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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
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
J
jamie
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

7:54 PM
Portsmouth

RINA MILES....

If you can record BBC1-4 and view the recording but have issues with watching the channels in real time viewing then you issue is 100% the equipment you are using.

A recorder unit uses 2 tuners, 1 for viewing tv and 1 for recording, so at anytime one or both could have issues and not work properly.

The fact that you can view recordings points to you having an issue with the viewing tuner not the recording tuner and definately not the signal being received.

advice from Jays Cabling Services a Digital Approved Installer.

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jamie's 207 posts GB flag
jamie's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
J
jb38
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

8:54 PM

Rina Miles: It would also have been of assistance if you had provided your location as you could be absolutely anywhere in the UK or NI, this in the form of a post code or at least one from nearby as its impossible to assess the signal levels expected in your area nor the transmitter they are coming from without this info.

Please also provide info on the model of recorder you are using.

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jb38's 7,179 posts GB flag
Saturday, 8 September 2012
M
Malcolm Butler
10:29 PM

We live in the Swanage area BH19/ BH20. We get our signal from Rowridge. We seem to get a very broken up picture on all stations when we get clear skies. This is usually about 9pm onwards.Back ok again next morning. This is consistant. We can try re-tuning and may get one or two stations but these easily drop out again very quickly. Lots of other people with same problem. This was happening before the switch over as well as after. Airiel is horizontal I think.

Please help. The better our weather the worse the picture (Late evenings only usually).

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Malcolm Butler's 2 posts GB flag
M
Mark Fletcher
sentiment_satisfiedGold

11:26 PM
Halifax

Malcolm Butler.First of all i would consider repolarising your aerial from horizontal to vertical to counteract any single frequency interference issue that arises from Crystal Palace main transmitter which uses some exactly same multiplexes as that of Rowridge especially the COM multiplexes SDN,ArqA and ArqB all above are co-channel on frequencies 25,22 and 28 from both main masts.
Also while switching polarity check the tip of the aerial is red which denotes a group A aerial and the right aerial to use on all group A Rowridge transmitter especially in a poor/marginal signal area.

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Mark Fletcher's 673 posts GB flag
Mark's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Sunday, 9 September 2012
G
GLENN
10:47 AM
Bognor Regis

Po22 9eg roof top aerial-Freeview built in to TV-since 6 sept unable to get itv2,itv4, pick TV, yesterday,qvc, film 4, 4music,Dave,really, viva, itv2 +1, e4 +1, etc-unable to receive broadcast on these channels. have reset TV checked cables etc

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GLENN's 1 post GB flag
GLENN's: ...
D
David Sutton
11:28 AM

Last night we found that many of our freeview channels were showing 'no signal'. From the descriptions on this website it looks as though we are suffering from single frequency interference, possible on several multiplexes. However, when we try to re-tune the TV, we pick up a load of French channels instead.

Any ideas what we can do about this?

link to this comment
David Sutton's 1 post GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

12:53 PM

GLENN: Best to switch your aerial to vertical polarisation as the COM channels (those that you're having difficulty with) are 50kW horizontally and 200kW vertically. The Public Service channels are 200kW horizontally and 200kW vertically.

This will also help reduce the likelihood of interference from transmitters in France, which are horizontally polarised.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

1:05 PM

David Sutton: Unless you've checked, then it could be that the French stations that you are receiving are not on the same channels/frequencies as the desired ones from Rowridge, and therefore aren't the ones that are compromising local reception. However, it does suggest that signals are carrying further than they normally do and so that could be the cause of the difficulty you are having.

It is possible that it is another transmitter that is interfering with the signals from Rowridge at your location. This doesn't mean that either will be receivable as there may be no overall "winner". Also, unlike with analogue, digital receivers will not start to show the picture carried on the offending signal (if/when it gets strong enough) because they are "looking" for the tuned signals.

So even if the interfering signals come in strong enough to wipe out reception from Rowridge *and* be watchable, your set would still show "no signal", *had* you left it tuned to Rowridge.

As suggested to Glenn, have your aerial switched for vertical polarisation. Never say never, but the transmitters in France that are likely to interfere are horizontally polarised.

Rowridge broadcasts horizontally and vertically, with the Commercial channels being on lower power using the former polarity and are equal to that of the Public Service channels on the latter.

This means that there are potentially two benefits to vertical polarisation.

You should not need to replace your aerial, unless it is defective of course. For some transmitters aerials used for former analogue need replacing to get the full Freeview service. With Rowridge the only thing that is needed is to switch to vertical polarisation.

If you do decide to get another aerial, then don't get a wideband. These are the types that DIY shops sell. These aren't the best for Rowridge. For more information (whether because you wish to install a new aerial or just wish to be informed before calling in a professional), see:

Rowridge Transmitter

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Monday, 10 September 2012
N
Norman Langridge
5:40 PM

Can you say why C22, C25 & C28 from Rowridge Horizontal were not increased to 200kw?

I too will now have to alter my aerial to vertical to take advantage of the 200kw transmissions and hopefully avoid the black-out of reception as recently experienced with the 50kw channels.

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Norman Langridge's 6 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

6:22 PM

Norman Langridge: The COM channels (22, 25 and 28 from Rowridge) do not have as extensive coverage as the Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) ones. Over 1,000 small relay transmitters don't carry them as they are PSB-only. In some cases viewers will need to replace their aerials because the COM channels are broadcast from their chosen transmitter, but outside of the Group of their aerial (that is on UHF channels outside of those that their aerial is most sensitive).

Some transmitters that do carry the COMs radiate them at lower power than the PSBs and this is so that the COM channels can be "re-used" by another transmitter in closer proximity than would otherwise be possible (without the power restriction).

This is the reason for the lower power horizontal COMs signals from Rowridge. These three are used by two neighbouring main (high-power) transmitters: Stockland Hill to the west and Crystal Palace to the north east. These are horizontally polarised only.

The nearest that the three Rowridge PSB channels are used by main transmitters are Redruth to the west, Ridge Hill to the north west and Sandy Heath to the north east. These are further away than the two mentioned at the end of the previous paragraph.

Rowridge is unique in that it is the only main transmitter that broadcasts mixed polarities.

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Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
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Your comment please
Please post a question, answer or commentIf you have Freeview reception problems before posting a question your must first do this Freeview reset procedure then see: Freeview reception has changed, Single frequency interference, and Freeview intermittent interference.

If you have no satellite signal, see Sky Digibox says 'No Signal' or 'Technical fault'

If you have other problems, please provide a full (not partial) postcode (or preferably enter it in box at the top right) and indicate where if aerial is on the roof, in the loft or elsewhere.

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