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Full Freeview on the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter

first published this on - UK Free TV
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The symbol shows the location of the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter which serves 620,000 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 Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) mast?

Rowridge transmitter - Rowridge transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 25/03/2024 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels Digital tick


Choose from three options: ■ List by multiplex ■ List by channel number ■ List by channel name
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Which Freeview channels does the Rowridge 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.

MuxH/VFrequencyHeightModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 V max
 H max
C24 (498.0MHz)
320mDTG-200,000W
200,000W
Channel icons
1 BBC One (SD) South, 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
 V max
 H max
C27 (522.0MHz)
320mDTG-200,000W
200,000W
Channel icons
3 ITV 1 (SD) (Meridian (South Coast micro region)), 4 Channel 4 (SD) South ads, 5 Channel 5, 6 ITV 2, 10 ITV3, 13 E4, 14 Film4, 15 Channel 4 +1 South ads, 18 More4, 26 ITV4, 28 ITVBe, 30 E4 +1, 35 ITV1 +1 (Meridian south coast),

PSB3
BBCB
 V max
 H max
C21+ (474.2MHz)
320mDTG-200,000W
200,000W
Channel icons
46 5SELECT, 101 BBC One HD South, 102 BBC Two HD England, 103 ITV 1 HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South 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 -6dB
 V -6dB
C25 (506.0MHz)
299mDTG-850,000W
50,000W
Channel icons
20 Drama, 21 5USA, 29 ITV2 +1, 32 5STAR, 33 5Action, 38 Channel 5 +1, 41 Legend, 42 GREAT! action, 57 Dave ja vu, 58 ITVBe +1, 59 ITV3 +1, 64 Blaze, 67 TRUE CRIME, 68 TRUE CRIME XTRA, 78 TCC, 81 Blaze +1, 83 Together TV, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 30 others

COM5
ArqA
 H -6dB
 V -6dB
C22+ (482.2MHz)
302mDTG-850,000W
50,000W
Channel icons
11 Sky Mix, 17 Really, 19 Dave, 31 E4 Extra, 36 Sky Arts, 40 Quest Red, 43 Food Network, 47 Film4 +1, 48 Challenge, 49 4seven, 60 Drama +1, 65 That's TV 2, 70 Quest +1, 74 Yesterday +1, 75 That's 90s, 233 Sky News, plus 11 others

COM6
ArqB
 H -6dB
 V -6dB
C28 (530.0MHz)
302mDTG-850,000W
50,000W
Channel icons
12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! romance, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! romance mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 18 others

LSO
 H -13dB
C37 (602.0MHz)299mDTG-1210,000W
Channel icons
from 22nd December 2014: 7 That's Solent,

DTG-8 64QAM 8K 3/4 27.1Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
DTG-12 QSPK 8K 3/4 8.0Mb/s DVB-T MPEG2
H/V: aerial position (horizontal or vertical)

Which BBC and ITV regional news can I watch from the Rowridge transmitter?

regional news image
BBC South Today 1.3m homes 4.9%
from Southampton SO14 7PU, 26km north (354°)
to BBC South region - 39 masts.
regional news image
ITV Meridian News 0.9m homes 3.6%
from Whiteley PO15 7AD, 24km north-northeast (20°)
to ITV Meridian (South Coast) region - 39 masts.
All of lunch, weekend and 50% evening news is shared with all of Meridian plus Oxford

Are there any self-help relays?

Portsmouth DocksTransposer2 km N city centre50 homes Estimate. Group of houses'

How will the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmission frequencies change over time?

1950s-80s1984-971997-981998-20122012-132 May 2018
VHFA K TA K TA K TA K TW T
C3BBCtvwaves
C21C4wavesC4wavesC4waves+BBCBBBCB
C22+ArqAArqA
C24BBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBC2wavesBBCABBCA
C25SDNSDN
C27ITVwavesITVwavesITVwavesD3+4D3+4
C28ArqBArqB
C29LSO
C31BBC1wavesBBC1wavesBBC1wavescom7
C37com8
C55tv_offcom7tv_off
C56tv_offCOM8tv_off

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 7 Mar 12 and 21 Mar 12.

How do the old analogue and currrent digital signal levels compare?

Analogue 1-4 500kW
PSB1||, PSB1≡, PSB2||, PSB2≡, PSB3||, PSB3≡(-4dB) 200kW
COM4≡, COM4||, COM5≡, COM5||, COM6≡, COM6||(-10dB) 50kW
com7≡(-13.1dB) 24.4kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-14dB) 20kW
com8≡(-14.3dB) 18.4kW
LSO≡(-17dB) 10kW

Which companies have run the Channel 3 services in the Rowridge transmitter area

Aug 1958-Jan 1992Southern Television
Jan 1982-Dec 1992Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004Meridian
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. Rowridge was not an original Channel 3 VHF 405-line mast: the historical information shown is the details of the company responsible for the transmitter when it began transmitting Channel 3.

Comments
Monday, 3 February 2020
J
John Hughes
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

9:09 PM

Chris.SE:
Sorry Chris only just picked up your reply
I will try the Freeview number as COM 5 CH 22 H seems to have been switched off as its still dead as of today Feb 3rd.
Not a problem for me at the moment as no co-channel interference, but with High pressure building my Sky News reception will be hit on the V aerial.

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John Hughes's 28 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 4 February 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:19 PM

John Hughes:

I don't suppose it's been switched off, but there may be a fault/low power, as previously mentioned can't find a report but although High Pressure doesn't automatically bring co-channel, there is some Tropospheric Ducting forecast for the next 72hrs or so, you may be unlucky then.
How did you get on with Freeview? There doesn't seem to be any issues posted on-line - which doesn't mean there aren't any !!

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Friday, 14 February 2020
J
John Hughes
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

6:19 PM

Chris.SE:
Hi Steve
A couple of things. First there seems to be a problem with the Email me updates' service on this site as the first I've known of your messages to me is when I login like now.
As for Freeview, I called them and waiting for a promised call back when they didn't have an answer to hand, I texted them when the return call didn't arrive, but still waiting for a reply even to that.
So, as there's still no signal on COM 5 H (COM 6 H is ok) and both are the same 50kW, and I now have an e-mail address for Arqiva technical. I will drop them a line this weekend.
I'm not giving up
John.

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John Hughes's 28 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

10:40 PM

John Hughes:

If you goto Email settings (the envelope icon on the RHS of the red bar at page top) you should be able to set the frequency of email updates.
Certainly don't give up John. btw I assume you noticed I replied to your tweet!

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Saturday, 15 February 2020
J
John Hughes
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

4:20 PM

Sorry Chris for keep calling you Steve, he's a colleague who I've also been chatting to about this.
The good news is COM 5 H is now back up, albeit varying between 40 and 60% strength. At least I've now got an alternative for Sky news and LBC should co-channel be a problem.
Yes I do get regular site update e-mails, it was just that I though by ticking the Email me updates' box a reply would lead me directly to your answer and not a scroll through the Rowridge section but hey it's not a problem.
Many thanks'
John.

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John Hughes's 28 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:45 PM

John Hughes:

For some reason, some of the "direct" links do not work properly. The site owner is the only one that can fix such issues. Whatever page a link takes me to, I usually just go to the last page in the page bar and work from there, or in some cases have to manually edit the url to get to the correct tx page. If you could DM me that email address, that would be good.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Sunday, 16 February 2020
J
John Hughes
sentiment_satisfiedBronze

7:16 PM

Hi Chris
Apparently this is the contact for all modes of transmission and reception (TV, Radio, Phone etc) provided by Arqiva.
telecoms.feedback@arqiva.com
Good luck
John.

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John Hughes's 28 posts GB flag
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:40 PM

John Hughes:

Thanks John, familiar with that one, was hoping it might be something different ;) Thanks anyway.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 13 May 2020
A
Anthony J. Kightley
3:56 PM
Waterlooville

Ever since there was a change of channels a couple of years ago, I have had problems with the Yesterday programme on Channel 25. It breaks up for a minute or so every five minutes or so, and, of course, the sound disappears. The problem is, definitely, a bit worse when the atmospheric pressure is high.This is a nuisance as this programme is one of my favourites. I have no problems with any other programmes. However, I did notice that all the channels on the same MUX, COM6, tended to break up, too.

Being technically inclined, i have tried fitting a second amplifier in the aerial lead but this did not make any difference. Also, i had the aerial bearing changed to make it, almost precisely,in a SW bearing which should be correct for Waterlooville (PO7 7JN).

One of my TV sets displays a signal strength reading for a couple if seconds after a channel appears and, by taking several readings, I noticed that the signal strength for Channel 25 was between a half and two thirds that of other channels and varied, considerably, whereas it was quite steady on the other channels.

On the polar diagram towards the end of this page on your web site, COM6 is supposed to be shown in yellow. But I cannot see the yellow line on the polar diagram. Which one is it or is it coincident with the brown one?

If you have any ideas as to how this problem can be solved, I would be pleased to hear from you.

Incidentally, when I moved here from South Devon ten years ago, I was very surprised to find that there were not a repeater stations on the Downs Ridge as this ridge is an obvious barrier to the signal for those on the immediate north side of it. However it does explain why it seems necessary to install a complex aerial on a long pole on, virtually, every house in the area. A lucrative business for aerial erectors!

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Anthony J. Kightley's 2 posts GB flag
Anthony's: mapA's Freeview map terrainA's terrain plot wavesA's frequency data A's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Thursday, 14 May 2020
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

9:32 AM

Anthony J. Kightley:

Firstly, just to make things a bit more muddy at this point, Rowridge is currently listed for Planned Engineering with "Possible weak signal". They never give detail of the work, so signals could vary at any time.

Secondly, this is an independent help-site, we're not responsible for the transmitters, what information is published is generally available from documents issued by OFCOM, Arqiva, DUK/Freeview etc. I'm afraid that some of it isn't up-to-date as the site owner (the only one that can update things) has not had time to incorporate all the 700MHz Clearance changes or some other changes made by broadcasters.

As far as things like polar diagrams are concerned, not all information has been made public, and there also seems to be bugs present in displaying some of the information, so they aren't going to be an awful lot of help.
What is likely to be more helpful is Freeview/DUKs Detailed Coverage Checker which looks at the predicted reception at a location.

I'm not sure if you are aware the Rowridge transmits both Horizontal and Vertical polarisations for PSBs1-3, & COMs4-6. The Local mux and temporary COMs 7&8 are horizontal only.
Your location does appear to be in a slight dip and being on the NE side of that ridge, it doesn't help especially with the horizontally polarised COMs4-6 signals which are only transmitted at 50kW compared to 200kW for the PSBs. COMs 7&8 are approx. 25 & 20 kW respectively.

All the vertically polarised signals are transmitted using 200kW. If you put your details into the boxes at Platform management | Freeview you'll see that you should get far better predicted reception with vertical polarisation, but you would lose COMs 7&8 (if you have them!). I assume your current aerial is horizontal? If you don't get (or want) the Local multiplex or COMs 7&8, the solution is simple, rotate the aerial to vertical polarisation.

If you get and want to continue getting COMs 7&8 and the Local mux, it gets quite messy from a technical point of view. You are going to need two aerials and some probably quite expensive filtering if you want things on one downlead, so it depends on how much you are prepared to spend, whether you like/want the programmes on the Local Mux, and the fact that COMs 7&8 are temporary. The latter we aren't expecting to close before 2022 but there's no formal announcement yet, so things could change but it's highly improbable to be before later in 2021 as the 700MHz clearance elsewhere isn't complete and has been delayed because of covid-19. There's implications from the DUK/Freeview checker that they could be here until 2025, but it's all speculation.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
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