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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Monday, 22 April 2013
D
David H11:53 AM
Manchester
Hi, I posted here before about not getting any signal on UHF channels 49 and 50 in postcode M43 7LA on an LG television. I have managed to now tune this TV into these channels by plugging in a small signal boosting box. Hopefully problem solved, but this was still an extra purchase and hassle all due to the retuning.
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David Rogers6:28 PM
Like David H, I too appear to have solved my problems by the purchase of a aerial amplifier (in my case, a £9.99 Philex SLx). No doubt cheaper than calling on the services of an aerial installer, which would have been the next step, had the amplifier not done the trick.
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Tuesday, 23 April 2013
V
vincent11:09 AM
Skelmersdale
since the tenth of april i lost bbc1 bbc2 bbc news etc..
after i retuned 5 time following the advice given
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vincent: It appears that you may reside in a block of flat. For this reason I wonder if you are using a communal aerial. If so then it may require adjustment to allow the new frequency of the BBC services through. The same applies for COM5 which carries Pick TV, Dave and others.
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Mazbar3:19 PM
vincent: you could be picking up either storton, welsh,or sklmersdale as well as winter hill I know you are not on a communal aerial as I know the estate are you in the flats or the houses. Either way if you have any problems you are more than welcome to call us to tune in for you our number is 558169
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Phil C Chester9:55 PM
jb38
Sorry about delay only don't quite understand what goes where in this system. Only found your post today.
Result of test is below.
50 quality 10% strength 40/60%
59 100% 100%
58 100% 100%
49 60% 60%
55 100% 90%
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Wednesday, 24 April 2013
J
jb3810:42 AM
Phil C Chester: Sorry about the confusion caused, the fault being entirely mine as I had mistakenly replied to you under Winter Hills heading whereas your queries were made under Feedback, this basically having been caused by me having two headings open at the same time.
However, as far as your signal level checks are concerned, although factors such as level changes connected with signal
propagation at different frequencies can always come into the equation, but though judging by what you have now reported makes me suspect that your aerial is indeed a C/D type, and with its lower end tapering off effect (always worse at the lower end) being responsible for the reduced strength being seen on Ch49 albeit that its radiated from a lower section of the mast.
But though, although changing the aerial to either a group E or even a Log 40 (wideband) type would no doubt improve the situation as far as Ch49 is concerned, or alternatively even just using a simple booster such as an Argos 534/6130 (Philex brand) in line with the aerial lead, unfortunately though as far as Ch50 is concerned that action alone is not likely to result in any significant improvement to the reliability of reception in cases where quality is seen lagging so far behind the strength, as about the only action that is likely to have an effect is with the aerial being tried in a "slightly" different mounting position, this meaning either higher or lower, or to the right or left of its present position so as to "catch" a better signal, e.g: this being for exactly the same reason as some have to do when using a mobile phone in a dead spot, taking a step to the right or left! as that type of situation can also apply with TV reception in certain areas.
A point to note though! although the action referred to regarding the aerial positioning can in many instances help resolve the issue, there are other situations where an "area" can be affected by signal path changes from the TX mast and why its always most advisable to make a local enquiry (neighbour, if on friendly terms!) as to whether or not anyone else is experiencing the same type of problem as yourself, because if they are then obviously moving the aerial will not help the situation, and to be quite honest about it nothing is likely to unless by the naturally occurring seasonal changes having an affect on the propagation of the signal.
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Gary Smyth1:11 PM
Liverpool
A query on behalf of my father-in-law - since the retune on 11/4 the order of his channels has gone awry and the EPG only offers information for some channels. I retuned his box yesterday to no avail and then rang a helpline number as detailed in his freesat+ user manaul (argos helpdesk). They advised me to retune it without the aerial connected but to reconnect it at 56% and then remove it at 76%. This worked in part (channels in correct order and EPG info for all available channels) except there were some channels missing, ITV in particular. His post code is L12 4XL, thank you.
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Gary Smyth1:17 PM
Should also add his box doesn't have a manual tune option. Will it just be a case of retuning with the aerial removed as previously mentioned but reconnect the aerial at say 50% instead??
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Gary Smyth: I would suggest that the likely answer here is that the receiver is picking up and 'deciding' to use the signals broadcast from the Moel-y-Parc transmitter which is in the opposite direction to that of Winter Hill.
Unplugging the aerial can be used to avoid unwanted signals where those signals are in a different part of the band as the wanted ones. Due to the speed of the scan it is rough and ready, so it can be trial and error getting it plugged in or unplugged at the right point.
In answer to the question of missing ITV/C4/C5 etc then it is worth noting that it uses the highest channel (frequency) from Winter Hill and that there aren't any further channels above that. For that reason, do it again but don't unplug the aerial at 76%, leaving it in until the end.
Or, if there is manual tuning then you can add any missing channels. In this case manually tune UHF channel 59.
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