Rowridge transmitting station

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rowridge
The Rowridge transmitting station
Height	149.6 metres (491 ft)
Grid Reference	SZ447865
BBC Region	BBC South
ITV Region	ITV Meridian

The Rowridge transmitting station is a facility for FM Radio and television transmission at Rowridge, Isle of Wight, England. It has a 149.6 metres (491 ft) tall guyed mast, owned and operated by National Grid Wireless. There is a smaller tower on the site belonging to British Telecom. The station broadcasts with a power of 250kW (ERP) for FM radio, 500kW for analogue television, and 20kW for digital television. In July 2007, Ofcom confirmed that Rowridge would remain an A Group transmitter at DSO (Digital Switchover); the digital television transmission will then be boosted to 200kW.

Analogue Five is not transmitted from Rowridge and is instead broadcast (at 10kW) from Fawley Power Station, with the antenna located on the main chimney. Fawley is located about 10 miles to the north of Rowridge, but is directly in line for the inhabitants of Southampton. Transmissions (including Fawley's Five) all fit within the A group and are horizontally polarised. Population coverage for the main four analogue channels is about 1.75 million.

1 History
2 Channels listed by Frequency
3 References
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] History

The station was first built to provide BBC 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.^[1]

The service opened on November 12, 1954, bringing television to the area for the first time.

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.

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 October 18, 1954. Later, the microwave link ran from the Museum telephone exchange in London to Rowridge, using Golden Pot as an intermediate site.^[2]

[edit] Channels listed by Frequency

Analogue Radio (FM VHF)
- BBC Radio 1 - 98.2
- BBC Radio 2 - 88.5
- BBC Radio 3 - 90.7
- BBC Radio 4 - 92.9
- Classic FM - 100.3
- BBC Radio Solent - 96.1

Digital Radio (DAB)

Analogue Television
- UHF Ch.31 - BBC One
- UHF Ch.27 - ITV1
- UHF Ch.24 - BBC Two
- UHF Ch.21 - Channel 4

Digital Television
- UHF Ch.23 - Multiplex 1 (BBC)
- UHF Ch.28 - Multiplex 2 (ITV)
- UHF Ch.30 - Multiplex A (SDN)
- UHF Ch.32 - Multiplex B (BBC)
- UHF Ch.26 - Multiplex C (National Grid Wireless)
- UHF Ch.33 - Multiplex D (National Grid Wireless)

[edit] References

^ Pawley, Edward. 1972. BBC Engineering 1922 - 1972, p. 377. BBC, London. ISBN 0-563-12127-0.
^ Kilvington, T. The London—Isle-of-Wight Television Link, Stage One. POEEJ Vol. 48 (April 1955), p.36-38