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 29/05/2023 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.
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.
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 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 (139°)
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 TV region BBC North West GranadaWhich companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Winter Hill transmitter area
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Wednesday, 12 November 2014
J
Jeff Bond4:53 PM
Ambleside
Reception problems over the past days 5 days or so.
First weak signal on all but BBC
Then loss of channels except BBC
Then return of all channels at good strength
Then weak on all but BBC
Then BBC only
and now for 24 hours - nothing
At The Brambles LA22 0PU
same for neighbours
at Borwick Lodge Farm LA22 0PU [ 12 Nov 2014] Roof aerials.
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M
MikeB5:08 PM
Jeff Bond: If you look at the top of the page, it doesn't appear thats there are any problems with the transmitter (or at least none reported).
Logically, that means its your aerial system that has the problem, although how both you and your neighbours have the same problem is beyond me, if your using different aerials.
Check for loose or broken connections, frayed wires, cracks/breaks where moisture has got in or corrosion. Of course if you've just experiences high winds, and driving rain, that might explain the problem, and possibly your neighbours as well.
If you have a booster/amp, that might be playing up, perhaps the power feed. Of course your neighbours might similar problems, but its just one of those things that its at the same time.
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J
Jeff Bond6:07 PM
Mike B
Thank you for your comments.
I checked connections and all equipment before posting my report.
I found no problems
Oddly as of about 20 minute ago I now have all channels back at good strength.
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M
MikeB6:40 PM
Jeff Bond: You might be fine for now, but although you've checked the connections, it sounds like there is a fault somewhere. Moisture sounds the most likely explaination, with it having dried out allowing you to get all the channels again.
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Friday, 21 November 2014
H
H J Hill10:06 PM
Settle
Friday 21 Nov 2014. POSTCODE BD24 9QS
My Freeview reception (in Settle) from Winter Hill is strong and of good signal quality. The appropriate part of my TV menu rates signal strength and quality at maximum with no bit rate errors on all Freeview channels SD & HD.
However, over recent weeks when watching Freeview-channels on 'com 7' UHF-channel 31 there have been brief (i.e. 1 or 2 seconds) blank screens with the set's "No Signal" message displayed. BBC News HD and BBC4 HD (e.g.) have been affected. I've never seen it happen on Standard Definition channels, nor on HD ones not on UHF-31.
I have watched BBC4-HD whilst recording it at the same time; and the signal loss has affected both TV and HDD/DVD recorder at the same moment (Both Panasonic items and less than 14 months old.). So the set isn't the problem (which was my first thought).
Is there a known transmission issue (e.g. like a simple transmission interruption problem) on UHF-37 or a known 4G issue? I'm running out of cables and items to change in my house.
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M
MikeB10:17 PM
H J Hill: Panasonic's have sensitive tuners. It could be that you've too high a signal, even from 51km away (my parents in law have a similar problem). Check signal strength on both the TV and the PVR, if its near 100%, then that would be the problem, and if not, at least you've eliminated that possibility.
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Dave Lindsay
10:18 PM
10:18 PM
H J Hill: You might need a wideband aerial as C31 is out-of-group if it's a Group C/D (i.e. not replaced since long before digital came along).
Also, it's on lower power than the rest, although the reported 25kW at 32 miles is expected to serve you well.
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Dave Lindsay
10:37 PM
10:37 PM
H J Hill: For more information see:
Winter Hill Transmitter
Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial
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Saturday, 22 November 2014
A
anthony2:51 PM
Signal breaks on com 7 winter hill seem to be an ongoing problem. If you look at the Digital Spy site you will see that Arqiva agreed to this problem in September and fixed it but it seems to be returning. Please go to the Digital UK website to report this matter as they only investigate after two or three complaints. I'm afraid that complaining on forums is ineffective. Com7 seems to be cobbled together from old junk and seems not to be monitored.
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Monday, 1 December 2014
H
H J Hill10:25 AM
The Arqiva, COM7, UHF-31, intermittent drop-out appears to have been fixed (sometime between 27 and 28 November 2014). Whether it's another Arqiva fix that'll soon go wrong again remains to be seen.
There was a time when persistent faults were acknowledged with an on-screen message "There is a fault. Do not adjust your set." These days nobody bothers. The multiplex/transmission company sits on its hands/profits until enough members of the public complain. Meanwhile, some viewers will conclude their receiving equipment is faulty (as the unacknowledged fault has gone on for so long) and engage in trouble and expense trying to fix it. I did.
The whole business is a scandal; and I have complained strongly to Ofcom about it. Whatever happened to serving the public? I've also raised it with Channel Four Corporation and the BBC, since they have been paying Arqiva for a deficient transmission service off Winter Hill on COM7.
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