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, 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), | |||||
| 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 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, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 35 others | |||||
| COM5 ArqA | H max | C31 (554.0MHz) | 726m | DTG-8 | 100,000W |
 Smithsonian Channel, 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 Christmas, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 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! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! christmas mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 83 Together TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 20 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, 76 That's Christmas MCR, 77 That's 60s MCR, 80 Best Xmas Music, 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, 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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K
Karl6:38 PM
I haven't noticed any issues at all tbh and I'm using a Sony 43" TV together with Panasonic and Sony HDD recorders. Sound is as good as ever.
I can't see any way a transmission fault could cause muffled sound with it being a digital based system. It sounds like something else unique to you and your set up is going on tbh
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Tuesday, 17 August 2021
M
Michael Brown6:41 PM
Hi Com7 from Winter Hill breaking up . Aerial is on the roof rescan did not sort issue FY6
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Thursday, 19 August 2021
C
Chris.SE1:07 AM
Michael Brown:
Sorry meant to reply to your post a day ago. The transmitter isn't currently listed for Planned Engineering nor can I find any faults recently listed.
It's never a good idea to rescan/retune when you have pixellated pictures or no signal as most times this will just clear the correct tuning and you'll have to repeat the retune when signals improve.
There has been some weather related interference around which may have briefly affected your signal - it won't always affect all multiplexes, it could be just one or two as a result of interference from more distant transmitters.
Is your signal back to normal now? The FY6 postcode area is quite large and reception may vary across it, but a lot of the area is not predicted to get good reception of COM7, it can be variable, but without a full postcode we can't confirm the predicted reception in your locale.
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Wednesday, 8 September 2021
D
Dave Barter8:31 PM
Barrow-in-furness
The channel 55 signal is mostly dead currently. No signal message and on checking the strength and quality it's barely getting off the floor. This is in LA14. Also poor a couple of weeks ago as I attempted to record a BBC4 programme and it only recorded 11 mins from an hour. Tonight the same programme and time and it's displaying no signal. Same with BBC News on 107 which is the same channel 55. I assume weather but why affect just 55.
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Dave's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 9 September 2021
C
Chris.SE12:10 AM
Dave Barter:
It could well be weather related issues, there has been some variable periodic problems around in recent weeks.
The conditions cause signals from distant transmitters to travel (sometimes a lot) further than normal thus causing interference. The frequencies affected will depend upon the conditions and not all multiplexes would be affected or necessarily at the same time.
In your general locale, reception of the main multiplexes from Winter Hill is predicted to be very good. However reception of COM7 is predicted to be quite variable and the Local (Preston) multiplex a bit less so, which means those could be less reliable and more prone to disruption/interference.
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Saturday, 18 December 2021
D
Dave Barter9:45 PM
Hi there again Chris, thanks for the previous comments, the issue just went away. Yesterday and tonight the loss of channels has been a bit more widespread affecting most HD and some non-HD channels cutting out for lengthy periods. Not sure whether it's the high pressure conditions again that causes it. Also foggy most of today so not sure whether the water droplets affect the signal. Seems to be more interference than in the old analogue days!
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C
Chris.SE10:02 PM
Dave Barter:
Hi again Dave. I suspect climate change might have some bearing on it happening more often.
It is weather conditions again I'm afraid, it's really annoying when you get affected.
There is currently some moderate to strong temperature inversion/tropospheric ducting conditions affecting large parts of the UK and these weather conditions can disrupt reception for brief or longer periods. The conditions are predicted to last for a few days.
Current BBC Warning -
"Latest Freeview works and warnings
High pressure impacting TV and Radio services across parts of the UK
Some viewers across parts of the UK might experience short-term interference to BBC television and radio service. This is being caused by a zone of high pressure, which causes problems to the links between transmitters and it also increases interfering signals in specific areas, which results in poor reception.
The conditions can move and change which makes it difficult to know where it will hit next. You can check if the problem is impacting your local transmitter using the transmitter checker tool. If there are no faults displayed it is possible the problem is impacting your radio or television system directly.
The majority of the BBC's transmissions are not affected by this period of interference, as the BBC's networks are engineered to be generally very robust. Television viewers may experience slight occasional pixelation or break-up or loss of service. Radio listeners may experience break-up of their services. Cable and satellite services are not affected.
At these times, there is nothing you can do but wait until the weather changes. You should not re-tune your television or radio when this happens.
If you have retuned your TV and continue to have problems with missing channels, or reception problems, as a result of the high pressure, you'll have to retune again once the weather has cleared. "
I don't know if you are interested but for technical explanations, see
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec….jpg
and How does good weather affect my television? | Help receiving TV and radio
The link in the 2nd one isn't as good an explanation as the.jpg link I've posted (although someone can't spell tropospheric!! but the link works).
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Wednesday, 22 December 2021
F
Frank4:18 PM
Poor or no signal on Channel 56 from Winter Hill. No signal for BBC4 Hd and BBc Ndews HD.
Signal strength shows very poor or no signal quality.
This has persisted for several days.
Is there a transmitter problem?
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Thursday, 23 December 2021
C
Chris.SE3:45 AM
Frank:
I suspect you mean UHF Channel 55, COM7 which carries BBC4 HD and BBC News HD. It's weather conditions.
There has been moderate Temperature Inversion/Tropospheric Ducting affecting large parts of the UK for several days, it sometimes accompanies high pressure.
Do NOT retune, it will more likely remove your correct tuning.
These conditions are predicted to ease late on Wednesday by the end of the night
Despite the incorrect spelling, this link does work - simple technical explanation
https://www.bbc.co.uk/rec….jpg
Essentially it results in interfering signals from other transmitters in the UK or Europe reaching you and so your wanted signals are disrupted. It won't necessarily affect all multiplexes or necessarily at the same time if more than one. It can last for seconds, minutes, sometimes hours or longer.
The BBC have had a warning on their Works and Warnings page for a few days, and Freeview had added one on Wednesday (better late than never!) but at that time it was then mainly affecting the S & SE.
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