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

Brian Butterworth first published this on 1st May 2004 at 08:20 - UK Free TV

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50.676,-1.369 or 50°40'35"N 1°22'7"W

PO30 4HT

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 27/11/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels

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.

Mux	H/V	Frequency	Height	Mode	Watts
PSB1 BBCA	V max H max	C24 (498.0MHz)	320m	DTG-	200,000W 200,000W
	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)	320m	DTG-	200,000W 200,000W
	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)	320m	DTG-	200,000W 200,000W
	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 66 TBN UK,
COM4 SDN	H -6dB V -6dB	C25 (506.0MHz)	299m	DTG-8	50,000W 50,000W
	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, 89 ITV4 +1, 91 WildEarth, 209 Ketchup TV, 210 Ketchup Too, 211 YAAAS!, 267 Al Jazeera English, plus 35 others
COM5 ArqA	H -6dB V -6dB	C22+ (482.2MHz)	302m	DTG-8	50,000W 50,000W
	Smithsonian Channel, 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 Christmas, 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)	302m	DTG-8	50,000W 50,000W
	Quest Red +1, Classic Hits, 12 Quest, 25 W, 27 Yesterday, 34 GREAT! movies, 39 DMAX, 44 HGTV, 52 GREAT! christmas, 56 That's TV (UK), 61 GREAT! movies extra, 63 GREAT! christmas mix, 71 That’s 60s, 73 HobbyMaker, 82 Talking Pictures TV, 83 Together TV, 84 PBS America, 235 Al Jazeera Eng, plus 20 others
LSO	H -13dB	C37 (602.0MHz)	299m	DTG-12	10,000W
	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?

BBC South Today 1.3m homes 4.9%
from Southampton SO14 7PU, 26km north (354°)
to BBC South region - 39 masts.

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 Docks

Transposer

2 km N city centre

50 homes Estimate. Group of houses'

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

	1950s-80s	1984-97	1997-98	1998-2012	2012-13	2 May 2018
	VHF	A K T	A K T	A K T	A K T	W T
C3	BBCtv_waves
C21		C4_waves	C4_waves	C4_waves	+BBCB	BBCB
C22					+ArqA	ArqA
C24		BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBC2_waves	BBCA	BBCA
C25					SDN	SDN
C27		ITV_waves	ITV_waves	ITV_waves	D3+4	D3+4
C28					ArqB	ArqB
C29						LSO
C31		BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves	BBC1_waves		com7
C37						com8
C55_{tv_off}						com7_{tv_off}
C56_{tv_off}						COM8_{tv_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

Local transmitter maps

Rowridge Freeview Rowridge DAB Rowridge TV region BBC South Meridian (South Coast micro region)

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

Aug 1958-Jan 1992	Southern Television
Jan 1982-Dec 1992	Television South (TVS)
Jan 1993-Feb 2004	Meridian
Feb 2004-Dec 2014	ITV plc

Feb 1983-Dec 1992	TV-am•
Jan 1993-Sep 2010	GMTV•
Sep 2010-Dec 2014	ITV 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.

Is the transmitter output the same in all directions?

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

10:54 PM

Ken: COM7 & COM8 were never broadcast with vertical polarity from , they were only ever horizontal before the recent changes. Perhaps your was just less effective at rejecting the horizontally polarized on the old lower frequencies when mounted with the elements vertical.

Martin G Nash: If you don't have or you may be eligible to have a replacement aerial fitted free of charge if the missing cannot be restored by manual tuning. This can be arranged by contacting the Advice Line (see link below).

Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,565 posts GB flag

C

Colin Hobbs
8:37 AM

I have lost 106 to 201 and retuned several times including complete retune by staff i.e. Removing etc. Tv is only 12 months old and new aerial installed in with no effect. Please advise if I need a wide and aerial. Regards
Colin Hobbs

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Colin Hobbs's 1 post GB flag

J

js

_{sentiment_satisfied}Gold

10:35 AM

Colin Hobbs: You are missing the com7 and com8 multiplexes. This page still shows these as on UHF 31 and 37 respectively but they have moved to UHF channels 55 and 56.

This change means a aerial is now needed.

If you look at the top right of this page you will see an envelope icon, and next to it a link with the postcode of the .

Clicking that link will take you to a coverage checker page where you can enter your own postcode by clicking "Change address" and see the predicted coverage for your location.

The message above yours from StevensOnln1 details how you might qualify for a free aerial.

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js's 824 posts RO flag

T

Tim Forsyth
9:43 AM

Hey StevensOnln1,

Do you know if anyone has been successful getting a replacement / engineer visit from ?

I have tried phoning twice and both times (oddly I seem to have got the same guy) was told the same story about low and there's no way I would be able to get COM7/8.

I feel like I'm being fobbed off. I asked directly about an aerial last time and was told it wouldn't.

Thanks,
Tim.

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Tim Forsyth's 3 posts GB flag

T

Tim Forsyth
2:09 PM
Lyndhurst

Hey Mike,

Thanks for your reply,. I'm in SO40 8DZ. Always used to get excellent from com7 and 8 before they moved.

I'm definitely on , also my is pointing towards the Isle of Wight so it's s definite yes,.

If you think I should get good coverage for 55 and 56 from here, I'll be more direct with .

Thanks,
Tim.

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Tim Forsyth's 3 posts GB flag

Tim's: T's Freeview map T's terrain plot T's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

12:48 PM

Tim Forsuthe:

Look at the blue box at the bottom of your posting titled 'digitaluk trade' (http://www.digitaluk.co.uk/coveragechecker/main/trade/SO40+8DZ/NA/0/) and then look at the expected from .

That shows that currently your location gets variable coverage of the SDN, ARQA, COM7 and COM8 multiplexes, even though you are only 28km from the . It also shows that from April next year reception of COM7 and COM8 is expected to improve. Further, it shows that COM7 and COM8 use 55 and 56 - which is way outside the reception ability of any Group A . So you need a good aerial fitted. So go ahead and talk more firmy with the service on 0808 100 0288.

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

M

Miss karen alison young
9:37 AM

Please please me get 108 for Aljazeera.
Since the update this channel is lost but its states I'm still supposed to receive it?!!
I can't keep resetting my box and retuning everyday it's ridiculous.
Help x karen

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Miss karen alison young's 1 post GB flag

S

StevensOnln1

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

10:35 AM

Miss karen alison young: Continuously resetting/retuning isn't going to suddenly make a appear if it didn't the first couple of times. You most likely have a Group A which isn't designed to receive the higher frequencies which the COM7 mux carrying Al Jazeera HD has moved to. If you don't have or you may be eligible to have a replacement aerial fitted free of charge, which can be arranged by contacting the Advice Line (see link below).

Important changes to Freeview TV signals | Freeview

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StevensOnln1's 3,565 posts GB flag

T

Tony Whyman
10:18 AM

Well this is interesting. Looks like the level has been increased on ch55 (COM7) from . As I posted earlier, COM7 disappeared here in SO24 when it moved to ch55. This was no problem as I had a new group T aerial and ch56 (com8) comes in at 90% strength, while ch55 was showing zero.

Checking ch55 again yesterday evening and lo and behold it's there with a signal strength of 86/90% and signal of ~70%. Indeed, better than the old ch31 and very similar to the COM8 figure. I have changed nothing here, so the improvement must be upstream.

If someone was listening and upped the power level or changed the directional mask, then a big thank you.

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Tony Whyman's 6 posts GB flag

MikeP

_{sentiment_very_satisfied}Platinum

1:03 PM

Tony Whyman:

It is quite possible that you had too much signal, 90% or more is too high - the ideal being between 60% and 85%. The effect of too much signal is to overload the tuner so it then claims there is . The atmosphere absorbs some signal and that varies with the humidity of the air, amongst other factors. So it would seem that the signal level has actually reduced as there have been no increases nor decreases in the .

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MikeP's 3,056 posts GB flag

Page 180

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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