Rowridge Transmitter
Encyclopedia
The Rowridge transmitting station is a facility for FM
radio and television
transmission
at Rowridge
on the Isle of Wight
in southern England
. It currently has a 149.6 metres (491 ft) tall guyed mast, owned and operated by Arqiva
(previously National Grid Wireless), though during the summer of 2010 construction started on a 172 metres (564 ft) replacement mast. There is a smaller tower on the site belonging to British Telecom. The station broadcasts with a power of 250 kW (ERP
) for FM radio, 500 kW for analogue television, and 20 kW for digital television. In July 2007, Ofcom
confirmed that Rowridge would remain an A Group transmitter at Digital switchover; the digital television transmission will then be boosted to 200 kW.
Analogue Channel 5 is not transmitted from Rowridge but was broadcast (at 10 kW) from Fawley Power Station
, with the antenna located on the main chimney. Transmissions all fit within the A group and are horizontally polarised. On 25 March 2009, Channel 5's analogue signal was turned off from Fawley Power Station, due to the digital switchover in the neighbouring Westcountry
region.
Population coverage for the main four analogue channels is about 1.75 million.
405-line
television
coverage for an area including Southampton, Portsmouth
and Bournemouth
, with Brighton
, Winchester
and Salisbury
as desirable further targets. Sites on the mainland and the Isle of Wight were considered, and three were tested by BBC Research Department
. A temporary 200 ft lattice mast was built with a main antenna at 175 ft and a reserve antenna lower down. These aerials were directional to enhance the signal northwards and reduce unwanted coverage to the south.
The service opened on 12 November 1954, bringing television to the area for the first time.
A programme feed was obtained via a Post Office radio link. A site for this near Alton, Hampshire
was acquired and named after a nearby pub: Golden Pot. Here the TV signal from Alexandra Palace was picked up and relayed via a one-hop 4 GHz microwave link to Rowridge. This was brought into service on 18 October 1954. Later, the microwave link ran from the Museum telephone exchange in London to Rowridge, using Golden Pot as an intermediate site.
In 1965 the UHF antenna was added making the total height of the structure 149.6 metres (491 ft). This addition allowed Rowridge to radiate the PAL 625-line transmission that allowed broadcasts in colour and eventually stereo sound.
On 25 March 2009, Channel 5's analogue signal was turned off from Fawley Power Station. Later on in the day, existing digital terrestrial television frequencies moved to new frequencies, due to the digital switchover happening in the region in 2012.
Arqiva
applied for planning permission to replace the existing 150m mast with one 187m high on the 22 May 2009.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
transmission
Transmission (telecommunications)
Transmission, in telecommunications, is the process of sending, propagating and receiving an analogue or digital information signal over a physical point-to-point or point-to-multipoint transmission medium, either wired, optical fiber or wireless...
at Rowridge
Rowridge
Rowridge is a hamlet on the Isle of Wight towards the west in an area known as West Wight. It is the location of the Rowridge transmitting station, a 149.6 metres tall guyed transmitting mast....
on the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
in southern England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It currently has a 149.6 metres (491 ft) tall guyed mast, owned and operated by Arqiva
Arqiva
Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless...
(previously National Grid Wireless), though during the summer of 2010 construction started on a 172 metres (564 ft) replacement mast. There is a smaller tower on the site belonging to British Telecom. The station broadcasts with a power of 250 kW (ERP
Effective radiated power
In radio telecommunications, effective radiated power or equivalent radiated power is a standardized theoretical measurement of radio frequency energy using the SI unit watts, and is determined by subtracting system losses and adding system gains...
) for FM radio, 500 kW for analogue television, and 20 kW for digital television. In July 2007, Ofcom
Ofcom
Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...
confirmed that Rowridge would remain an A Group transmitter at Digital switchover; the digital television transmission will then be boosted to 200 kW.
Analogue Channel 5 is not transmitted from Rowridge but was broadcast (at 10 kW) from Fawley Power Station
Fawley Power Station
Fawley Power Station is an oil-fired power station located on the western side of Southampton Water, between the villages of Fawley and Calshot in Hampshire...
, with the antenna located on the main chimney. Transmissions all fit within the A group and are horizontally polarised. On 25 March 2009, Channel 5's analogue signal was turned off from Fawley Power Station, due to the digital switchover in the neighbouring Westcountry
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
region.
Population coverage for the main four analogue channels is about 1.75 million.
History
The station was first built to provide BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
405-line
405-line
The 405-line monochrome analogue television broadcasting system was the first fully electronic television system to be used in regular broadcasting....
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
coverage for an area including Southampton, Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
and Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
, with Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
and Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
as desirable further targets. Sites on the mainland and the Isle of Wight were considered, and three were tested by BBC Research Department
BBC Research Department
-Function:It has responsibility for researching and developing advanced and emerging media technologies for the benefit of the corporation, and wider UK and European media industries, and is also the technical design authority for a number of major technical infrastructure transformation projects...
. A temporary 200 ft lattice mast was built with a main antenna at 175 ft and a reserve antenna lower down. These aerials were directional to enhance the signal northwards and reduce unwanted coverage to the south.
The service opened on 12 November 1954, bringing television to the area for the first time.
A programme feed was obtained via a Post Office radio link. A site for this near Alton, Hampshire
Alton, Hampshire
Alton is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of the English county of Hampshire. It had a population of 16,584 at the 1991 census and is administered by East Hampshire district council. It is located on the source of the River Wey and is the highest town in...
was acquired and named after a nearby pub: Golden Pot. Here the TV signal from Alexandra Palace was picked up and relayed via a one-hop 4 GHz microwave link to Rowridge. This was brought into service on 18 October 1954. Later, the microwave link ran from the Museum telephone exchange in London to Rowridge, using Golden Pot as an intermediate site.
In 1965 the UHF antenna was added making the total height of the structure 149.6 metres (491 ft). This addition allowed Rowridge to radiate the PAL 625-line transmission that allowed broadcasts in colour and eventually stereo sound.
On 25 March 2009, Channel 5's analogue signal was turned off from Fawley Power Station. Later on in the day, existing digital terrestrial television frequencies moved to new frequencies, due to the digital switchover happening in the region in 2012.
Arqiva
Arqiva
Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless...
applied for planning permission to replace the existing 150m mast with one 187m high on the 22 May 2009.
Analogue radio
| Frequency | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|
| 88.5 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres... |
| 90.7 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation... |
| 92.9 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the... |
| 96.1 MHz | 10 | BBC Radio Solent BBC Radio Solent BBC Radio Solent is the BBC Local Radio service for the Isle of Wight and the English counties of Hampshire and Dorset. Its studios are located in Southampton, in the same purpose-built office block in Havelock Road as the BBC South Today news studios, and there are district offices in Portsmouth,... |
| 98.2 MHz | 250 | BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock... |
| 100.3 MHz | 125 | Classic FM Classic FM (UK) Classic FM, one of the United Kingdom's three Independent National Radio stations, broadcasts classical music in a popular and accessible style.-Overview:... |
Digital radio
| Frequency | Block | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 225.648 MHz | 12B | 5 | BBC National DAB |
Analogue television
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Service |
|---|---|---|---|
| 471.25 MHz | 21 | 500 | Channel 4 Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel... |
| 495.25 MHz | 24 | 500 | BBC Two BBC Two BBC Two is the second television channel operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It covers a wide range of subject matter, but tending towards more 'highbrow' programmes than the more mainstream and popular BBC One. Like the BBC's other domestic TV and radio... |
| 519.25 MHz | 27 | 500 | ITV1 ITV1 ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their... |
| 551.25 MHz | 31 | 500 | BBC One BBC One BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution... |
- Aerial group: A
- Polarisation: horizontal
- BBC Two analogue will cease on 7 March 2012, with all other services closing on 21 March 2012.
Digital television
| Frequency | UHF | kW | Operator |
|---|---|---|---|
| 530.2 MHz | 28+ | 20 | BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... (Mux B) |
| 545.8 MHz | 30- | 20 | SDN S4C Digital Networks SDN is a company that operates Multiplex A, one of the six groups of channels on digital terrestrial television in the United Kingdom... (Mux A) |
| 562.2 MHz | 32+ | 20 | Digital 3&4 Digital 3&4 Digital 3&4 is a consortium consisting of regional Channel 3 companies and Channel 4 Television Corporation, which operates a multiplex broadcasting from a number of transmitter sites in the UK, carrying television and radio channels from both ITV and Channel 4; however three per-cent of the... (Mux 2) |
| 570.2 MHz | 33+ | 20 | Arqiva Arqiva Arqiva is a telecommunications company which provides infrastructure and broadcast transmission facilities in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. The present company, with headquarters located at Crawley Court in the village of Crawley, Hampshire, was formed by National Grid Wireless... (Mux D) |
| 578.0 MHz | 34 | 20 | BBC (Mux 1) |
| 602.2 MHz | 37+ | 20 | Arqiva (Mux C) |
- Aerial group A is required to receive all channels.
- After DSO, this transmitter will be transmitting all multiplexes using both horizontal and vertical polarisation. This is to help with co-channel interference from France. The PSB multiplexes BBC A, BBC B and D3&4 will transmit at the same power (200kW) on both horizontal and vertical polarization. The commercial multiplexes SDN, Arqiva A and Arqiva B will transmit at 200kW on vertical polarization and at 50kW on horizontal polarization.
See also
- Chillerton DownChillerton Down transmitting stationThe Chillerton Down transmitter is a broadcasting facility for FM and DAB radio at Chillerton Down on the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England...
- a transmission site approximately a mile away from Rowridge, broadcasting a mix of analogue and digital radio stations not available from Rowridge. - List of masts