menuMENU    UK Free TV logo Freeview

 

 

Click to see updates

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

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps53.625,-2.516 or 53°37'30"N 2°30'56"Wsa_postcodeBL6 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.

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, 25 April 2013
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:17 PM

Martin Brown: Many thanks for the comprehensive update on events and pleased to hear that you are now back to full operation, but though I am just curious as to whether or not the aerial engineer had made any reference to the group that your aerial belongs to? because "if" as I suspect its a C/D type, identified by a green blanking plug on the end of the horizontal boom that holds the elements, then changing it to a group E (brown end plug) would most likely have instantly lifted the BBC signal level.

The reason for saying this being, that prior to the recent retune Winter Hills six multiplex transmitters spanned from Ch54 to Ch62, this span being perfect for a C/D group aerials operating range of Ch48 to Ch68 as it allowed a good overlap margin at either end of the band, and in particular the low end which is more critical.

However that situation changed after the retune, as by Winter Hill now spanning from Ch49 to Ch59 this results in the BBC (Ch50) being picked up near the extreme end of the C/D aerials operating range, and something which is never good practice unless in a strong signal area, as the efficiency of any grouped aerial always tapers off from a few channels before the end of its operating range and why I was a bit amazed that the aerial engineer had not changed the aerial over to the group E aerial referred to, as its operating span of Ch35 to Ch68 would have offered an even better overlap margin than before the recent retune.

Still, its something to keep in mind should any problems crop up in the future, as signals being received over distances such as yours (33 miles) are usually always affected to a degree by seasonal changes to the terrain.


link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
J
Jamie Clarke
9:58 PM
Manchester

Hi all, for the last few weeks I have lost BBC programmes on my in-built freeview. I have tried the resets and first time installations. I am in Failsworth M35, near the winter hill transmitter. I have tried to search through this website and others for the answer, and have read a lot about transmission groups etc and its all very confusing. From what I have read I gather its down to my ariel,not picking up the BBC group signals, would i need to reposition the ariel or replace it, or something different altogether. Thanks for your help.

link to this comment
Jamie Clarke's 2 posts GB flag
Jamie's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
Jamie Clarke
10:00 PM
Manchester

I should have also mentioned that when I try to manual tune into CH49 for the BBC channels it says signal 0%. I got a list of manual search channels, but have no signal on any of them. Cheers.

link to this comment
Jamie Clarke's 2 posts GB flag
Jamie's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:35 PM

Jamie Clarke: If you have a Sky box, or some other 'box' that may output an analogue TV signal (the type we used before digital), ensure that it is not outputting on or near C50.

Try connecting your TV directly to your aerial and then perform a manual scan of C50. Once you've entered or selected C50, don't press the button to scan immediately, but instead wait and see if it gives an indication of signal strength and/or quality.

BBC standard definition services from Winter Hill are now on C50.

COM5 (Pick TV, Dave etc) are now on C49 - do you have these?

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:48 PM

Jamie Clarke: With regards to you having said that you are near the Winter Hill transmitter, indications suggest that you are located at just under 17 miles away from the station, and at a similar bearing from it (300 degrees) as some others who have also made complaints of the same the nature as yourself.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Friday, 26 April 2013
A
Adam
5:56 PM

Since WInter HIll changes on 10th April have poor signal strength on BBC channels and have completely lost all channels on Com5 ie everything that was changed on 10th April no longer works.
About to pay for an engineer to come out and likely have to purchase a new arial. Very aggrieved.

link to this comment
Adam's 1 post GB flag
C
cake
7:34 PM

Finally sorted it out now. Basically an overseas satellite signal was going through Channel 50 and somehow blocking BBC et al. Reset 3 TVs to change the RF output to 62 and all is well. Thank to all for your help and advice.

link to this comment
cake's 5 posts GB flag
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:42 PM

Adam: Its not really possible for anyone to be able to give any form of constructive advice without having knowledge of your post code, or alternatively one from somewhere nearby such as a shop / post office etc, as only then can the reception predictors info be used to assess the situation.

But though, speaking in general terms your TV or box should be completely reset before carrying out an auto-tune, reset on various brands meaning, "factory reset" / "default setting" / "reinstall all services" or "first time installation"

Further advice dependant on reply.

link to this comment
jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Saturday, 27 April 2013
A
Arrian Green
7:10 PM

I live in Clitheroe (~ 30 miles North of Manchester), and presume the most relevant transmitter is Winter Hill. I have in built freeview into an LG TV, and for the last 1-2 weeks, I have a number of missing channels, in addition to very poor signal with patchy transmission on a few others. BBC certainly seems badly affected, as does ITV and a host of other intermittently. This is despite numerous automatic retunes, manual retunes and restoration of factory settings.

Channel Number (Frequency) 50 - No Signal
Channel Number (Frequency) 59 - No Signal
Channel Number (Frequency) 54 - No Signal
Channel Number (Frequency) 58 - 6% Signal Strength, 100% Signal Quality
Channel Number (Frequency) 49 - 4% Signal Strength, 13% Signal Quality
Channel Number (Frequency) 55 - 42% Signal Strength, 100% Signal Quality

I spoke to an aerial guy today who suggested contacting LG, which I suspect isn't going to shed a huge amount of light onto the problem. Does anybody have any other suggestions or thoughts on how to go forward and correct the problem?

link to this comment
Arrian Green's 2 posts GB flag
M
Mazbar
sentiment_satisfiedGold

7:56 PM

Arrian Green: did the aerial man come out to check the aerial or did you call him ?

link to this comment
Mazbar's 384 posts GB flag
Select more comments

Your comment please
Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

UK Free TV is here to help people. If you are rude or disrespectful all of your posts will be deleted and you will be banned.








Privacy policy: UK Free Privacy policy.