, and check if you are getting any Local Multiplexes as you should get some of them, so same story when you phone Freeview.

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Chris.SE's 4,102 posts GB flag
Saturday, 15 August 2020
J
js
sentiment_satisfiedGold

1:28 PM

PaulC: Yes, it could be the aerial.

What signal strength and quality do you get for C29, C31, C32, C34, C35, C37 and C55?

Do you have anything on LCN 7 in your channel list?


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js's 822 posts US flag
Sunday, 16 August 2020
S
Steven Rawlinson
1:19 PM

After the final maintence to Winter Hill here in Liverpool the service has gone even worse than it was back in February, it goes from around 51 channels to 131 with still some missing and constant breakup of the picture and sound.

Having to get back into with the housing association who owns these properties again over the shared aerial responsiblilty as signal strength now fluctuates between 4% - 15% and quality stays around 45%.

Just can't afford at the moment the cost of getting a new proper one fitted to the house.

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Steven Rawlinson's 2 posts GB flag
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