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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.

This transmitter has no current reported problems

The BBC and Digital UK report there are no faults or engineering work on the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter.

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), 71 That’s 60s,

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 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 -6dB
 V -6dB
C22+ (482.2MHz)
302mDTG-850,000W
50,000W
Channel icons
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 -6dB
 V -6dB
C28 (530.0MHz)
302mDTG-850,000W
50,000W
Channel icons
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

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
Saturday, 3 November 2012
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:35 PM

Steve: The "problems" that are reported are those issued by the broadcasting authorities rather than those of viewers.

The Commercial (COM) channels from Rowridge aren't as strong horizontally and this is because they overlap with Stockland Hill and Crystal Palace which uses the same three channels. The weaker signal and high error rate "could" be a symptom of that, the remedy being to switch the aerial to vertical polarisation to take advantage of the stronger COM signals and "rejection" of a co-channel transmitter.

This assumes that you haven't already switched your aerial.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
S
Steve
4:06 PM

Hi Dave,

I just tested Dave (the TV channel) and that's shows as signal level 80 on the TV; so if I'm reading the above info correctly that's at the same TX power as the chan's I have issues with.

My aerial is an old analogue one, but I live near the coast opposite Rowridge (Stubbington), and thought I may get away with it.

I have to say that your answer confused me a bit: I thought I could only have a horizontal Ae pointed at Rowridge! If you have a sec could you dumb it down just a tad bud?

I could go and buy a digital Ae, but whenever I see them in shops they seem to be wide-band . I guess shops don't like to stock all the different kinds.

Perhaps I'll wait until tomorrow, and if it's not working try a digital Ae.

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Steve's 4 posts GB flag
J
Jamie Stevens
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

4:48 PM
Portsmouth

STEVE

Hi, I am a approved digital aerial installer in your area.

If you aerial and cabling is of good condition you should be able to turn your aerial from horizontal to virtical which should correct your issues.

The rowridge transmitter now transmits on both horizontal and vertical polarisation.

Its very important the your do not buy nonsense wideband aerials from local diy stores. they can pickup all signals being sent from different transmitters, they also dont perform too well on rowridge.

You should only use a group A aerial on rowridge, this is something you cannot buy in the shop.

If you continue to have issues and want someone credible to do the repairs then my contact details are

Jays Cabling Services
jayscabling@yahoo.co.uk
www.jayscabling.co.uk

link to this comment
Jamie Stevens's 207 posts GB flag
Jamie's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:03 PM

Steve: Since the changes in April, Rowridge transmits vertically as well as horizontally.

The PSB (Public Service) channels are 200kW horizontally and 200kW vertically. The COMs are 50kW horizontally and 200kW vertically.

The main reason for the horizontal signals are for backward-compatibility with aerials that are already fitted (horizontally).

I mentioned aerial replacements, but they shouldn't (generally speaking) be needed for Rowridge and a wideband aerial isn't needed. These tend to have less gain on the (lower) channels/frequencies that Rowridge uses so a Group A aerial (the "non-wideband" type you probably have) is the best. Turning it to vertical should do the trick.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
S
Steve
7:02 PM

Hi Dave and Jamie,

The change to vertical has given me back my channels. Thank you very much for helping.

The signal level for the returned channels is still significantly lower than all the others however: 85 for BBC and just about all that are not on COM6; COM6 only gives me 60 on my TV's strength tester.

I note that COM6 is the highest frequency out of Rowridge and am wondering if my old Ae may not cope due to that.

If it's not my Ae I have to assume that COM6 is indeed low on power at the moment.

Jamie: Cheers for the Ae advice bud; I have looked on Amazon and it's simple for me to order a correct one from there.

link to this comment
Steve's 4 posts GB flag
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

7:49 PM

Steve: If you are looking for an aerial or information on them, see ATV's site:

Rowridge Transmitter

If there is a good clear path to the transmitter, then the signal could be a bit on the high side. The effect can appear the same as too little a signal:

Freeview signals: too much of a good thing is bad for you | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

An attenuator may be useful, e.g. (other suppliers are available):

TV Aerial Attenuator Variable 0-20Db Freeview Digital | eBay

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
Sunday, 4 November 2012
S
Steve
11:47 PM

Hola,

I quick final post from me (I hope so anyway).

I just went back and tested all the COM6 channels again, and today they are at 82, pretty much the same as all the others. I think that this means that Rowridge was indeed low on power yesterday when I was only getting 60 after the shift to vertical, and didly horizontal.

link to this comment
Steve's 4 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
M
Mike Wells
1:17 PM
Sturminster Newton

I live in North Dorset (DT10) at the edge of Rowridge reception. My aerial is set for horizontal polarisation but I don't know if I can rotate it for vertical. I have another aerial directed at Mendip transmitter, would I create a problem if I rotated this one and aimed it at rowridge thus giving both vertical and horizontal set up at the same time?

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Mike Wells's 6 posts GB flag
Mike's: mapM's Freeview map terrainM's terrain plot wavesM's frequency data M's Freeview Detailed Coverage
Dave Lindsay
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:55 PM

Mike Wells: The Mendip aerial may be a Group C/D one. If it is a wideband aerial, then this will work to a degree for Rowridge. Wideband yagi aerials aren't as good for Group A channels, of which Rowridge uses exclusively:

Aerials, TV Aerial and Digital Aerial

It's not possible to receive horizontally and vertically at the same time with a yagi aerial.

Rowridge broadcasts PSBs at 200kW horizontally and vertically. Its COMs are 50kW horizontally and 200kW vertically. The restriction horizontally is primarily due to the overlap with Stockland Hill and Crystal Palace which use the same three channels (but don't share PSB channels).

The Digital UK Postcode Checker suggests "good" reception of Stockland Hill's PSBs and none of its COMs. The same goes for Rowridge for both polarisations. Whilst it should always be born in mind that such predictors are calculated and may not be what is found to be possible, it could suggest that the only transmitter you may pick up the COMs from is Mendip.

It is possible that even though the vertical signals from Rowridge are the same power that they don't serve the same areas because the radiation patterns are different. For example, maybe its COMs are restricted to the south for international reasons. Similarly, maybe they are restricted in the direction of Stockland Hill so as not to interfere. This is possible speculation on my part which may be worth bearing in mind.

Refer to this page:

The commercial multiplex after switchover: ArqA, ArqB and SDN | ukfree.tv - 10 years of independent, free digital TV advice

It shows that around one third of Rowridge viewers are likely to be unable to receive the COMs.

link to this comment
Dave Lindsay's 5,724 posts GB flag
J
Jamie Stevens
sentiment_satisfiedSilver

3:47 PM
Portsmouth

MIKE WELLS

SIMPLY :)

if you change your rowridge aerial to vertical it will not affect your 2nd aerial which is on another transmitter.

Changing the polarisation of the rowridge aerial to VP will only enable to receive the reception with a better signal, the mux's which VP receive are exactly the same as the mux's you are receiving on HP.

The aerial doesnt know its receiving HP or VP so cannot cause issues when combining with your 2nd aerial. It is simply receiving reception from certain mux's which do not conflict with the 2nd aerial.

regards

Jamie.

link to this comment
Jamie Stevens's 207 posts GB flag
Jamie's: mapJ's Freeview map terrainJ's terrain plot wavesJ's frequency data J's Freeview Detailed Coverage
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