Full Freeview on the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter
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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 22/04/2024 Screen may go black 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, 8 January 2015
C
Chris Shaw7:51 PM
Hi, why are all the vertically polarised signals transmitted at full 200KW power but the horizontally ones transmitted at low power. I cannot see that it would be worth turning my aerial round to horizontal, just to get a few extra HD channels. Why would they transmit anHD channel at low power?
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Dave Lindsay
8:01 PM
8:01 PM
Chris Shaw: After switchover Rowridge began to transmit vertically, having previously only been horizontally polarised. COM4-6 are lower power horizontally so as to fit in with Stockland Hill and Crystal Palace whose COMs are co-channel. This is not unlike many other transmitters which carry all six main multiplexes, where the COMs are often at half-power to the PSBs, the latter having been allocated the better channels as far interference from other stations which use the same channels.
Now when COM7 (and COM8) was designed, the objective was to serve as many as possible across the country at least cost. Presumably the decision was taken that the addition of vertical polarisation would not be worth it think of Rowridge HP and Rowridge VP as if they were different transmitters.
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Saturday, 10 January 2015
E
Elissa7:15 PM
I am due to move to the island next month, I checked the freeview coverage for Shanklin area and this was stated as 20 'popular' freeview channels which is alarming when I am moving from an area on the mainland where I can access most freeview I was hoping whether you could tell me if this is correct since looking at the freeview services from the transmitter and map do suggest I should be able to receive many more - really hope someone can help
Thanks in advance
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Dave Lindsay
7:38 PM
7:38 PM
Elissa: This might be the case.
It is so that not everyone gets all channels, or to put it another way, the Commercial (COM) channels don't have as good a coverage. Even for transmitters which do carry all channels, like Rowridge, not everyone can pick up the COM channels.
With reception it is impossible to say with absolute certainty without checking what is actually received. I assume that the terrain in Shanklin slopes downwards to the sea which means that those lower down may not have line-of-sight to the transmitter, which reduces chances of reliable reception.
We have also had someone posting on here who lives a mile or two south of the Rowridge transmitter and who has tried various things and been unable to receive some or all (I can't recall) COM channels. This could be indicative of the COM channels not being as powerful in the southerly direction, but unfortunately we don't know for certain because the powers that be won't release what are known as the radiation patterns, these which show how much signal the transmitter throws out in each direction on each channel it broadcasts. It is also the case that the frequencies used have to be agreed with France and possibly other countries so as to avoid interference. This could perhaps be another reason why the COM channels may be restricted.
If the aerial at the property you are moving to is horizontal (elements flat) and the COM channels aren't reliable then you might find that switching to vertical polarisation might help. This is because, usually, Rowridge transmits horizontally and vertically. But, the COM channels are lower power horizontally. In some cases an amplifier might help, or perhaps a change of aerial or mounting it higher up.
A postcode might allow us to give some better indication as to how likely you might be to receive all channels.
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MikeP
8:29 PM
8:29 PM
Elissa:
Shanklin has significant cliffs behind it that make it difficult to have a clear 'line of sight' to the Rowridge transmitter. Depending on where within the town you will be living, you may find that you can get all, or at least most' of the services. But be aware that some parts of Shanklin, particularly near the Chine, are likely to have reception problems due to the cliffs.
The topography of an area is the main reason why some may get good service reception but others not far away may not.
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C
Chris Merrill9:12 PM
Hi, I live in Ryde Isle of Wight PO332DP and I live on a slope near the sea which faces North. The current installed aerial faces North to Hannington but the signal is poor so would there be any benefit in turning towards Rowridge? Otherwise it maybe that Freesat is the only way to go. Thanks.
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Dave Lindsay
9:43 PM
9:43 PM
Chris Merrill: There are never any exact answers here, but you would appear to have nearly clear line-of-sight to Rowridge but not Hannington. The Digital UK predictor suggests the same thing -- that Rowridge is quite a bit better than Hannington.
If you go for Rowridge then your Hannington aerial may not be suitable, or otherwise might not be the best for Rowridge.
If you're using a log periodic then go ahead and point it to Rowridge. If it's a Group B yagi aerial then it's not the right group and if it's a wideband yagi then it's inferior on Group A channels and so you might benefit from either a Group A yagi or wideband log.
See here for more information (other retailers are available):
Rowridge Transmitter
One other thing to be aware of is that Rowridge broadcasts horizontally and vertically. The COM channels aren't as powerful horizontally, therefore vertically may be preferred. However, the quasi-national COM7 HD multiplex only broadcasts horizontally, although on lower power than the other channels. So, you might wish to try horizontal polarisation first. If the COMs aren't reliable try switching to vertical polarisation but be aware that this may sacrifice COM7 (and COM8 when it comes on air).
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Dave Lindsay
10:00 PM
10:00 PM
Chris Merrill: Terrain plot to Rowridge:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
Terrain plot to Hannington:
Terrain between ( m a.g.l.) and (antenna m a.g.l.) - Optimising UK DTT Freeview and Radio aerial location
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Dave Lindsay
11:36 PM
11:36 PM
Chris Merrill: I should add that Rowridge got a taller mast at switchover. If the current, Hannington, aerial was fitted before switchover because it was the best (or least worst) of the two that things may have changed with the taller Rowridge mast.
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Thursday, 5 February 2015
Transmitter engineering
1:32 PM
1:32 PM
ROWRIDGE transmitter - DAB: BBC National DAB Radio Off Air from 07:54 today to 08:13 today. [BBC]
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