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

first published this on - UK Free TV
sa_streetviewGoogle Streetviewsa_gmapsGoogle mapsa_bingBing mapsa_gearthGoogle Earthsa_gps50.676,-1.369 or 50°40'35"N 1°22'7"Wsa_postcodePO30 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 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
Wednesday, 23 November 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

2:43 PM

Martin Stevens:

By Basingstoke, I assume he's just using that as the general direction for the Hannington transmitter, which in your postcode will be due N of you, where as Rowridge is compass bearing 197 degrees - almost SSW.

Whilst reception can vary across a postcode, the predictions generally are not as good for Hannington for the PSB multiplexes and can be much poorer for some of the much lower house numbers in your postcode. predictions for the COM multiplexes are about the same for each transmitter, but they are not as good as they use half the power that the PSB multiplexes do. Strangely the postcode is predicted to get good reception of the Local multiplex from Rowridge which is lower power again but a different transmission mode so tends to get further than you might expect. All this is based on using a Horizontally polarised aerial (rods or aquashed Xs horizontal).

Rowridge (one of very few) also uses Vertical polarisation for the 6 main multiplexes but NOT the Local multiplex and reception is predicted to be better for the COM multiplexes and about the same for the PSBs.
See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which TV channels are carried on which multiplex. If you aren't interested in the channels on the Local multiplex, then a vertically polarised aerial could be best.

That all said, reception will be affected by very local conditions and there may be new obstructions on the line of sight since the general predictions - eg. very tall trees or buildings in the general SSW direction. If there aren't then maybe your installer isn't quite as clued up as he should be, is he CAI approved? I'd certainly be looking for a second opinion. Which way are you neighbours' aerials pointing? And what polarisation do they use?

If you need signal for more than one TV/box/outlet and need an amp/splitter, then make sure any amp is one with a variable gain control as too much signal can be as bad as not enough.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Wednesday, 30 November 2022
I
Ian Roome
5:54 PM

I have lost all bbc channels and lots more only itv and c4 will returned
Any idea what is causing this, my aerial etc are all fine, 3 different smart tvs in our house all showing same fault

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Ian Roome's 1 post GB flag
Thursday, 1 December 2022
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

3:22 AM

Ian Roome:

Without a full postcode it's impossible to say if there are particular issues affecting reception in your specific area, however I can find no faults listed for the Rowridge transmitter (neither vertical or horizontal polarisationa) and it's not currently listed for Planned Engineering. As far as i can deduce, the transmitter is functioning normally.

Is your aerial vertical or horizontal? Is the downlead secure and not flapping in the wind?
Have you changed/moved any equipment when this started/
There is the possibility that it's current weather conditions causing some "Tropospheric Ducting" resulting in Interference coming from distant transmitters (in Europe or the UK) which is currently affecting some parts of the south and southwest. Do not retune if you have no signal or badly pixellated pictures as this generally just clears the correct tuning!

If you have already retuned, then you'll have to repeat it when signals are normal - as you won't know when that might be, you may have to try several times!

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Sunday, 12 February 2023
F
Fred
8:21 PM
Ventnor

PO38 1UR
I have mounted, vertically, a yogi antenna (10 total elements) aimed at the Rowridge transmitter. I was told that this should get more channels than aiming at the Ventnor transmitter. I have found no difference, they both receive only the PSB1/BBCA collection of channels. I live below the undercliff so I have tilted the aerial upward toward the top of the cliff, assuming that the vertical orientation might overcome the topography.
Is there any way I can increase my selection? Terrestrial reception is currently no advance over my satellite dish.
Thanks for any advice.

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Fred's 1 post GB flag
Fred's: mapF's Freeview map terrainF's terrain plot wavesF's frequency data F's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

11:09 PM

Fred:

None of the predictors suggest that there's a chance of you getting a signal from Rowridge (whether vertically polarised or horizontal (Rowridge has both). Considering how close you are to that hill, whilst predictions aren't always 100%, I'd be surprised if you got anything. Even the RFC near the top of the hill is not predicted to get any reliable signal from Rowridge.
In addition to which the COM multiplexes are not beamed in a southerly to south-easterly direction from Rowridge to avoid interference to transmitters in France.

See Channel listings for Industry Professionals | Freeview for which TV channels are carried on which multiplex.

You should have no problem getting the 3 PSB multiplexes from Ventnor, it's 2.5km away with clear line of sight, compass bearing 61 degrees (almost ESE), rods vertical.
The UHF channels are C33, C34 & C36 in the order BBCA/PSB1, D3&4/PSB2 & BBCB HD/PSB3.

Even with your aerial pointing at Rowridge (~NW), you are highly likely to pick up the signals from Ventnor off the side of the aerial. Check in your TV tuning section which UHF channels to actually are tuned to.
(Rowridge's are C24, C27 & C21 for the PSB's.

Frankly, I think trying to do any better than the PSBs on Freeview is a waste of time.
You have a greater choice on Freesat.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Friday, 10 March 2023
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

11:08 AM

Rowridge transmitter - Rowridge transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 06/03/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts GB flag
Monday, 13 March 2023
Transmitter engineering
sentiment_very_satisfiedOwner

5:07 AM

Rowridge transmitter - Rowridge transmitter: Possible effect on TV reception week commencing 13/03/2023 Pixelation or flickering on some or all channels [DUK]

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Transmitter engineering's 149,799 posts GB flag
Thursday, 23 March 2023
T
tony
5:03 PM
Arundel

com4 Rowridge seems to be down or low power intermittent signal between 21% and 0
i live in BN18 0EG
all the other muxes give 100% signal quality

any comments?

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tony's 5 posts GB flag
tony's: mapT's Freeview map terrainT's terrain plot wavesT's frequency data T's Freeview Detailed Coverage
C
Chris.SE
sentiment_very_satisfiedPlatinum

5:24 PM

tony:

It's possible, though not listed, that the engineering work last week hasn't been completed.
Do you get the Local multiplex on UHF C37? If you don't normally get it, are your aerial rods (or squashed Xs) horizontal or vertical?
Predicted reception for you of the COM muxes is variable with horizontal polarisation but good with vertical but you'd lose the Local mux with vertical if you currently get it.
Can't currently find any reports of outages for Rowridge.

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Chris.SE's 4,101 posts GB flag
Tuesday, 28 March 2023
D
Darrol
4:50 PM

Have recently purchased a new smart TV Mitchell & Brown. Now having issues with the Freeview Play EPG not updating. I can perform a reset and then channel information on the guide and banners repopulates. This only last between 10 to 12 hours by which time i start getting "No Imformation Available" showing against 90% of the channels.
I have had a local aerial installer to check, coax ok, signal strenght. Signal meter on TV shows 100% for both quality and strength. Alignment with Rowridge is supposedly correct. Tried checking alignment with app on phone, seems ok. Even got them to install a new aerial. Make they installed "Optima L20 F", still getting the same issue.
Have tried the TV manufacture, and they just say "signal issue". Don't have any issues with my old Sony 24" LCD.
Any ideas about what i can try next.

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Darrol's 3 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.

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