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.
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 04/11/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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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), 71 That’s 60s, | |||||
| 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 U&Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 U&Dave ja vu, 58 ITV3 +1, 59 ITV4 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 91 WildEarth, 93 ITVBe +1, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 251 Al Jazeera English, 255 FRANCE 24 (in English), 265 Rok Sky +1, plus 29 others | |||||
| COM5 ArqA | H max | C31 (554.0MHz) | 726m | DTG-8 | 100,000W |
 11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 U&Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 U&Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 &UYesterday +1, 76 That's TV 2 MCR, 233 Sky News, plus 13 others | |||||
| COM6 ArqB | H max | C37 (602.0MHz) | 726m | DTG-8 | 100,000W |
 12 Quest, 25 U&W, 27 U&Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 63 GREAT! romance mix, 73 HobbyMaker, 75 That's 90s, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 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, 77 That's 60s MCR, 78 TCC, 80 That's 80s, 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, 22 December 2013
J
jb3811:21 PM
Adrian: BBC4 HD (106) along with BBC News HD (107) transmit on COM7 Mux C31 which is out of band grouping to all the other channels broadcast by Winter Hill, therefore if 2 years ago a group C/D aerial was installed on your property then its efficiency starts to taper off from C48 downwards, and this coupled to the COM7 transmitter only radiating on 14Kw could result in the level of signal received being too low for the box, as the aerial should really be wideband to cover the channel spread used by the Winter Hill transmitter.
If though you already have a wideband aerial fitted then its possibly just the case that the signal received is simply under the level required to resolve a picture and requires boosting, you can test this by carrying out a manual tune on C31 but NOT pressing search or scan after having entered C31 into the box, as the strength the signal is being received at should be displayed on the strength / quality bar.
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J
jb3811:28 PM
Adrian : If you can see the end of the horizontal crossbeam that holds the elements check what colour of plastic blanking plug is fitted on the end of the support arm, if its green then you have a group C/D aerial whereas if black its wideband.
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Monday, 23 December 2013
A
anthony3:35 PM
Altrincham
Adrian. I live not far from you in Timperley and can confirm that the signal in our area is very strong. No one so far as I know has fitted group C/D aerials in this area for years so you must have some kind of a fault. As the aerial is only 2 years old get the installer back as they have not done the job correctly, mention Trafford trading standards if they object. Perhaps the aerial has blown around in the recent gales due to poor installation. Some of my TVs are fed from an old yaggi style indoor aerial, bought from an Asian corner shop years ago, screwed to a beam in the loft . The signal is via an old fashioned lossy splitter but they still get get all the new HD channels with a strong signal and 100% quality. That's how strong the signal is here.
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anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Monday, 30 December 2013
C
Christopher Moore4:55 PM
Manchester
On my new TV I get low signal levels (~20%) only on BBC News HD and Al Jazeera HD. This corresponds to mux COM7 and channel C31 of my preferred transmitter at Winter Hill.
Everything is good on HD channels from mux PSB3 BBCB, channel C54. All SD channels are very good. They are almost 100% signal quality & strength.
My post code is M22 5GQ, house number 31, which the freeview checker says should receive a strong signal on all HD channels.
What is wrong with my reception for those few HD channels on COM7 C31?
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Christopher's: mapC's Freeview map terrainC's terrain plot wavesC's frequency data C's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Christopher Moore: The power of C31 is lower than the rest, but it is in no way "low" and is likely to be more than adequate in view of the fact that you are only 20 miles from the transmitter and have clear, or near clear, line-of-sight.
However, it is outside Group C/D, so if your aerial is a C/D one it won't be as sensitive.
See here for a reply I made to someone else who may be in a similar situation:
Sutton Coldfield (Birmingham, England) transmitter | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
What I would add is that signal quality is what matters. If you have good quality at any particular moment then the picture is as good as it ever will be, irrespective of strength. You may be able to live with it. Some TVs/boxes have boosters in-built and if this is the case it might be found to be useful to have that set to on for C31.
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Wednesday, 1 January 2014
Thanks guys for all the replies
My tele and human t2 box found the signal today but it's intermittent so when wind calms down ill be up to look at the connections. Think the aerial type is fine
Hopefully sorted for the bridge season 2!
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Thursday, 2 January 2014
W
Walt5:53 PM
Stockport
Does anyone know if the GIM (formerly MEN) multiplex from Winter Hill is still transmitting. I've not been able to receive it the past few days. It was fine until about Christmas.
Thanks.
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Walt's: mapW's Freeview map terrainW's terrain plot wavesW's frequency data W's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Walt: Yes it is. Your issue is probably caused by its transmission not being as powerful as the main Freeview channels, as well as being directional rather than omni-directional (like the main Freeview channels).
See here:
Movies4Men | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
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Friday, 3 January 2014
A
anthony3:03 PM
Manchester
I think its off air and has been since before Christmas. My TVs all show no signal at all being received, normally the signal is weak but useable. No one else seems to have noticed, given the appalling content and picture quality I'm not surprised.
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anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
A
anthony7:15 PM
Manchester
Man Mux is back on air. Signal strength is slightly up and signal quality is quite high. Perhaps the engineers at winter hill unplugged it so they could use the socket to make a brew!
| link to this comment |
anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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