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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter._______
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, 250 BBC Red Button, plus 16 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), | |||||
| 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, 109 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 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 Great! Movies Action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 CBS Reality, 69 HorrorXtra, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 203 CITV, 208 Pop Player, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, plus 16 others | |||||
| COM5 ArqA | H max | C31 (554.0MHz) | 726m | DTG-8 | 100,000W |
 Smithsonian Channel, 11 Sky Arts, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 pick, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 70 Quest +1, 71 That's 60s, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 70s, 233 Sky News, plus 9 others | |||||
| COM6 ArqB | H max | C37 (602.0MHz) | 726m | DTG-8 | 100,000W |
 Quest Red +1, Classic Hits, 12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 73 HobbyMaker, 76 That's 80s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 83 Together TV, 84 PBS America, 90 Together TV +1, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 19 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, 63 GREAT! romance 1, 77 That's 60s MCR, 80 That's 70s MCR, 86 That's 80s 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, 20 September 2020
G
Graham10:09 PM
I'm in Chester (CH3). Same problem lost all com 7 CH55 stations sometime Fri on all devices. Hard to believe in this day & age that atmospherics can cause such signal annihilation. As Dave says let's hope it clears up in few days.
Can't understand why no official comment from Freeview saying reason or have I missed it.......many people will be thinking it's their equipment, aerials etc & could go to unnecessary expense.
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Monday, 21 September 2020
G
Graham9:58 PM
Com7 CH55 has returned here in Chester!! Just done manual retune for CH55......hey presto 14 channels reappeared . Was still nothing there when tried at 6pm, so has atmospherics changed since then?
Hope this is the case for everyone else who's posted on this subject.
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Tuesday, 22 September 2020
C
Chris.SE12:18 AM
Graham:
As per previous posts here it's "Tropospheric Ducting" around causing interference, see Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | RTIS for a simplistic explanation. It can be quite variable, come and go within seconds, minutes or hours. It has been particularly strong recently which can as you've discovered wipe out your reception. Climate change is likely to mean these sort of events could be more common.
Currently it may continue on and off for a day or two more.
It's best not to retune if you have no signal or badly pixellated signals as this can just clear correct tuning and you have to repeat the retune when conditions stabilise.
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K
Karl7:36 AM
Can confirm CH55 back at normal levels here on the Fylde coast.
Was this posted here or elsewhere? Useful.
Tropospheric Ducting Forecast for VHF & UHF Radio & TV
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C
Chris.SE9:23 AM
Karl:
I have posted it in the past, but a lot of non-tech people just find it too confusing so I stick to just explaining the situation. There is another if you are interested Europe | Tropospheric Propagation Forecast
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Saturday, 26 September 2020
C
Chris.SE7:46 AM
All:
Just to repeat as it's now several pages back -
Winter Hill UHF channels after the recent 700 MHz clearance are -
The main multiplexes are C32, C34, C35, C29, C31, C37, C55 for PSBs1-3, COMs 4-7.
The Local ones are Local Manchester, Manchester GI on C24 & C27.
Liverpool Local mux on C21, Preston Local mux on C40.
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Monday, 12 October 2020
A
Anthony4:18 PM
I've had a brand new Labgear triple element wideband aerial installed and reception is excellent on all the channels. Channel 55 MUX is just slightly less at 50% signal strength and 100% signal quality but is adequate for the DVB-T2 tuner on my LG Freeview HD / Freesat HD tv and pick up without problems. Channel is always slightly trickier to get right due to the slightly lower signal level transmitted on this MUX but it is being received at the very least.
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Transmitter engineering
7:28 PM
7:28 PM
WINTER HILL transmitter - DAB: Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 12 Oct 19:38 until 12 Oct 19:50. . [BBC]
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C
Chris.SE10:18 PM
Anthony:
The COM7 mux (C55) is transmitted as an SFN (Single Frequency Network) so signals from other transmitters with COM7 can create locations which can have less signal than others. Having 100% quality is the most important thing and based on my own experience you should be fine with ~50% strength although depending on location you may find it varies with some weather conditions. If there's Tropospheric Ducting, that might cause larger variations and in worst case - loss of quality (and/or signal). Other multiplexes may/may not be affected at the same time.
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Wednesday, 14 October 2020
Transmitter engineering
10:27 PM
10:27 PM
WINTER HILL transmitter - DAB: Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 14 Oct 21:35 until 14 Oct 21:37. Slightly reduced power due to a fault from 12 Oct 19:38 until 12 Oct 19:50. . [BBC]
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