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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Tuesday, 2 July 2013
S
Stephen11:48 PM
Chorley
Ever since I bought my Sony Freeview HD TV in January 2011 I have enjoyed perfect picture and audio on all services, both SD and HD. Within the last month this has changed.
The HD services are still perfect but BBC 1 NW (which I only watch for the local news) on Ch 50 is now problematic: one day all is fine; then the next there is no service; the following day all is fine again and the next - who knows? Sometimes reception is passable but there are picture and audio breaks; sometimes there is nothing at all.
I've followed the resetting/retuning procedure several times but the problem just returns, so I'm assuming that it isn't a tuning problem. In fact, I'm certain because all my other Freeview tuners (Humax PVR and no-name STB) are suffering in the same manner.
I'm writing this today because it's a bad day and I'm getting seriously fed up!
For the record, signal strength and quality for the various channels, obtained from the Humax HDR-FOX T2 PVR, are as follows:
Ch. 50: 38%; 10%
Ch. 59: 55-66% (variable); 100%
Ch. 54: 55%; 100%
Ch. 58: 55%; 100%
Ch. 49: 38%; 10%
Ch. 55: 55-66% (variable); 100%
So something amiss with 49 and 50 alone.
Transmitter is Winter Hill, of course.
Any suggestions, please?
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Stephen's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 3 July 2013
Stephen: I looked on Streetview and the aerials on long poles tells the story.
I do note that some houses have an aerial on Winter Hill and one on Moel-y-Parc, which is 90 degrees clockwise from the former. If yours is one of these and the feeds of both aerials is combined into one downlead then you may have to say goodbye to this convenience. This is because the diplexer, which is the box that combines the two feeds, will probably "split" at C51, meaning that C50 and C49 are now being picked up by the Moel-y-Parc aerial.
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R
RCM11:22 AM
I have exactly the same problem as Stephen
(Tuesday 2 July 2013 11:48PM, on the same channels and with approximately the same reception values (also sourced from a Humax HDR-FOX T2), it is also on all the reception devices (4xTV, 1xHumax PVR & 1xDTV USB stick for laptop reception)
The only difference is that I live in north Manchester. The aerial is pointing in the direction of Winter Hill and is not obscured in any way as I live on top of a hill.
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S
Stephen6:18 PM
Chorley
Many thanks, Dave, for your swift and well-researched reply. I do indeed have a Wales-pointing aerial. This is now just a throwback to the analogue days so, if it's compromising my Winter Hill reception, it will have to go.
What I still don't understand is why reception varies so much. After last night's poor show, I'm just home from work and found that channels 49 and 50 are back up to 44% and 100% on signal strength and quality respectively and perfectly watchable.
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Stephen's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Stephen: Because the aerial you are using (the Moel-y-Parc one) is pointing at 90 degrees to where the signal is coming from. Maybe at times the signal is being reflected onto the front of the aerial by some other object, or some other effect caused by moving/changing objects such as trees. Maybe even, because you are low down, a motor vehicle on ground that is higher and perhaps nearer the height of your aerial is reflecting the Winter Hill signal.
There is no reason why you can't keep the other aerial with a separate downlead to your lounge. Or just turn it to face Winter Hill, retaining the diplexer as it is.
We have already seen channels 61 to 68 cleared for use by 4G mobile operators. In future, channels 60 and below may be cleared, such as for 5G.
This will obviously affect those viewers using Group C/D aerials (on Group C/D transmitters). C/D channels are officially 48 to 68.
If Winter Hill's channels are moved downwards further then they may go onto Group B channels (35 to 53). Moel-y-Parc uses Group B channels, so presumably your MyP aerial is Group B (if not wideband). For this reason it might be wise to keep it because it might be of use in the future, if your Winter Hill aerial is a C/D one.
See:
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
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S
Stephen7:55 PM
Chorley
Thanks again, Dave. It would seem that redirecting the MyP aerial towards Winter Hill would be the best solution: turns it away from interfering with my preferred transmitter and provides some degree of future-proofing should channel changes, as you suggest, occur. Could be a win-win :-)
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Stephen's: mapS's Freeview map terrainS's terrain plot wavesS's frequency data S's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 4 July 2013
A
anthony4:03 PM
Altrincham
If you are going to have to pay someone to move your aerial it might be better value in the long run to have someone reputable replace it with a wide band one pointing at winter hill together with CT100 or similar coax.
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anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Friday, 5 July 2013
S
Susan omar6:01 PM
Free view intermittent for the last month I have only been able to watch bbc 1 uninterrupted . Any other channel keeps breaking up in blocks on the tv .. We have bt vision box which works fine prior to this .we phoned the at800.tv and they informed us our area unaffected as 4 g not here ?? Don't know what else can do
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Monday, 8 July 2013
M
Mike Harris11:53 AM
What MUX from Winter Hill is the new 'Drama' channel, supposed to be starting today? Then I can do a manual retune.
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