Full Freeview on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter
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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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Saturday, 28 June 2014
A
Anthony1:24 AM
Accrington
HD multiplex 54 from winterhill was poor for a while tonight with occasional pixellation and breakup;the quality level was 60-70% signal strength 35% is this down to the weather or something else? The other HD multiplex on 31 was largely fine just an occasional glitch. I checked the aerial and cabling and there is nothing wrong there.
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Anthony: The BBC B Mux,on ch54 from Winter Hill,was also problematic here,in the North Wales coast area. In periods,when high atmospheric pressure is ongoing,The ch54 Mux usually suffer's more reception problems than the others. It should be noted that there is a Mux from the Kippure transmitter,in the Republic of Ireland,rated at 60KW ERP with Horizontal polarisation,also on ch54.Given that in Analogue day's we could receive the 100kw ERP transmissions,in VHF Band 3,with no problem,it may be that the ch54 service from Kippure may cause problem's. Even in 'No-Lift' conditions,the signal strength and quality on ch54 is constantly varying whilst all the other Winter Hill Mux's including the Liverpool local one,are steady!
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David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 29 June 2014
A
Anthony4:38 PM
Accrington
David i'am receiving winter hill transmissions in Accrington Lancashire and thats nowhere near Ireland so dont think Kippure hd multiplex in the RoI could be causing the interference. I use a 48 element wideband high gain aerial linked to a 1 set booster and technika freeview hd box and samsung 32"led freeview television. The freeview hd receiver is connected by HDMI between box and tv. I dont suffer tidal fading and reflections from signals over water either. I can only think high pressure over the uk is causing the problems on winter hill hd multiplex 54.
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
8:06 PM
8:06 PM
Anthony: Perhaps your problem is that the signal level is too high and the break-up is owing to it being OTT for your receiver. Why have you got a high-gain aerial and amplifier??
Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | Digital switchover | ukfree.tv - 11 years of independent, free digital TV advice
You're only 11 miles from Winter Hill with some obstructions:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
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A
Anthony8:53 PM
Accrington
Dave Lindsay: All other sd channels come in perfect no problems, the hd multiplexes are weaker and only transmit at 24kW erp which is notoriously difficult to receive, and if you cannot receive them satisfactorily on an old c/d group aerial, and theyre an old design that is just not cut out for receiving the newer transmissions and technical standards, then a replacement and perhaps an amplifier if you are in an area of moderate to poor signal strength will help to pull these extra services in. I am watching bbcthreehd now and reception is perfect, so it couldve have been atmospherics friday night due to high pressure fine weather, which is also expected this week.
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Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Wednesday, 9 July 2014
woodface
1:10 AM
1:10 AM
@Briantist A minor local TV update. Liverpool's Bay TV say their Freeview launch due end June was delayed until a Storeton relay is ready in October. They reckon it's that important for coverage even in Liverpool.
See www.baytvliverpool.com/general/local_tv.php
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MikeP
9:14 PM
9:14 PM
Anthony
The signals being transmitted are still UHF signals but with a different modulation method, so that does not affect the design of the aerial used to transmit or receive Freeview signals. The selling of aerials as being 'digital' has been shown to be more a marketing ploy than a technically required reality.
The older Yagi (or more accurately a modified Yagi) is perfectly capable of receiving the 'new' signals. However, it would be wise these days to fit a log-periodic rather than a wide-band Yagi. The simple reason is that with the planned or proposed changes over the next few years a Yagi designed for one group will not necessarily be suitable for the future frequencies to be used at some transmitters as the group may become unsuited.A Log-Periodic, on the other hand, is ideal as it will already be able to receive *all* the Band 4 and Band 5 transmissions into the foreseeable future. The modulation method does not affect the transmission or propagation of the signals.
However, the data can be more 'awkward' to decode and that is shown by some enquiries on this site where the signal strength is too high (but still less than 100% being shown on some receivers). In such circumstances, many receivers show an inaccurate message usually claiming there is no signals, what it really means is that the receiver cannot satisfactorily decode the signals.
It is not common to require an aerail amplifier unless the reciver is some distance from the transmitter. Even a 24 kW ERP will be perfectly receivable and decodeable at quite some distance if there are not obstructions, such as hills or trees or buildings, to 'block' the signal path.
Looking at the Winter Hill data at the top of this page I cannot see any of the Muxes being transmitted at 24 kW. Which transmitter are you referring to?
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Friday, 11 July 2014
A
anthony4:54 PM
Com 7 from winter hill is 24KW, not 14 as shown on this page, The GIM multiplex hasn't been QPSK for some years either.
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anthony: Thanks.
I've been waiting for Ofcom to update their **official** tables.
I don't take data from Digital UK as they claim copyright on their site.
As Ofcom | UK Digital Television Transmitter Details seems to have been updated recently, I will check the data against there again.
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anthony: I've checked against the Ofcom tables and COM7 and COM8 are not yet listed by Ofcom.
I've changed the GIM mode to 16QAM.
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