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

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth53.625,-2.516 or 53°37'30"N 2°30'56"WBL6 6SL

4G at 800MHz (at800) Freeview reception issues

When 800MHz 4G mobile broadband services start there will be 1 multiplex in the higher risk range (C21-23, C30, C59-60): C59: D3+4
See How do I know if the 4G broadband will overload my Freeview? and Full UK map of 4G issue areas for details.

Transmitter faults and engineering works

WINTER HILL transmitter - Over the next week Winter Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. Digital tick


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The symbol shows the location of the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter which serves 2,690,000 homes.

Other maps:Winter Hill DABWinter Hill AM/FMWinter Hill regionBBC North WestGranada

Radiation patterns

Radiation patterns withheld

Map key

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.


List by multiplex|List by channel number|List by channel name|See terrain plot

Winter Hill transmitter Freeview broadcasts

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.

MuxAerial positionFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal max
C50 (706.0MHz)726m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One North West, 2 BBC Two England, 7 BBC Three, 9 BBC Four, 70 CBBC Channel, 71 CBeebies, 80 BBC News, 81 BBC Parliament, 301 301, plus 12 others

PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal max
C59 (778.0MHz)726m64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV (Granada), 4 Channel 4 North ads, 5 Channel 5 The North ads, 6 ITV 2, 13 Channel 4+1 North ads, 14 More 4, 28 E4, 33 ITV +1 (Granada),

PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal max
C54- (737.8MHz)726m256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s DVB-T2 MPEG4		100,000W
Channel icons
101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 ITV HD (ITV Granada), 104 Channel 4 HD North ads, plus 1 others

COM4
SDN
 horizontal max
C58 (770.0MHz)726m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
Channel icons
10 ITV 3, 20 G.O.L.D. (not free), 25 Dave ja vu, 26 Home (not free), 27 ITV 2 +1, 30 5*, 31 5USA, 34 ESPN UK (not free), 38 Quest, 39 The Zone, 44 Channel 5 +1, 72 CITV, plus 22 others

COM5
ArqA
 horizontal max
C49 (698.0MHz)726m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
Channel icons
11 PICK TV, 12 Dave, 17 Really, 29 E4+1, 32 Movie Mix, 46 Challenge, 48 Food Network, 82 Sky News, 87 Community Channel, plus 9 others

COM6
ArqB
 horizontal max
C55 (746.0MHz)726m64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		100,000W
Channel icons
15 Film 4, 18 4Music, 19 Yesterday, 21 VIVA, 24 ITV 4, 41 Sky Sports 1 (not free), 42 Sky Sports 2 (not free), 47 4seven, 83 Al Jazeera English, 85 RT English , plus 21 others

MEN
 horizontal -20dB
C57 (762.0MHz)0mQSPK 8K 1/2
6.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2		1,000W
Channel icons
51 Movies4Men, 52 Movies4Men +1, 53 Sony SAB TV Asia, 56 Capital TV, plus 2 others



Regional news from the Winter Hill transmitter


BBC North West Tonight 3.1m homes 11.7%
from Salford M50 2QH, 22km southeast
to BBC North West region - 90 masts.

ITV Granada Reports 3.1m homes 11.6%
from Salford M50 2EQ, 22km southeast
to ITV Granada region - 80 masts.

How the transmission frequencies change over time

years1956~851984-971997-981998-20092009-1310/4/13-2013-182019-
aerial groupVHFC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D EC/D EWK
C9ITV
C12BBCtv
C22SDN
C25ArqA
C28ArqB
600C31com7
C37com8
C39BBCB
C42D3+4
C45BBCA
C48C5C5
700C49 ArqAArqA
C50 BBCABBCA
C54-BBCB-BBCB-BBCB
C55BBC1BBC1BBC1ArqBArqBArqB
C56+1local
C57MENMENMEN
C58SDNSDNSDN
C59ITVITVITVD3+4D3+4D3+4
C60+C
800C61ArqA
C62BBC2BBC2BBC2BBCA
C63+D
C65C4C4C4
C66+2
C67+B
C68+A

orange background for multiplexes names moregreen background for transmission frequencieslilac background for power levels in watts800MHz band: 4G mobile to start in 2013700MHz band: possible 4G in 2019 more600MHz band: new or moved digital TV services more
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W
Italics for analogue, digital switchover was Wednesdays 4th November and 2nd December 2009.

  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Manchester including Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Winter Hill transmitter using C56
  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Liverpool including St Helens, Widnes, Wigan, Wirral could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Winter Hill transmitter using C56
  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Preston including Blackpool could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Winter Hill transmitter using C56
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16. COM7 and COM8 to operate as Saddleworth,Storeton, Winter Hill SFN.

Comparison of old analogue and current digital signal levels

Analogue 1-4 500kW
SDN, ARQA, ARQB, com7, com8, BBCA, D3+4, BBCB(-7dB) 100kW
Analogue 5(-16dB) 12.5kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-17dB) 10kW
MEN(-27dB) 1000W

History of Channel 3 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.


Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

firstFirst comments prevEarlier comments  ◊  Later commentsnext Latest commentslast

Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Transmitter engineering
Monday 12 July 2010 9:09AM
WINTER HILL transmitter - Over the next week Winter Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
Peter Simpson
Wednesday 14 July 2010 7:40PM
This web site says that Winter Hill has no reported problems.

However, after a period when the BBC signals on PSB1 were the most reliable, just recently we have found that in bad weather it is these BBC channels which drop out whilst the rest remain OK.

Does anyone know if in fact they are transmitting at a lower wattage at the moment or if they have made any other changes to transmission from this MUX recently
Pete
Friday 16 July 2010 7:58AM Macclesfield
MikeC I had exactly the same problem on JUST Channel 4+1 a few weeks ago but only on one of my boxes, the other box was fine, how strange. All is well again now ?
Transmitter engineering
Friday 16 July 2010 6:34PM
WINTER HILL transmitter - Over the next week Winter Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) Possible weak signal. [DUK]
Transmitter engineering
Friday 16 July 2010 6:34PM
WINTER HILL transmitter - Over the next week Winter Hill main transmitter: TV (digital) Liable to interruption, Radio (analogue) working normally, Radio (digital) Possible weak signal. [DUK]
Pete
Friday 16 July 2010 6:41PM
Regarding ITV regional variations, I'm not so sure Brian, ITV1 apart from perhaps ITV1 Scottish & ITV1 Ulster has tended to show the same programmes at the same time for quite some number of years now, with very little regional variation (even in Wales).

The regions even have the same continuity announcer these days. Only the local news opt outs seem to differ from the mainstream ITV1 programming and the adverts of course.

I notice that at their Quay St entrance in Manchester GRANADA TV have replaced their sign with ITV and the name ITV Productions over-writes all the old end credits on ITV1. No Thames, ATV, Carlton, Central, HTV, Granada, LWT & Yorkshire signs any more apart from the odd old "London Weekend" on ITV3 at the end of "On The Buses", which they've missed. Can't wait for the tram crash in Coronation Street in December 2010 and the character death(s), will they crash one of the new real Metrolink trams or one of the old ones ? Will ITV Productions pay GMPTE compensation for wrecking one of their fleet on the Street (near the Kabin, apparently). OR WILL THEY CHICKEN OUT AND USE COMPUTER GENERATED GRAPHICS !! Best storyline since the coach crash in the 60's and Ken's wife's plug accident !!
Rory
Monday 19 July 2010 9:15PM Chester
I'm near Chester and finding watching our Panasonic Plasma hopeless - picture goes completely sometimes as the signal quality indicator drops right off.

Yet watching through a BT Vison bax is absolutely fine. Surprising they're so different.
andy
Tuesday 20 July 2010 7:43PM Chester
Hi Rory Check Channel numbers for Winter Hill, Could be tuned in to Wrekin or Moel y Parc Transmitters.
Briantist
Sunday 25 July 2010 2:43PM
Dave W: The channel has switched multiplexes, so you might need to do this - www.ukfree.tv link icon My Freeview box has no EPG, is blank on FIVE, ITV3, ITV4, ITV2+1, has no sound or the channel line up is wrong | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice to get it back on 25.

Otherwise it might be on 825 or another 800-899 channel.
andy
Sunday 25 July 2010 7:56PM Abertillery
On wednesday afternoon 21/07/10 i scanned UHF CH 57 and received channel M/jml perfectly but later that day they had gone.

I know that my location (4 miles south of wigan)that i am not supposed to receive it here and i have not received it since.

I am thinking that maybe the works that are occurring at moment might have something to do with it.


andy
Briantist
Sunday 25 July 2010 9:06PM
andy: I would have thought that What is the Inversion Effect and why does it effect my Freeview TV reception?
| ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice is probably the most likely explanation.
andy
Sunday 25 July 2010 9:59PM Abertillery
That has been suggested to me but i am 11 miles from winter hill and being a tv dxer for the past 30 years i know about tropo effects.

The signal was stable at 46%/quality 100%and i had it on for an hour and i put it off.

I can't see it being anything to do with tropo at that distance.
Briantist
Sunday 25 July 2010 10:40PM
andy: It does seem odd, in particular because the broadcasts are on an "interleaved frequency" which must have the levels reduced in many directions to ensure that the multiplex can fit in the gap in the digital transmitter plan.

Did this only happen the one time?
andy
Monday 26 July 2010 8:09PM Abertillery
Yes brian just that once.

My boxes which i have quite a few different models when auto tuning has never received channelM before but i now manually tune boxes now because of the welsh problem so i have not looked for till last wednesday.


andy
Rory
Monday 26 July 2010 8:57PM Chester
Andy, Briantist - Thanks, I'm definitely getting BBC on Ch62 so that's OK.

I guess the tuner in the BTVision box must be more robust than that in the Panasonic TV. A neighbour was complaining his Panasonic TV is struggling with the reduced signal quality too.
Briantist
Monday 26 July 2010 9:17PM
Rory: It is often the case that the "branded" Freeview devices are less able to deal with the low signal situations than the less well known makes.

I'm quite impressed that BT have managed to source some quite decent kit for their service - they will do the MPEG4 over DVB-T so they will also work with the French and Irish services.
Stuart Owens
Tuesday 27 July 2010 12:44PM Wrexham
I was wondering if Winter Hill was the only transmitter in the Winter Hill transmitter group that lights up at night to warn air traffic?

I am able to see out for many miles in a North (0 deg)-North Easterly(45 deg) direction and can see two transmitters with multiple lights that both illuminate at night. One of them I'm sure is Winter Hill going by the height of it. The other one looks smaller and closer though slightly further North-East to Winter Hill.

Any idea if I am definitely seeing Winter Hill and as to what the other one might be? Could it be some other structure and not a transmitter?

Hope you are able to find out for me.
Thanks.
andy
Tuesday 27 July 2010 7:15PM Chester
Could be Moel y Parc.
Stuart Owens
Tuesday 27 July 2010 11:03PM Wrexham
Andy,
Moel y Parc is out of line of sight from me. I don't receive any signal from MyP whatsoever so it's definitely not that.
MyP is 316° from my location. I can only see from about 0°+ moving Easterly. Winter Hill is 30°. This other transmitter appears to be more than 30°. Any idea what it could be?

For those of you who are trying to work out what the mast might be, I live in Brymbo, Wrexham. My location according to this website says I am 169m above sea level.
andy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 11:44AM
Hi stuart i think the transmitter you can see is WREXHAM RHOS and WINTER HILL in the distance.
Have a look at the link below.
tx.mb21.co.uk link icon mb21 - The Transmission Gallery .

andy (NP132HX)
Stuart Owens
Wednesday 28 July 2010 2:55PM Wrexham
Andy,
It's definitely not Wrexham-Rhos either.
Wrexham-Rhos is a mere 0.7 miles away and it's hidden behind my field of view from my window. I can see that clearly every day I walk out of my home and return home. This other transmitter (if it is a transmitter) illuminates with red lights at night.

It is many miles away either in Merseyside, Cheshire or Greater Manchester but somewhere more easterly than 30° yet closer to me than Winter Hill. I even wondered if it's some sort of communication tower for Manchester Airport? If not, then something else roughly somewhere in that direction.
Any other ideas?
Stuart Owens
Wednesday 28 July 2010 3:05PM Wrexham
Andy, another thing.
If you click on the link yourself for mb21 - The Transmission Gallery and see the pictures of Wrexham-Rhos, you will see my name as one of the contributors to the transmitter pictures of Wrexham-Rhos.
david
Wednesday 28 July 2010 6:53PM
they make DVB-2 HD TV sets now ? but only put it in 1080i TV's thast yet one more crazy thing to add the long list.....

the only reason i came here originally was to find out the simple facts...
1: what freq do you put into your DVB-T USB card when using VLC's DVB DirectShow ? using 578000000 doesnt seem to work,anyone got any idea's please ?
somethign like this should be working apparently but it doesnt in windows....
" vlc dvb-t://frequency=578000000 :adapter=0:dvb-bandwidth=8 --programs=4171,4235 --sout #duplicate {dst=std{access=udp, mux=ts,dst=239.255.255.239,sap, name="BBC One", group="BBC"}, select="program=4171",dst=std{access=udp,mux=ts,dst=239.255.255.238, sap, name="BBC Two", group="BBC"}, select="program=4235"
"
and can we have a simple chart placed on the main page for this simple data many people need to reference without hunting through pages of potential links, something very obvious like DVB freqs to use for your PC card and winterhill etc...
david
Wednesday 28 July 2010 6:59PM
ohh FYI readers if your DVB-t card keeps crashing your windows XP every time you run such as the above apparently you need to use he MS patch as described here forum.team-mediaportal.com link icon  [Patch] Tuner Issue and channel-scan crash - Windows XP - MediaPortal Forum
Briantist
Wednesday 28 July 2010 7:03PM
david: Yes, DVB-T2 equipment is branded "Freeview HD". Of course you can use a Full HD Ready set with a Freeview HD box.

The values you require are all very clearly listed at the top of the www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview on Winter Hill TV transmitter | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice page.
Briantist
Wednesday 28 July 2010 7:05PM
david: Some useful patches here also - Switch over and PC-based systems | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
david
Wednesday 28 July 2010 7:48PM
thanks Briantist, looking now , its starting to really bug me now as iv been fighting with vlc for an hour or more and getting nowhere,...

perhaps im blind but i cant seem to see a simple chart with winterhill
bbc1 freq =
bbc2 freq =

Freeview Mux 1 = 578000000 or whatever

etc... ohh well ill keep trying, perhaps i just dont get it, thanks for trying to help me anyway
Briantist
Wednesday 28 July 2010 7:52PM
david: From Freeview on Winter Hill TV transmitter | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice :

bbca=801834000
d3+4=778000000
bbcb=737834000
sdn=770000000
arq1=793834000
arq2=746000000
men=762000000

You might need to see How digital television works | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
andy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 8:19PM Chester
Stuart it might be Holme Moss radio Transmitter
Jordy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 9:11PM
Sunley Building - BBC DAB or Moorside Edge...
Jordy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 9:18PM
Enjoying some wonderful DXing this evening... BBC B mux coming in loud and clear, well i least i can't blame the Humax T2 box. Isn't propagation a wonderful thing!

If the ERP is the same 100kw What's the problem with the BBC B mux long term?... Propagation over a sea path or is the array got a skewed radiation pattern with several lovely deep nulls...
Briantist
Wednesday 28 July 2010 9:29PM

Stuart Owens: There are two TV transmitters in that range. One is to the left Moss Bank digital TV transmitter | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice and the other to the right is Elton digital TV transmitter | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .


Jordy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 9:50PM
All of which don't have AWL's...
Briantist
Wednesday 28 July 2010 9:52PM

Jordy: I meant to add to the diagram that Holme Moss is in the same direction as Hulme.


andy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 10:05PM Abertillery
This might be wrong but there is fiddlers ferry power station which has a chimney with red lights.

I can see it on the horizon from my home.


andy
Briantist
Wednesday 28 July 2010 10:12PM
andy: That at Widnes, which is the right direction.
Jordy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 10:30PM
I'd go a wager - It's the City Tower (Sunley Building) home to BBC DAB, Galaxy and the 2.5ghz link for Granada...
andy
Wednesday 28 July 2010 10:33PM Chester
Stuart try looking in daylight with binoculars if you see a chimney with eight towers then it is Fiddlers ferry Power station
Stuart Owens
Wednesday 28 July 2010 11:03PM Wrexham
I'm presuming AWL is some reference to the lights on such tall structures as transmitter masts and chimneys to warn air traffic?

Therefore, any transmitters that people have listed that are just small relay transmitters which aren't fitted with the red warning lights that are West of Winter Hill or out of my field of view obviously don't fit the bill.

This other set of lights I am seeing, like I have said twice already is definitely closer to me than Winter Hill. Although my reception from Holme Moss is very clear, I doubt I could see that masts' lights (71 miles away) as clear as what I am seeing these other lights.

Coming to think about it, on a clear day, it does look like I can see a power station with its towers that does look like it's in the direction of Runcorn-Warrington. When I have travelled on the M56, I can see what I think is an oil refinery around Runcorn so I wondered if there may be an illuminated tower there so if there is one, I reckon it could be either that or the Fiddlers Ferry power station suggested earlier.
Briantist
Thursday 29 July 2010 6:32AM
Stuart Owens: AWL=Aircraft Warning Lights. Holme Moss is closer to you than Winter Hill.
Grahame
Thursday 29 July 2010 3:58PM Stockport
Anybody know when work on Winter Hill finishes?
Stuart Owens
Thursday 29 July 2010 4:57PM Wrexham
Briantist:
I still say that in terms of distance through air, Winter Hill is closer to me than Holme Moss.
I have confirmed this by using an AA road map and ruler and worked out from the scale that Winter Hill is 45 miles away (69 miles shortest route by road) and Holme Moss is 59 miles away (73 miles shortest route by road).
Briantist
Friday 30 July 2010 10:02AM
Grahame: The work is listed for "this week".
Briantist
Friday 30 July 2010 10:04AM
Stuart Owens: Yes, light does tend to travel in a straight lines, rather than take road routes.
Stuart Owens
Friday 30 July 2010 6:19PM Wrexham
LOL, Briantist! Very funny!
I just wanted to explain that Winter Hill was closer to me than Holme Moss by saying that despite there is only a 4 mile difference between my home and Winter Hill and between my home and Holme Moss by road transport, there is actually 14 miles difference between the same points through the air.
I thought with the amount of posts you have wrote, that you would be more knowledgeable to realise that Winter Hill was the closer transmitter to my location but instead you thought that Holme Moss was the closer transmitter so I was just using the two mileage factors to back my reasons up.
Briantist
Saturday 31 July 2010 8:14AM
Stuart Owens: Yes, line of sight is 71km to Winter Hill, 96km to Holme Moss. 25km, 15.5 miles.

But HM is on higher ground of course.
John T
Saturday 31 July 2010 3:51PM
I am in south Manchester using Winter hill
but have lost com5 channel 61 which contains "Dave" amongst others. Why can I not receive this but yet I can receive weaker channels such as Channel M.
Malbro
Saturday 31 July 2010 6:42PM
John T: There was an on-screen message a couple of weeks ago saying that to continue receiving Dave ja vu, you had to re-tune.
This has moved to C61, so try a manual re-tune on C61 only (if your equipment allows it - if not you will have to do a full re-tune).
John
Saturday 31 July 2010 7:01PM
I have tried a manual retune to no effect on channel 61. it does not pick up anything on 61

I first lost dave a few weeks back, but still had dave javu,then after a retune I have lost all of the channels that broadcast on 61

I am using an analogue TV with a Goodamns GD3 box and an outside aerial.

Any other ideas please ?
Grahame
Sunday 1 August 2010 9:15AM Stockport
I have an idTV and since this work on Winter Hill began the Signal Quality is 99 but the Strength is 0,which leads to picture and sound break-up,yet if I connect a Stand Alone Freeview Box both Strength and Quality are 100.Any ideas?



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