Freeview: Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) full-Freeview transmitter
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Freeview on the Rowridge (Isle Of Wight, England) transmitter

Google StreetviewGoogle mapBing mapGoogle Earth50.677,-1.369 or 50°40'35"N 1°22'7"WPO30 4HT

4G at 800MHz (at800) Freeview reception issues

When 800MHz 4G mobile broadband services start there will be 2 multiplexes in the higher risk range (C21-23, C30, C59-60): C22: ArqA, C21: BBCB
See How do I know if the 4G broadband will overload my Freeview? and Full UK map of 4G issue areas for details.

Transmitter fauls and engineering works



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The symbol shows the location of the Rowridge transmitter which serves 620,000 homes.

Other maps:Rowridge DABRowridge AM/FMRowridge regionBBC SouthMeridian (South Coast micro region)

Radiation patterns

Radiation patterns withheld

Map key

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.

Rowridge transmitter Freeview broadcasts

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. The rating shown takes in account the output power level and the various Freeview transmission modes and do not indicate an ongoing fault.

MuxEffective power level, aerial positionRatingModeWatts
PSB1
BBCA
 vertical
 horizontal
Maximum
Maximum		64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
200,000
Channel icons
1 BBC One South, 2 BBC Two England, 7 BBC Three, 9 BBC Four, 70 CBBC Channel, 71 CBeebies, 80 BBC News, 81 BBC Parliament, 301 301, plus 12 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C24 (498.0MHz) from 320m datum.
PSB2
D3+4
 vertical
 horizontal
Maximum
Maximum		64QAM 8K 2/3
24.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
200,000
Channel icons
3 ITV (Meridian (South Coast micro region)), 4 Channel 4 South ads, 5 Channel 5 Part Network ads, 6 ITV 2, 13 Channel 4+1 South ads, 14 More 4, 28 E4, 33 ITV +1 (Meridian south coast),
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C27 (522.0MHz) from 320m datum.
PSB3
BBCB
 vertical
 horizontal
Maximum
Maximum		256QAM 32KE 2/3
40.2Mb/s
DVB-T2 MPEG4		200,000
200,000
Channel icons
101 BBC One HD (England no regional news), 102 BBC Two HD (England), 103 ITV HD (ITV Meridian Southampton), 104 Channel 4 HD South ads, plus 1 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C21+ (474.2MHz) from 320m datum.
COM4
SDN
 vertical
 horizontal
Maximum
Low		64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
50,000
Channel icons
10 ITV 3, 20 G.O.L.D. (not free), 25 Dave ja vu, 26 Home (not free), 27 ITV 2 +1, 30 5*, 31 5USA, 34 ESPN UK (not free), 38 Quest, 39 The Zone, 44 Channel 5 +1, 72 CITV, plus 22 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C25 (506.0MHz) from 299m datum.
COM5
ArqA
 vertical
 horizontal
Maximum
Low		64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
50,000
Channel icons
 TV News,  TV Stars, 11 PICK TV, 12 Dave, 17 Really, 29 E4+1, 32 Movie Mix, 46 Challenge, 48 Food Network, 82 Sky News, 87 Community Channel, plus 9 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C22+ (482.2MHz) from 302m datum.
COM6
ArqB
 vertical
 horizontal
Maximum
Low		64QAM 8K 3/4
27.1Mb/s
DVB-T MPEG2		200,000
50,000
Channel icons
15 Film 4, 18 4Music, 19 Yesterday, 21 VIVA, 24 ITV 4, 41 Sky Sports 1 (not free), 42 Sky Sports 2 (not free), 47 4seven, 83 Al Jazeera English, 85 RT English , plus 21 others
• as a digital multiplex transmitted on frequency C28 (530.0MHz) from 302m datum.


Regional news from the Rowridge transmitter


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

ITV Meridian News 0.8m homes 3.2%
from Whiteley PO15 7AD, 24km north-northeast
to ITV Meridian (South Coast) region - 36 masts.

Self-help relays

Portsmouth DocksTransposer2 km N city centre50 homes Estimate. Group of houses'

How the transmission frequencies change over time

years1950s~851984-971997-981998-20122012-132013-182013-182019-
aerial groupVHFA KA KA KA KA KA KA K
C3BBCtv
C21C4C4C4+BBCB+BBCB+BBCBBBCB
C22+ArqA+ArqA+ArqASDN
C24BBC2BBC2BBC2BBCABBCABBCAD3+4
C25SDNSDNSDNArqA
C27ITVITVITVD3+4D3+4D3+4BBCA
C28+BArqBArqBArqBArqB
C30-Alocal
600C31BBC1BBC1BBC1com7
C32+2
C33+D
C341
C37+Ccom8

orange background for multiplexes names moregreen background for transmission frequencieslilac background for power levels in watts800MHz band: 4G mobile to start in 2013700MHz band: possible 4G in 2019 more600MHz band: new or moved digital TV services more
Notes: + and - denote 166kHz offset; aerial group are shown as A B C/D E K W
Italics for analogue, digital switchover was Wednesdays 7th March and 21st March 2012.

  • Ofcom have projected that a local television service for Southampton including Eastleigh, Fareham, parts of Isle of Wight, parts of Portsmouth, Winchester could use an Interleaved Frequency on the Rowridge transmitter using C30
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16. COM7 and COM8 to operate as Midhurst,Rowridge VP, Salisbury SFN.
  • COM7, COM8 projected for 2013-16.

Comparison of old analogue and current digital signal levels

Analogue 1-4 500kW
COM4||, COM5||, COM6||, com7≡, com7||, com8||, com8≡, PSB1≡, PSB1||, PSB2≡, PSB2||, PSB3≡, PSB3||(-4dB) 200kW
COM4≡, COM5≡, COM6≡(-10dB) 50kW
Mux 1*, Mux 2*, Mux A*, Mux B*, Mux C*, Mux D*(-14dB) 20kW

History of Channel 3 in the Rowridge transmitter area

• 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.


Your comments: most recent posts are at the bottom

firstFirst comments prevEarlier comments  ◊  Later commentsnext Latest commentslast

Your comments are always welcome. Please use the form below to add your thoughts or questions to this page. We will get back to you as soon as we can.

Steve Georgii
Friday 1 October 2010 4:19PM Hindhead
Briantist,
thanks for the reply.
I first suspected the distribution system because all of the flats are affected. As a result new Antenna, cable, power supply and masthead distribution amplifier have been installed. All connectors are F type, all wall sockets have been removed and replaced with an F connector tail, all cable sattelite quality (75ohm, braided screen and copper foil sheath)

Two acredited arial companies have tried to resolve the issue and failed.

Distribution system failure would not affect our DAB and FM signals because the radios do not use the dist system.

Everything points to reduced power from the Tx or inversion. We have direct line of sight to the Tx, and there is nothing higher between us and the Tx mast according to the terrain map.
I would be tempted to go to midhurst, but there are trees directly in that direction that are only a few meteres away

As I said originally, all was ok till mid September.
Janet
Wednesday 6 October 2010 12:31PM
Until last week of September my freeview reception was fine, now during the day it is fine but come evening I cannot view any ITV channels and some others. What is causing this as it is driving me mad. I have checked all leads and connections they are fine and as during the day everything works OK what is it??
Briantist
Thursday 7 October 2010 10:42AM
Janet: Can you please see Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice ?
Briantist
Thursday 7 October 2010 10:44AM
Steve Georgii: There have not been Inversion conditions recently, so you can discount that.

It might just be that you are being effected by the new mast that is being constructed, but I can't quite see how at your location.

If you spend money, I would suggest looking at Freesat, as this will provide the public service channels and more (including BBC and ITV HD).

I'm sure your Rowridge service will come back at some point - even if this is at switchover in 2012.
Steve Georgii
Thursday 7 October 2010 7:11PM Hindhead
Thanks Briantist: Trees prevent Sky or Freesat (engineers already been and looked). Our only target is Rowridge.
Briantist
Thursday 7 October 2010 10:13PM
Steve Georgii: OK.

I can think of a few possibilities:

1) There is an external source of interference, which could be anything from a TETRA mast to a broken street-light. You used to be able to get Ofcom to check things like that, but you have to go thought the BBC now to get that service. https://faq.external.bbc.co.uk/templates/bbcfaqs/emailstatic/interferencePage .

2) Something related to the construction of the new mast is causing the problem. If this is the case, you could just be stuck with the problem until the services are moved to the new mast and the current one is taken down.

3) Something new is blocking the signal path between you and the transmitter. Growing trees and new buildings are easy to spot.

4) It could be related to signal changes in the newly switched regions, but you are getting problems on channels that are "cleared" by DSO, and this would make things better, not worse.
Helen
Monday 11 October 2010 10:27PM Dorchester
Up until last night we were receiving all digital channels well. We are in Dorchester but aligned to Rowridge not Stockland. Since then we have all lost ITV channels plus several others including Channels Four and Five. There is no signal whatsoever. Have checked all connections this end and for any listed possible problems online but with no luck. Any ideas why?
Simon
Monday 11 October 2010 11:01PM
From approx 8pm last night my signal would periodically drop to 40% but my quality level would be between 0 and 20%. This would result in losing virtually every channel. As of 12pm today (11th oct) everything back to normal. Then from 9pm tonight I lost all channels againe for approx 1.5hrs
If any body has any idea as to what is wrong with freeview I would be very much appreciated
Ruben
Monday 11 October 2010 11:07PM
I live in Ryde on the Isle of Wight . Last 2 days at 11:00pm I get really bad signal breakup . Then lose most of my channels. However the signal strength shows full signal . Cant find any mention of any test involving radar or testing of the new mast.
Briantist
Tuesday 12 October 2010 8:02AM
Helen/Simon/Ruben: The unusual weather conditions are to blame - see What is the Inversion Effect and why does it effect my Freeview TV reception?
| ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice please.
Paul Harris
Tuesday 12 October 2010 9:27AM
I live in Liss, Hampshire. Same problem as Janet. Fine during day, nothing in evenings.
All was ok until Sunday 10/10. What is it ...and who can I lodge a complaint with ? Any advice gratefully received.
Paul
Briantist
Tuesday 12 October 2010 2:01PM
Paul Harris: You can't complain to anyone about the weather - What is the Inversion Effect and why does it effect my Freeview TV reception?
| ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
Paul Harris
Tuesday 12 October 2010 5:22PM Liss
Thanks for your help Brian. As long as it is not a permanent techo problem, I'm not worried.
Paul.
Briantist
Tuesday 12 October 2010 5:24PM
Paul Harris: No, when the weather goes back to normal over France everything should be fine.
Angus Brown
Friday 5 November 2010 4:36PM Southampton
I run 2 TVs from one amplified aerial. I've just lost the BBC channels on Multiplex 1 from one TV but the other is OK. The loss has coincided with the launch of BBC ONE HD - could there be a connection?
Briantist
Monday 8 November 2010 7:31AM
Angus Brown: No, there is no connection whatsoever as Freeview HD is not transmitted from any transmitter in this whole region. I would see www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice - and also try removing the amplification as this usually does nothing but wreck the digital signals.
Angus Brown
Thursday 11 November 2010 10:45PM Southampton
Thanks for your comments and advice. In fact the Mux 1 channels came back about 36 hours later, as mysteriously as they had disappeared. I think I'll leave well alone for the moment as this set-up has worked for years - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"!
Briantist
Friday 12 November 2010 6:34AM
Angus Brown: Fingers crossed then that it doesn't happen again.
Darren
Friday 26 November 2010 11:37AM
Where do i point aerial to get freeview in Oakdale, Poole? Cannot get a signal for the life of me! I am not an aerial spotter so how do I tell what type of aerial I have?
Briantist
Friday 26 November 2010 2:19PM
Darren: Sorry, but you are unlikely to receive Freeview until the Poole transmitter switches over in 2012. Your best option is Freesat, www.ukfree.tv link icon Freesat | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
Nick Anderson
Friday 26 November 2010 3:01PM
Is the ending at least for the present of CNN on channel 84 on freeview connected in any way with the new news channel advertised soon on channel 90?
Briantist
Friday 26 November 2010 5:02PM
Nick Anderson: No, the "TV News" channels is not what it appears, it is a "General entertainment" channel, from an "Adult" channel provider.
George
Monday 29 November 2010 8:11PM
My arntie lives in blackfield and Itv glitches on an evening any help will be gratefull thanks
Frank
Thursday 2 December 2010 6:01PM Eastleigh
I live near Asda in Chandler's Ford. There is picture breakup on ITV and associated channels. The signal strength and quality are way down so all unwatchable. Why is this when the BBC ones are OK.
colin1951uk
Thursday 2 December 2010 8:40PM Eastleigh
Hi Frank,

I live in Eastleigh (so just down the road from you) and although I don't get picture breakup on ITV and others I have noticed a slight interference on channels in the past two weeks or so that's like the picture going slightly too bright/slightly to dark from time to time.

I've got two different makes of boxes and it's the same with both so I think something maybe going on with signal in our neck of the woods at the moment.

Thought I'd just mention it as you're close by.

Cheers...Colin
Briantist
Friday 3 December 2010 6:42AM
Frank: Please see www.ukfree.tv link icon Two frequency interference
| ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice - the BBC services are broadcast in the more resilient 16QAM mode.
Briantist
Friday 3 December 2010 6:58AM
colin1951uk: You should also see Two frequency interference
| ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
kelvin
Friday 3 December 2010 10:26AM
Is there a problem with the transmitter today, as I am getting nothing on any digital channel?
Briantist
Friday 3 December 2010 10:28AM
kelvin: There are no problems with the transmitter today - please can you see www.ukfree.tv link icon Freeview reception has changed? | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice for things to check?
Brian
Tuesday 7 December 2010 2:23AM
Hi everyone, although I'm not technically qualified, I have self studied and followed with great interest all about transmitters etc, I live in E.Cowes IW, I use a standard "Wide band Black tip Grp W" aerial pointing towards Rowridge and in my aerial's line of sight are some houses! not a problem as I learned that Radio signals travel through anything! what I have discovered is that (1) using the wrong aerial for this transmitter (anything else except a normal Band A array!) will cause problems, and (2) there are issues of the French transmitters causing problems when we have high pressure! especially if you use those rebranded Grp W aerials now called "Digital" aerials! which are a complete rip off that you don't need! but also (3) I looked at the geographical location between most of you having problems and the Rowridge site, and what I have discovered is something called BAE Systems in Cowes! it's a Radar mnf/test facility, could be a wild guess but consider this! when I used to fly remote control planes 20miles from an RAF site, they would fall out of the sky because, every so often the RAF site sent out a signal that affected the frequencies used by us! could be the same problem from BAE, I should imagine they will Xmas shut down soon, lets see if everyone has a clear signal for that one day!
Geoff
Tuesday 7 December 2010 8:49AM Ryde
To add to the Rowridge discussion I live at PO33 2NU (Ryde) and our freeview signal has been poor since Saturday ... although signal strength as given is 100%, signal quality is sometimes as low as 35%. This especially true of the BBC channels. I'm using a BT vision box - could this be a factor ? Comments welcome, and yes I have looked at the ukfree.tv link, and we had our system checked over by an aerial installer a couple of months ago.
Briantist
Tuesday 7 December 2010 8:52AM
Geoff: No problems are reported by the BBC or Digital UK.

BT Vision is just a Freeview box, nothing special there.

You might wish to adjust your equipment - 100% signal strength suggests amplification to me, and for digital reception this does not matter, only the signal quality.

If you have fitted any boosters, you might find you get better signal quality with it disconnected from your system.
Geoff
Tuesday 7 December 2010 8:58AM Ryde
Thanks Briantist, we have got boosters, so I'll try that route, but there has been a noticeable change this last few days - could it be weather related?
Briantist
Tuesday 7 December 2010 8:59AM
Geoff: The freezing weather can cause any water that has got into a cable or connector to expand, which causes signal loss.

The weather conditions do not effect the signal from the transmitter to the aerial, however.
Mike Dimmick
Tuesday 7 December 2010 8:01PM Reading
Geoff: it's much more likely that signal STRENGTH is 35% and QUALITY is 100% - particularly if you have no picture breakups.

These meters are mostly useless. The strength is usually calibrated to the maximum the box could handle if there were only one transmitter in the entire world and it only transmitted one digital multiplex and nothing else, in the least complicated mode (providing the lowest bitrate). Since that is not the case, the maximum input on any one channel must be far, far lower so that the combined strength of all channels does not overdrive the tuner, which causes distortion, which causes errors.

The quality meter usually indicates the number of errors that couldn't be corrected; errors that can't be corrected cause sound drop-outs and glitches and picture break-up, so anything less than 100% just means that it's broken. It doesn't allow you to see how much margin you have before problems will start occurring.

The way that signals travel through the air means that the the actual level varies over time, with different wind conditions and different temperatures. The signal from distant transmitters using the same channel also varies with wind and atmospheric conditions. Sometimes this will add to the overall signal level, and sometimes it will subtract. The combination can cause signal levels to vary by several percentage points either way, with no changes whatever at any transmitter or in your installation. You have to have enough margin in your setup to allow for this normal variation.

There is a specific weather effect that causes signals to travel in 'ducts' in the atmosphere, which causes them to be carried with very little loss for long distances. This, the effect that Brian's referring to, is not currently occurring.

Professional installation equipment measures something called the Modulation Error Ratio, which is the difference between the actual signal detected and the ideal. It basically decodes the multiplex, corrects the (correctable) errors, then re-encodes it, and compares that result with the input. As the device contains a full DVB-T (and possibly DVB-T2) decoder and encoder, and the market is quite small, they're pretty expensive. A good installer should be looking to get the best MER on all multiplexes while keeping raw signal level below the CAI maximum.
Transmitter engineering
Thursday 9 December 2010 6:57PM
ROWRIDGE transmitter - Analogue BBC TWO Reduced Quality from 15:13 today [BBC] Over the next week Rowridge main transmitter: TV (analogue) working normally, TV (digital) working normally, Radio (analogue) Possible weak signal, Radio (digital) working normally. [DUK]
darren boardman
Tuesday 14 December 2010 11:02AM
when will it be possible to recieve freeview hd in dorchester?
Briantist
Tuesday 14 December 2010 2:54PM
darren boardman: Sometime in early 2012.
JOHN RENDELL
Thursday 16 December 2010 5:48PM
I live in Christchurch area i have got bad dab reception .it was OK but has gradually got worse.buzzing background noise and short bleeps sounding like clock pips.have not resited any of my hi fi equipment is ther any engineering work at rowridge that could cause this awful reception
Briantist
Thursday 16 December 2010 8:07PM
JOHN RENDELL: I've just been though Christchurch on the train listing to DAB and there were no reception problems, and there are no listed works.

You wouldn't expect to get a "buzzing" from a DAB reception problem, you usually either get silent breaks, or that "squelching" sound.

John Ormerod
Sunday 19 December 2010 10:24AM
Ever since I discoverd this site a couple of months ago, I've been waiting for the state of Rowridge FM tramnsmitter to change from 'possible weak signal', but it hasn't. Anyone know why not?

I'm in Winchester and I think this could explain why my portable radios have become difficult to tune (capacity effect of me), and a mini-receiver is mostly much noiser. My main tuner has an external aerial and I haven't noticed a problem.

In the absence of a Wikileak, I can't believe that this is some cunning plan to make FM sound worse than DAB and thus remove objections to losing FM. As I've paid for an FM service (OK, indirectly), is there anyone I can complain to about this loss of service?
Briantist
Monday 20 December 2010 9:06PM
John Ormerod: This is not a cunning plan, but part of the process of constructing a new transmitter tower on the site, moving all the services onto it and taking down the existing tower.

Quite why this has caused the longer-term problem with FM transmissions I can only speculate about.

As the FM transmission state is known, there isn't really anyone to complain to, as they will point out that the work is published.
Geoff Eldridge
Sunday 26 December 2010 2:58PM Bognor Regis
I live at PO22 7RP. I have no TV aerial because I am told Butlin's hotel is directly between my house and the Rowridge transmitter and the aerial cannot be positioned high enough. Is there anything I can do?
Briantist
Monday 27 December 2010 7:35AM
Geoff Eldridge: Yes, use Freesat. www.ukfree.tv link icon All about Freesat | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
Ralph Dodds
Tuesday 28 December 2010 6:20PM
Is there a problem on Ch 32? I have had no problems receiving on any channels for over 12 months until 2 days ago. Now I am getting a poor signal on all Ch 32 stations (between 2 and 8% signal strength according to my DVD recorder) which means that with the attentuation from the recorder, I can no longer receive these stations on the TV, even though there is just about enough of a signal to record from or watch if I watch the recorder channel
Briantist
Tuesday 28 December 2010 6:21PM
Ralph Dodds: There are no problems with C32. I would check the suggestion on www.ukfree.tv link icon Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice .
James Brinsford
Wednesday 29 December 2010 10:18AM
I am unable to receive ITV, Ch 4, 5,6,7,8,9,10,12-18,20-28 amongst others on Freeview. I am in Highcliffe, Christchurch. This problem occurred yesterday and is present on an inbuilt Freeview tuner HD TV, an external Freeview Tuner and an external DVD Freeview tuner recorder. The antenna has been checked and has not fallen down. I have renewed a TV signal distributor amplifier this morning which now gives me Channels 1 and 2 which were not available at all last night. Is this problem related to engineering work? No previous difficulties have been experienced.
Briantist
Wednesday 29 December 2010 1:23PM
James Brinsford: There is no engineering work, see www.ukfree.tv link icon Single frequency interference | ukfree.tv - independent free digital TV advice please.
Steve S
Wednesday 29 December 2010 3:24PM
When do HD freeview services start from Rowridge ?
Briantist
Wednesday 29 December 2010 3:24PM
Steve S: "Friday 30th March 2012 (projected)" as above.
Derrick Lord
Saturday 1 January 2011 11:57AM
I live in Lancing west sussex and have been receiving very poor reception on all analogue tv channels and also freeview Digital BBC1 BBC 2 BBC3, BBC news and a couple of others ie those which correspond to MUX 1 for some weeks now. Any thoughts non what the problem could be



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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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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