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 05/06/2023 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, 19 December 2013
T
Teddy9:12 AM
I live in Christchurch Dorset and I, since the high winds last night have had no tv signal. My aerial is fine, is anyone aware of an issue?
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Teddy: If you are using the Rowridge transmitter then no there are no issues. If there had they would have meant people posting about it, but you're the first. I suggest that the issue might lie with your own installation.
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Saturday, 28 December 2013
J
John Procter3:15 PM
Poole
Suddenly on Christmas Eve about 5pm lost pick tv and a few others are unwatchable before that everything was good. Rest of the channels and hd are good so don't think it is my aerial pointing at rowridge post code bh12 2en .
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Tuesday, 7 January 2014
S
Sean10:44 AM
I am the individual that submitted a response to the Ofcom consultation, including the following:
"I see from your Annex 11 document that in Table 1 you specifically list Rowridge HP (Horizontally Polarised), but no mention is made of Rowridge VP (Vertically Polarised). Since DSO, I have spent money on having my aerial changed for a VP aerial to ensure I get the best possible reception. Is it the intention that, in order to receive the new muxes, I would then need to spend more money on having my aerial turned back to a horizontal position, and lose the signal strength on other muxes that I gained when I switched to VP? If I was to switch to HP then at what point should I switch back to VP, and who will pay for all this switching? It's not a trivial task to go on the roof and rotate a chimney-mounted aerial."
It was quite funny to see my nag among the submissions from multi-million pound broadcasters! Anyway, their response included the following:
"The choice of whether to use vertical or horizontal polarisation or both will be for the interim multiplex licensee to determine."
So they threw the hot potato at Arqiva (the licensee). I haven't seen any info directly from Arqiva to say either yes or no to VP.
The DigitalUK site says that the two new muxes are HP only. However, I notice that this site shows the new muxes as being for both HP and VP. Do you have some information from Arqiva to confirm this as being the case? I hope so...
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Sean: I'm sure that I transcribed the information correctly from the licences. However I will check again when I get back to my computer.
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S
Sean3:00 PM
Thanks - would be grateful for any info you have. I won't have a strop if you've made a mistake - Rowridge is now the weirdest transmitter in the UK, as it's effectively two in one. I've also emailed Arqiva for their answer on the subject.
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Sean: I think this is typical of the way things are done these days.
The days of all transmitters carrying all the same channels are long gone, this equity having being sacrificed in order to fit more services in.
Only the three PSB multiplexes have an obligation to provide a particular level of coverage.
Now step forward the plan for COM7 and COM8 from Rowridge. The case for VP signals is probably more one of a "business case" which takes account of the number of viewers that would be added if they were available VP (in addition to HP).
I don't live in the area so have no idea what proportion of aerials are now vertical. However, I hazard a guess that those which are close enough to receive the lower powered COM7 and COM8 will generally be horizontally polarised.
In locations where COM7 and COM8 are to be poorer it is more likely that more aerials will be VP. It is these people who will either have to forfeit the new HD services or else switch back to HP.
The point is that, in much the same vein as the broadcasters have to set a "business case" for an expense it is effectively the same for viewers. That is it is their "choice", in much the same way as some aerials had to be replaced in order to receive COM4-6.
This type of passing expenses on to other parties for decisions another makes it the way these days.
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S
Sean8:56 PM
I switched to VP because the official predictor said I'd get a lower signal level when the channels were moved around. The VP prediction was 100%. Today, the same predictor says 100% for both.
I appreciate that a broadcaster will chase viewers. But a bit more coordination is needed when that broadcaster is effectively telling people what to spend their money on.
It looks like Arqiva may be shooting down VP shortly after it took off. Perhaps their predictions of HP interference from France were wrong so they've realised it was a solution to a problem that doesn't actually exist. Of course they won't admit this though.
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Wednesday, 8 January 2014
Sean: The VP is required, in addition to help with "rejection" of any inference from France for those receiving the Commercial (COM) channels who may be subjected to co-channel interference from Stockland Hill and Crystal Palace, this being why the power of the COMs is lower horizontally.
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S
Sean3:02 PM
I understand. Whether rightly or wrongly, I assumed that VP was the future for Rowridge, and HP was just for backwards compatibility. I needed a new aerial so it seemed a no-brainer to use VP for the higher power muxes.
I would expect the trouble to start when people realise they can't get these new channels, despite having paid for a shiny new aerial recently. I've seen more VP aerials appearing over time, so it seems I'm not alone in thinking that these were now the preferred method.
Has there ever been any official guidance on what the VP is for? What should installers fit, or are they supposed to fit HP initially then change to VP if there's a problem? It seems bloody daft to me.
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