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.
This transmitter has no current reported problems
The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Winter Hill (Bolton, England) transmitter._______
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
|
|
Wednesday, 19 February 2020
J
js6:08 PM
The Code Rate for com8 was reduced to 1/2 a while ago.
Here are the current Bitrates for com7 and com8:
PCRs in each transport stream were used to calculate the bitrate.
Median values tend to eliminate rogue PCR results.
The values can be used to deduce the transmission parameters using a calculator such as:
DVB-T2 Data-Rate Calculator: DVB-T2 Data-Rate Calculator - Tools for Digital TV and Mobile DTV
com7:
Video Bitrate (Mbps) sampled at 34 <= dPCR <= 37 ms intervals over 11 seconds for Arqiva C Com78 National (19/02/2020 15:47:35)
maximum | minimum | average | service_name
05.985 | 01.852 | 03.471 | BBC NEWS HD
06.237 | 02.318 | 03.592 | Channel 4+1 HD
10.648 | 02.747 | 04.934 | 4seven HD
08.426 | 03.609 | 05.472 | TJC HD
03.727 | 00.644 | 01.238 | Smithsonian Channel
03.841 | 00.553 | 01.334 | Quest Red+1
02.585 | 00.559 | 01.321 | More4+1
02.490 | 00.654 | 01.334 | CBS Reality +1
01.227 | 00.775 | 00.985 | 5USA+1
04.778 | 02.151 | 03.187 | RT HD
05.163 | 01.271 | 02.609 | Pick+1
02.323 | 01.019 | 01.722 | Jewellery Maker
03.471 | 00.569 | 02.362 | Null Packets
04.999 | 02.080 | 03.264 | All Other Streams
36.825 | 36.825 | 36.825 | TS Bitrate
PCR PID, Calculated Bitrate (bps)
0301, 36824872
0401, 36824873
2211, 36824874
2331, 36824874
1101, 36824876
0101, 36824877
0511, 36824878
0731, 36824878
0841, 36824880
2121, 36824880
2401, 36824895
2021, 36824901
0631, 36825177
maximum bitrate = 36825177
minimum bitrate = 36824872
average bitrate = 36824903
median bitrate = 36824878
A match of 36824882 Bits/s is found with the decontis DVB-T2 Data-Rate Calculator with these parameters:
Bandwidth: 8MHz with ext. ticked
Modulation: 256 QAM
Code Rate: 2/3
Pilot Pattern: PP4
Data Symbols: 59
FEC Blocks: 195
com8:
Video Bitrate (Mbps) sampled at 34 <= dPCR <= 35 ms intervals over 11 seconds for Arqiva D Com78 National (19/02/2020 15:47:04)
maximum | minimum | average | service_name
06.551 | 04.038 | 05.174 | QVC HD
06.018 | 02.753 | 05.054 | CBeebies HD
06.090 | 02.810 | 04.718 | QUEST HD
02.667 | 00.554 | 01.435 | 5STAR+1
02.374 | 00.556 | 01.415 | CBS Justice +1
01.463 | 00.687 | 00.949 | Forces TV
01.872 | 00.515 | 00.845 | PBS America +1
03.522 | 01.070 | 01.849 | FreeSports
01.411 | 00.682 | 01.096 | Together TV+1
02.835 | 00.768 | 01.320 | NOW 80s
01.630 | 00.000 | 00.237 | Null Packets
03.249 | 01.501 | 02.884 | All Other Streams
26.975 | 26.975 | 26.975 | TS Bitrate
PCR PID, Calculated Bitrate (bps)
2611, 26974875
0311, 26974877
2111, 26974877
0101, 26974879
0211, 26974880
2221, 26974880
2511, 26974889
2311, 26975003
2801, 26975116
2421, 26975229
maximum bitrate = 26975229
minimum bitrate = 26974875
average bitrate = 26974951
median bitrate = 26974880
A match of 26974881 Bits/s is found with the decontis DVB-T2 Data-Rate Calculator with these parameters:
Bandwidth: 8MHz with ext. unticked
Modulation: 256 QAM
Code Rate: 1/2
Pilot Pattern: PP4
Data Symbols: 59
FEC Blocks: 191
| link to this comment |
C
Chris.SE7:56 PM
js:
Hi js, > The Code Rate for com8 was reduced to 1/2 a while ago.
It's believed this happened on the 12th Feb. when Sandy Heath and a few other transmitters had a retune, it was spotted on the Freeveiw Detailed Coverage checker for Sandy Heath reception and supposedly upcoming changes on WH on the 20th, and later dates for other TXs, but it seems they all must have changed on the 12th as one might expect because it's an SFN. Checking here on off-air it hadn't changed on the Monday (10th) but had later in the week!
| link to this comment |
C
Chris.SE8:01 PM
js:
Oh, forgot to add a lot of the Freeview(DUK) database has NOT been correctly updated. Many TXs still showing 2/3 for COM8 in the Detailed Coverage Checker.
| link to this comment |
J
js9:50 PM
Chris.SE: Yes, I saw the report on DS. They might have changed simultaneously but com8 Winter Hill is not in the SFN yet. In fact, it has a Cell ID of 2369 which is the same for all the multiplexes that originate from Winter Hill apart from com7 which has Cell ID of 16449.
The Cell ID is shown in this screenshot from CrazyScan2, taken the morning after reading the report. I'm not sure what bitrate CrazyCat shows here but the parameters are correct.
Winter Hill com8 14 February 2020.png - Album on Imgur
CrazyScan / Wiki / Info
| link to this comment |
C
Chris.SE11:30 PM
js:
Hi technically you are right of course, I could have worded what I said better - instead of "because it's an SFN" it might have been been better to say "because they all will be/or are part of an SFN it's sensible/necessary for them all to change simultaneously"
| link to this comment |
Thursday, 20 February 2020
J
js2:24 AM
Chris.SE: Well, com8 is up and running on C56- 753.833MHz. I wasn't expecting that. The Cell ID is now 16449.
| link to this comment |
C
Chris.SE3:58 AM
All:
For anyone visiting here that has lost channels and doesn't realise what has happened, there has been a retune event.
The PSB1/BBCA multiplex has moved to UHF C32 and the COM8 multiplex to C56. You need to retune to restore your channels.
If you are having trouble getting the BBC channels in their normal place at LCNs 1,2,9, .......etc in the EPG, this could be because you have an old C/D group aerial that is not receiving C32 very well or at all. Some of these aerials will work ok if you are in a good reception area. Otherwise you now need a Group T/Wideband aerial to receive all multiplexes from Winter Hill reliably.
For those having problems with the BBC multiplex on C32, you can still find the old programmes/channels at LCN751, 752..... in your EPG until the 22nd April to give you time to get your aerial problem resolved without loss of service. See Problems with Freeview reception? | Help receiving TV and radio and click on Engineering work affecting television services in the North West of England on the 19th and 20th February for more detail about these changes.
If you don't have Cable or Satellite, and use your own aerial (not a Communal or Landlord's one) then you can get free help - phone Freeview on 0808-100-0288.
See What is 700MHz clearance? | Freeview for technical information about these changes.
For further information about these Winter Hill retunes and channels used, see my posts on 12th/13th Jan et seq. on p189 here.
| link to this comment |
D
David Freeman8:20 PM
Bury
ON instructions on our tv I have tried all day to re-tune the tv, however all the BBC stations have been not available. At 6pm there is a very weak signal when I do a manual tuning.
When will we have a good signal as we had previously?
Post code BL8 2HD, house number 2
| link to this comment |
David's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE8:26 PM
David Freeman:
I suggest you read the post immediately before yours!
| link to this comment |
D
Dave LW9:15 PM
Colne
I happened to have a decent external Group T aerial fitted in Tuesday 18 Feb as part of roof repair works, and was getting good signals (~80% signal strength on ch58(COM4) according to my PVR's diagnostics, similar on other channels) immediately after installation, and I had no problems with recordings made on Tuesday or Wednesday, including some from COM4. My location is BB8 7DS (Colne, right on top of a hill).
Today (20 Feb), both before and after retune, signal strength is more like 40% on ch58 and most other channels, though ch32 is more like 65%, and recordings made from ch58/COM4 after the retune are showing some patches of mild breakup (kind of expected at that signal strength).
Have the Winter Hill power outputs been [maybe temporarily] lowered as part of the retune process?
| link to this comment |
Dave's: mapD's Freeview map terrainD's terrain plot wavesD's frequency data D's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Select more comments
Your comment please