Freeview: Winter Hill (Bolton, England) full-Freeview transmitter
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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 fauls 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
Want to better understand the current TV faults? See the all new UK Free TV page


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The symbol shows the location of the Winter Hill 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.

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. The rating shown takes in account the output power level and the various Freeview transmission modes and do not indicate an ongoing fault.

MuxEffective power level, aerial positionRatingModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
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
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C50 (706.0MHz) from 726m datum.
PSB2
D3+4
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
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),
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C59 (778.0MHz) from 726m datum.
PSB3
BBCB
 horizontal
Maximum256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s
DVB-T2 MPEG4		100,000
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
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C54- (737.8MHz) from 726m datum.
COM4
SDN
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
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
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C58 (770.0MHz) from 726m datum.
COM5
ArqA
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
Channel icons
 TV News,  TV Stars, 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
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C49 (698.0MHz) from 726m datum.
COM6
ArqB
 horizontal
Maximum64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		100,000
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
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C55 (746.0MHz) from 726m datum.
MEN
 horizontal
Very lowQSPK 8K 1/2
6.0Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		1,000
Channel icons
51 Movies4Men, 52 Movies4Men +1, 53 Sony SAB TV Asia, 56 Capital TV, plus 2 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C57 (762.0MHz).


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

• 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.

Ken
Monday 9 May 2011 1:06PM
I am experiencing the same symptioms as Dave from Ellesmere Port (Fluctuating Signal Strength and Quality)from Winter Hill over the last 2-3 weeks. Prior to experiencing the current issue I have had excellent reception from Winter Hill on most frequencies (I am in the Runcorn Area). I have removed my distribution amplifier and linked the aeirial to each tv in turn and seen virtually the same results on each set.
Briantist
Wednesday 11 May 2011 7:01PM
Nedbod: There's not much that can be done about lightening. As far as I know you are still supposed to disconnect your aerial during a storm!
Briantist
Wednesday 11 May 2011 7:26PM
Ken: Please see Freeview intermittent interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice for some more suggestions.
Rhys Cole
Thursday 12 May 2011 2:00PM
Hello, please can some one give me some info on reception.
I moved house about 6 months ago and at that location i recieved nearly all the available channels freeview had to offer.
I moved just over a mile from my old house but now i can only recieve less than half off them.
I did the 'Check Freeview is available at your address' on freeviews site and it showed me what i do get now. (Just abit strange though i cant get the same channels as im in the same area)

I just want to know if theres any way of boosting anything to recieve more channels at all?
Briantist
Thursday 12 May 2011 6:26PM
Rhys Cole: It is very hard to say without your full postcode. Try entering it into the box at the top right.
Rhys Cole
Friday 13 May 2011 10:24AM Darwen
ah, i just did a search and my old house is using 6 different transmitters, where as new 1 is using 1 transmitter (darwen transmitter). They both use BB3 postcode though.
Briantist
Friday 13 May 2011 12:23PM
Rhys Cole: You should be able to get all the services from Winter Hill. If you are getting half of them, your aerial is pointing at the Darwen transmitter and will need moving to point at Winter Hill.
Ian
Saturday 14 May 2011 5:39PM
Over the past 2/3 weeks I have also experienced signal problems with HD from Winter Hill.
The signal swings repeatedly from 0% to around 75% strength, and renders all HD channels unwatchable. Retuning has not solved the problem. SD channels appear unaffected.
I have very recently had a new Ariel installed by local well known TV aerial engineers who used signal strength measuring equipment.

Since others appear to be experiencing similar problems, I am wondering if the likely cause lays with a fault at Winter Hill?
mcwright
Monday 16 May 2011 9:56AM Ellesmere Port
I have new issues with breakup on winter hill transmitter stations within within ch58 frequency band (multiplex com4/sdn).
Most channels in this group (QVC CH5 5usa etc)have become unwatchable due to picture breakup. My panasonic tv puts signal and quality at 10 out of 10. Nothing has changed re my hardware and other frequencies are fine.
Has their been a change in the transmission?
How can I find out about transmissions?
ellesmere port area ch66 1pj postcode
Briantist
Monday 16 May 2011 11:23AM
mcwright: "10 out of 10" for your signal strength often idicates you have too strong a signal.

If you have an amplifier or booster, you should remove it from your system.

Otherwise, please see www.ukfree.tv link icon Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice as there is no engineering work (it would be listed at the top of the page).
David Hardman
Monday 16 May 2011 1:33PM
For the last few days we have had piture quality problems with freeview.<It always seems to be this time of year,every year.At first we had problems with all BBc channels with an outdoor aerial. Now we have switched to a loft aerial and now we get a great picture with BBC1,2,granada,C4 and C5 but really poor <unwatchable> quality with all other freeview channels. A booster was used with the outside aerial but not with the indoor one. Could all this windy weather be having an affect ?
Briantist
Monday 16 May 2011 5:27PM
David Hardman: It is very unlikely to be wind, the most common problem at this time of year is trees coming into leaf close to the path between the transmitter and your aerial.
jen
Monday 16 May 2011 10:55PM Birkenhead
Can someone please tell me the KHZ number i should put in my tv for winter hill. im tuned in to wales and i loose bbc regularly and think i need to retune to winter hill manually. thanks
Briantist
Tuesday 17 May 2011 8:52AM
jen: Please see Digital Region Overlap | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
Frequencies are listed at the top of the page.
Nedbod
Thursday 19 May 2011 10:14PM
I think the lighning was in the Winter Hill area not the Macclesfield area, so no need to unplug the aerial here. Anyway no worries now, as I used my hard drive box editing skills to insert a bit of the BBC THREE Friday repeat of Dr Who, so the green blocks ruining Doctor Who are no more (deleted into the digital trash can). Not a bad job though I say so myself. The only spoiler is the two or three seconds of PINK logo which I can live with. I just love the versitility of the TOSHIBA bos's editing facility.
Nedbod
Friday 20 May 2011 4:01PM
Or even the TOSHIBA box's editing facility.

I must go an a typing course :-)))
Chris Rimmer
Thursday 2 June 2011 10:30AM
Hi,
I am a TV service engineer and have had an odd problem since April. I had 3 customers reporting problems on ITV. In all 3 cases the TVs were Beko models of about 2.5 years old. You could watch any BBC channel all day but after a few moments on an ITV channel the picture would freeze and the set would lock up (crash). The set needed to be switched off at the power to reset. I of course suspected a signal problem so took the first one in to my workshop to test on my aerial and found that the same thing happened. My only quick remedy was to add a Freeview box, which then gave perfect results on ITV in all 3 cases. I now have the same problem on a similar aged Grundig made by another of the Turkish manufacturers, Profilo.
I would like to know of other people with this problem and what may bem causing it as in all cases everything was OK until April, 14 months after DSO.
May
Friday 3 June 2011 2:47PM Nelson
BB9 6EX My ariel is fitted on the roof.
Mike Dimmick
Friday 3 June 2011 4:45PM
May: At 32km distance from a very high-power transmitter, it's quite likely that your problem is due to too much signal. If you have an amplifier, try removing it.

Another possibility is that even though your aerial points to Winter Hill, it picks up enough signal from the Pendle Forest transmitter for the box to detect that, although not enough to be usable. Older boxes use the first signals they find, rather than the strongest version. There should be a status screen somewhere in the menus which tells you which radio channel it's tuned in to. If in the C21 to C28 range, it's picked up Pendle Forest.

Also check whether there's a better version of the channels somewhere else in the programme guide - typically at around 800. If so, again it has probably tuned in Pendle Forest rather than Winter Hill.

To correct this, delete all the channels and manually tune in using the frequencies at the top of the page. If your box or TV has an automatic retuning function, turn it off.

You will need to redo this every time that the box needs retuning - whenever new channels are added, and when the retune to clear C61 and C62 happens (probably some time next year).

See also Digital Region Overlap for some more suggestions.
Lee
Saturday 4 June 2011 3:59PM
Hi, Folks,

I live in Leyland and am in direct line of sight of Winter Hill, I have a Panasonic G20 flatscreen TV with buit in Freeview & Freesat.

I don't use the latter, I receive every freeview channel apart from this Movies For Men, channel 201.

I recieve all channels through a Technika TT-02 powered indoor aerial, I have no complaints with any of the channels I recieve, all HD & SD content is good, no break up or anything like, excellent signal strength etc.

But whenever I enter 201 in to the panasonic is says "Invalid Channel", doesn't even find it when I do a scan, usually the TV will display a signal saying new channels found.

So I tried tuning in channel 201 on the downstairs freeview box which is lined up to the outside ariel, that does find it and says will take 3mins to tune in, but it never does, just goes around in circles.

Any ideas?
MickDawn
Sunday 5 June 2011 4:44AM
Chris Rimmer:
Hi. My 40 month old Grundig GULENAR26HDIP tv has the problems you describe. I've been in touch with Grundig (actually now owned by Harvard International, tel 0871 2301777). The service bloke there told be the problem is due to different transmission modes being used (2k, 5k & 8k?) & that the tv cannot cope with it. This problem only started sometime in April & that Grundig (Harvard are working with Beko (who actually made the tv) to engineer a fix (possibly by OAD, possibly hardware). He did say to write to Harvard Internationals engineering department describing the problem & said they would get back to me. I’ve read a few posts on other forums (http://www.avforums.com/forums/lcd-led-lcd-tvs/1456113-grundig-lenaro-26-lcd-tv-freezes.html & www.fixya.com link icon 
I was watching ch5 yesterday about 3pm when I pressed another...
 )about other people who are having the same problem. Interesting that as more regions change to only digital the problem will affect more people (unless a fix is found).
Mick
Briantist
Sunday 5 June 2011 4:50PM
MickDawn: Yes, this is well known, see www.ukfree.tv link icon TVs and boxes that do not support the 8k-mode | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice - you now need to use a Freeview set-top box.
Briantist
Sunday 5 June 2011 5:39PM
Lee: It's a bit hard to say without a full postcode.
Stuart O.
Sunday 5 June 2011 10:16PM Wrexham
May: You don't say if you have a problem with your TV reception, despite Mike Dimmick's reply presuming you do have.

Are you just wanting to tell the world your Post Code and the location of you aerial?
Considering that's your first post to UK Free TV, I don't understand what you are getting at or what help you require by giving out that information.
Please explain. Thanks.
Stuart O.
Tuesday 14 June 2011 9:41PM Wrexham
I've mentioned before that I live in a flat and the communal roof aerial is pointing to Winter Hill. In my loft, I have a tv set top aerial connected to an amplifier that receives excellent signals from The Wrekin, Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield.

For some strange reason, I have never been able to get a decent picture from having an outdoor aerial fitted in the loft yet I can get great pictures from a set-top aerial!
Why is this?

I have tried in turn 10, 32 and 48 element aerials. Using an amplifier makes the picture worse. I am using good quality satellite grade coax cable so why is such a little indoor aerial capable of giving better results than an outdoor aerial?
It's got me baffled!

I wanted to use an outdoor aerial in the loft instead of the set-top type because that aerial is mounted on top of some boxes to give it more height and improved reception which doesn't look and feel all that great or safe and an outdoor type would look better and thought it would further improve reception but this has not been the case.

Would anyone be able to tell me why I am experiencing such unexpected results?

Hope to have an answer soon.
Thanks,
Stuart.
steven wallace
Wednesday 15 June 2011 9:04AM
hi , im having a problem with my fathers hd freeview box , he has a new digital aeriel with a clear view of winter hill transmitter. he keeps getting picture break up and losing the bbc channels , when i retune the channels its ok for 2-3 days and then the breakup starts . we are retuning the box every 3 days on average.
Mike Dimmick
Wednesday 15 June 2011 6:17PM
Stuart O.: If a set-top aerial works but an outdoor aerial doesn't, it's most likely to be down to getting too much signal from the outdoor type.

Go for a fairly small aerial, I'd try a 25 or even 18-element log periodic, and fit an attenuator to reduce the signal levels. Obviously don't use the amplifier!

Amplifiers - including the automatic gain control and the mixer in the receiver - can only handle so much signal before distorting. This distortion essentially creates frequency-shifted copies of the signal (intermodulation products) which interfere with the original signals. It's the overall signal level, the level from each multiplex added together, from all transmitters received, that is important. (Filtering is usually done after mixing, to put the selected channel on a specific intermediate frequency, as it's easy to tune the mixer but hard to tune the filter.)

The individual carriers making up one multiplex are 'orthogonal', deliberately spaced so this problem doesn't happen within one multiplex. Unfortunately the multiplexes are not orthogonal to one another!

The 'outdoor' aerial should still have better directional properties than the set-top, so you're still likely to get better results overall.

Theoretical signal levels can be calculated with www.megalithia.com link icon Field Strength Calculator . For an aerial with 7 dB of gain, I get 70.4 dBuV of output from Winter Hill (100kW on C61 at a distance of 71.6km), which is more than the CAI's recommended level of 65 dBuV. The Wrekin (20kW on C23, 55.8km away) gives 69.7 dBuV. You lose some signal through tiles and rafters, of course.

Sutton Coldfield is 97.3km away but you do have line of sight, power levels are currently low at 8kW on C41 giving a theoretical 58.6 dBuV - that's still plenty for the box to decode. Post-switchover level will be 200kW on C43, giving 72.4 dBuV.
Mike Dimmick
Wednesday 15 June 2011 6:18PM
steven wallace: Postcode?

A 'new digital aerial' is often over-specified for the job, leading to excessive signal levels.
steven wallace
Thursday 16 June 2011 8:21AM Preston
mike dimmick.
postcode is PR2 6JR
Mike Dimmick
Thursday 16 June 2011 3:44PM
steven wallace: At 20km from Winter Hill, with clear line of sight, too much signal is the most likely explanation. If there is a booster or amplifier, try removing it.

If that doesn't help, and this aerial was fitted by an installer, get them to come back and reduce signal levels, or otherwise do what's necessary to sort it out. If it was DIY, try adding an attenuator, and/or swap for a smaller aerial such as a log-periodic type, e.g. www.aerialsandtv.com link icon Online TV FM DAB Aerial sales .
Stuart O.
Thursday 16 June 2011 4:44PM Wrexham
Mike Dimmick: Thanks for that info.
I was able to try a 2nd set-top aerial like the one I've got that my parents no longer require and combine both aerials into the amplifier and it's giving better results again than just the one aerial!
With one aerial I was getting lines on the pic of Channel 5 from Lichfield. With the two combined, this has removed that problem.

I did try connecting each aerial into it's own amplifier and then combining but picture was slighly poorer.

I've also got each aerial mounted onto metal poles that were used for shower curtains and am using terry clips to clamp the poles onto the wooden beams of the roof trusses so at least they're no longer balancing on top of boxes and look much neater and safer now.
Stuart O.
Sunday 19 June 2011 6:52PM Wrexham
Another question I have:
How do you count the elements of a TV aerial?

When you look at a 14 element aerial and compare it to something like a 32, 44 or 52 element aerial, there only visually looks to be roughly the same amount of elements.

These high gain aerials that are listed as 32 elements or more usually have elements in a 'X' shape fitted onto the aerial boom.

In this case, would each of these 'X's be counted as 2 elements or even 4 elements?

Would you be able to put up a labelled picture diagram and explain this please Briantist?

Cheers,
Stuart.
KMJ,Derby
Sunday 19 June 2011 7:39PM
Stuart O.: A lot depends on the individual manufacturer. There was a time when an 18 element aerial meant 16 director rods, a dipole and a reflector assembly which could have been a single sheet of metal (as on a contract aerial) or set of two or four rods positioned behind the dipole. Today, a Blake DMX10 has ten X-type directors plus a single rod in front of the dipole and a reflector assembly with eight rods. A Triax Unix52 is a similar aerial but each 'X' director counts four elements and the reflector counts as eight elements, to arrive at the magic "52".
Zippy
Sunday 26 June 2011 8:45PM
My digihome box is not picking up any tv guide info and will not record any series link programs as it does not know when to start and stop recording. Anyone know if the transmitter has stopped sending the info or is my box heading for the bin.
Zippy
Sunday 26 June 2011 9:20PM
Sorry I should have put my post code in my last post. However I have used the old unplug it and plug it back in fix and this seems to have cured the problem. I think I will be getting a new box soon.
Robert Lee
Wednesday 20 July 2011 10:11AM Buckley
I achieve 100% for both quality and signal strength when receiving normal freeview channels (with the exception of C55 which has a current signal strength of 80%).
However, when receiving HD on C54 the quality is only 70% and the signal strength 80%. Is there a technical reason why this should be the case and if so, is this likely to impact on picture / sound quality?
Briantist
Friday 22 July 2011 8:58AM
Robert Lee: Unless your picture and sound stop, the lower signal quality reading will have no effect whatsoever on the picture and sound quality.
arthur roe
Friday 29 July 2011 10:41AM High Peak
Trying for Winter Hlll direct no luck.Brother who lives nearby used to have more problems receiving Winter Hill.Now with the antenna`s I am trying to receive with, he has no trouble with antenna stood on garden wall. Why?
Briantist
Friday 29 July 2011 11:36AM
arthur roe: You should be using either Ladder Hill or Whaley Bridge, or if you want more channels, Freesat. See www.ukfree.tv link icon Compare Freeview Light and Freesat TV | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .

You cannot receive a Freeview service from Winter Hill.
arthur roe
Friday 29 July 2011 2:48PM High Peak
Dear Briantist, I am using Ladder Hill,as I said earlier my brother receives Winter Hill at Buxworth[bad reception area] whereas I was in a moderate area when we were all on Winter Hill only.Freesat is the next option. Thank you.
Briantist
Friday 29 July 2011 2:59PM
arthur roe: Moving a short distance can totally change the transmitter you can receive frequencies from, so that is no guide to you I'm afraid.
Kieran
Friday 5 August 2011 6:09PM Bolton
Hi there,

I have just moved into a new property in BL1 6EL and I cant seem to get any signal what soever...is this area a poor signal area or should it be ok? I have tried the roof aerial and no luck (not sure if its connected as the house was previously cable) and an indoor aerial the Philex SLX digitop amplified one.

Thanks in advance!
Briantist
Monday 8 August 2011 8:59AM
Kieran: You are in an excellent reception area, so I would check your aerial point is still connected to a rooftop aerial.

Indoor areas are unsuitable for reliable Freeview reception.
Charlie Carruthers
Friday 19 August 2011 5:53PM
Dear Briantist. COM6 ArqB is "very low" at 1000watts. As an Ashton-in-Makerfield viewer with a piddling, but otherwise efficient, indoor aerial I look forward to its power increase which you informed me about a year ago would go at fullest capacity next month. Is this still on schedule? I hope they haven't changed their minds.

Mike Dimmick
Friday 19 August 2011 6:24PM
Charlie Carruthers: It is actually at 12.5kW. It is still scheduled to go up to 100kW on the 21st of September, the same day that the channel clash with Sutton Coldfield is resolved (Sutton Coldfield completes switchover on that date).
Jean Timms
Sunday 21 August 2011 10:52AM Coventry
Thanks for your help and comments on our lack of channels. I reported it to our housing association. I repeatedly re-tuned one of the televisions but still had no ITV channels. However, on Friday, all the ITV channels miraculously came back so presumably someone had been and sorted the aerial out. Thanks again.
mrs l jones
Sunday 21 August 2011 11:51AM
cannot pick up any freeview pragrammes only analogue, but we are able to watvh t v via satelite in the living room, we have replaced the ariel applied a booster and we are not the only ones in our area having problems our postcode is DE110JD. I would be very grateful for any advice that you can give me
Andy
Sunday 21 August 2011 4:00PM Burnley
Hi everyone,
ive recently moved into my flat and purchased a new tv with built in freeview.
I noticed that there was no co-ax cable attached to the outside aerial, however there was a co-ax plug on the cable attached to the outside satelitte dish.
I plugged it into the tv's aerial socket and then i used the tv's automatic scan for channels.
i get a very good picture & signal on all channels apart from the bbc channels which sometimes is ok but signal breaks up when its raining.
My mate said that it shouldn't be able to do this unless i have a decoder or have the tv it connected to the outside aerial, so is he right or is there another explanation..?
Sue
Sunday 21 August 2011 8:34PM Wirral
I have just purchased a humax pvr and unable to receive a channels from winter hill.I didnt have any problems with my previous Bush digi box,which was a lot cheaper than the new one.I know i am in a good reception area for Winter Hill so dont understand why i am having such a problem,can any one help me out?
jb38
Sunday 21 August 2011 8:44PM
Andy: Well, what you are doing can be viewed as having similarities to someone using a metal coat hanger stuck into the back of a TV for reception when in a really good reception area.

The Pendle Forrest transmitter is the nearest to you at 3 miles away, Haslingden at 8 miles and Winter Hill on high power at 18 miles, so it has to be assumed that you must be in one of these areas where a pocket of intense signal is received otherwise what you are doing wouldn't work, because it technically shouldn't, maybe even a tad on the outrageous! (meant in the nicest possible way of course!)
jb38
Sunday 21 August 2011 9:22PM
Sue: Indications are that you should be able to receive Freeview at about the same strength of signal from three stations, namely Winter Hill - Storeton - Bidston, although another two could also come into the equation.

Humax boxes generally have very sensitive tuners and this could well cause great problems in your area when carrying out an auto-tune, as Storeton might take up EPG1 for BBC, and if not that station Bidston or Moel-Y-Park.

The only somewhat easy way to avoid this happening being to first of all blank the boxes memory store, this done by removing the aerial and carrying out a complete retune.

Once done, keep the aerial plug in your hand and carry out another auto-tune whilst carefully watching the progress indicator travelling up from the starting point, this being where you need to be quick, because as soon as the progress bar passes channel 52 immediately insert the aerial, and that should then enable the box to load Winter Hill, its lowest Mux channel being 54.

That said though, Storeton Wales might still cause a problem dependant on if its reaching you with any strength, as its on Mux Ch's 57 & 53 (HD on 60)

If you do not get any success then manually tuning (and storing) each Mux in turn is the only thing you can do, Mux channel numbers to use supplied if requested. Another way is if you could tune your box at a friends house who can maybe only receive Winter Hill due to their location.




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