Full Freeview on the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter
 | Google Streetview |  | Google map |  | Bing map |  | Google Earth |  | 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 04/12/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels 
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Digital television services are broadcast on a multiplexes (or Mux) where many stations occupy a single broadcast frequency, as shown below.
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 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.
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 | BBCtvwaves | ||||||||
| C21 | C4waves | C4waves | C4waves | +BBCB | BBCB | ||||
| C22 | +ArqA | ArqA | |||||||
| C24 | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBC2waves | BBCA | BBCA | ||||
| C25 | SDN | SDN | |||||||
| C27 | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | ITVwaves | D3+4 | D3+4 | ||||
| C28 | ArqB | ArqB | |||||||
| C29 | LSO | ||||||||
| C31 | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | BBC1waves | com7 | |||||
| C37 | com8 | ||||||||
| C55tv_off | com7tv_off | ||||||||
| C56tv_off | COM8tv_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
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Thursday, 24 June 2021
B
Brian6:17 PM
Just checked my signal strength on UHF Ch 28 which is where D Max is transmitted I have 70% signal strength and 0% quality, strange as I gave been watching this channel for months
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Friday, 25 June 2021
C
Chris.SE12:09 AM
Brian:
Rowridge hasn't been listed for Planned Engineering recently and I can't find any current faults listed (none of which doesn't mean there isn't any, as sometimes the lists aren't up-to-date but if there were any significant issues, I'm sure we'd see more people with problems.
What signal strength and quality do your normally get on COM6, and what is it on the other multiplexes?
There has been some sporadic Tropospheric Ducting around, see Effect of tropospheric ducting on Freeview | RTIS for a simplistic explanation. It's been very variable, and can come and go quite quickly, sometimes last longer.
Is your quality still 0%, this is usually an indicator of some interference, most likely due to these conditions?
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B
Brian1:26 PM
Chris.SE: Thanks for the response, dont really understand the Sig St vs Sig Qual but just checked again and at the moment (14:15hrs) on UHF Ch 28 I have 70% Sig St and 28% to 43% Sig Qual
UHF Ch 37 is worse Sig St 34% to 38% and Sig Qual 24% to 60%.
Then UHF Ch 55 is Sig St 50 and Sig Qual 100
UHF Ch 21,22,24,25,27 all have above 70% Sig St and 100% Sig Qual
Thanks Brian
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C
Chris.SE10:37 PM
Brian:
Hmm. Well signal strength should be self explanatory, it's how strong you are getting the signal at the set after being attenuated in the coax and any splitters, connections etc. 70% should be fine for most sets, but as those channels have 100% quality, that's what counts. It's a measure of how much interference there is to the received signal. The lower the quality, the more difficult it is for the set to decode the signal and correct the errors. Eventually it can't, and you get pixelation and sound breakup.
The 50% signal on COM7 is also fine as should lower values be for most sets but, the weaker the signal being received, the more vulnerable it is to interference from any sources.
Those 70% and 50% figures suggest you could be some distance from the transmitter. A Full postcode would be helpful so we could look at the predicted reception, nevertheless you aren't doing too badly because to get COM7 your aerial would be horizontally polarised and COMs4-6 have lower transmission power than the PSBs and COM7 is a bit lower again.
You figures make me think that there could be some (very) local interference affecting C28 and C37.
Have you changed anything in your setup recently, moved any equipment about added anything, got something switched on that isn't normally, especially something with an analogue RF output - an old Skybox (or similar) or VCR? If the latter, change it's RF output channel to something above C60.
Have you got any new electrical equipment - of any type, including LED lamps or CFLs etc.?
Also make sure you don't have any HDMI leads close to (poorly screened) aerial and flyleads - especially those which aren't double screened coax. HDMI has been known to cause interference, though whether those channels are more vulnerable might depend on the particular equipment involved.
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Saturday, 26 June 2021
B
Brian2:16 AM
Waterlooville
Chris.SE: Chris,
Thanks for the excellent explanation re Signal Strength vs Signal Quality, my post code area is PO7 6BE, last night the Signal quality on that Channel did not fall below 38, where as the previous night it was 0, as I have changed or added nothing I'm assuming one of your earlier comments re the weather must have been the cause, if that is the case it looks like something I'm going to get occasionally, thanks for your time...cheers Brian
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Brian's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE8:30 AM
Brian:
If the quality on a channel varies, then weather "effects" could be the most likely culprit. But there ought to be times when it is still 100% quality unless you are in a particularly bad location (you shouldn't be). If you aren't in the habit of checking such things on a routine basis, then it could be difficult to know whether things like Tropospheric Ducting is responsible or you have some other form of more stable interference that's been present for a while. Do check the HDMI lead situation and other equipment if you have any.
Also check that your aerial is intact (particularly when it comes to the reflector) and still pointing in the correct direction - bearing 223 degrees, virtually SW for your area.
One thing I've not mentioned to you is that Rowridge transmits both horizontal and vertical polarisation for the main 1-6 multiplexes, where as COM7 and the Local mux are horizontal only. The power for Vertical polarisation is also the same for the main muxes.
You are predicted to get "variable" reception for the COM muxes with horizontal polarisation, but good with vertical - you'd lose COM7 and the Local mux with vertical polarisation though. You might like to read a couple of our replies to viewer Stuart (from Bognor Regis) on p195, so the problem with reduced reliability for COMs4-6 could be interference from Crystal Palace, but it's slightly strange that you are only getting an issue on C28.
You are predicted to get good reception of the Local Mux though, and I'm struggling (off the top of my head) to think of which transmitter might be the source of your current issue, as most relay transmitters that might use C37 use vertical polarisation (and low power) - another reason to check your aerial is intact and pointing correctly.
Interference on specific channels could also come from a near neighbour. Might be worth asking what their reception is like for C28 & C37 if their aerial is horizontal. Interference from further afield such as faulty street lighting generally affects a broader range of frequencies, but Radio Frequency problems can sometimes be a bit of a black art!
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C
Chris.SE3:45 PM
Brian:
Just to add to the above, C37 interference might come from the Oxford transmitter which uses C37 for COM5. One coverage map suggest that some signals might get to some spots around the Petersfield area under normal conditions! Propagation can be quite frequency dependant in some circumstances.
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Sunday, 27 June 2021
B
Brian7:48 AM
Waterlooville
Chris.SE:
Chris, Thanks for your replies a lot of information there to digest, strange no problems with picture breakup again last night, checked my aerial connections and as for aerial direction it has not moved, its looking like it is an atmospheric/weather type problem which has corrected itself at the moment, will keep an eye on it, thanks for hourbgimecand input....cheers
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Brian's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
B
Brian7:56 AM
Waterlooville
Chris.SE:
Chris, Thanks for your replies a lot of information there to digest, strange no problems with picture breakup again last night, checked my aerial connections and as for aerial direction it has not moved, its looking like it is an atmospheric/weather type problem which has corrected itself at the moment, will keep an eye on it, thanks for your time and input....cheers
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Brian's: mapB's Freeview map terrainB's terrain plot wavesB's frequency data B's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE4:41 PM
Brian:
No problem, post back if you want any more information or advice.
FYI, I'm seeing two conflicting reports about "Tropo" over the coming days. One saying there'll be some building this evening affecting most of the south coast and eventually affecting the whole of southern England by tomorrow. Then mid-week into Friday, some potentially strong and variable trop through to Friday affecting a large chunk of GB. The other, not a lot, may be some affecting the NE on Friday! No current warnings from the BBC either (nor Freeview, but then they are pretty useless anyway!).
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