Rowridge transmitting station

The station was first built to provide BBC 405-line television coverage for an area including Southampton, Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Dorchester, Chichester, Winchester and Salisbury. Sites on the mainland and the Isle of Wight were considered, and three were tested by BBC Research Department. Construction 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. It was built by BICC, alongside Pontop Pike (also 500 ft) and North Hessary Tor in Devon (a taller mast). The ITA wanted to build a mast nearby on Chillerton Down, but in February 1957, the local council rejected the planning proposal, and wanted a joint transmitter, not two. The ITA mast was built subsequently in 1958. On June 17 1963 the local council gave planning permission for a joint ITA-BBC mast, 1,050 ft, for UHF 625 line television. Transmission Test transmissions were from October 18 1954. Television reception would stretch from Somerset to Sussex. Sussex had a previous 'booster' transmitter on Truleigh Hill in Upper Beeding. 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, using refurbished equipment that provided the original picture feed for the Wenvoe Transmitter on the British Telecom Microwave Network. 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. The microwave link from Hampshire 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. A better transmitter would be fitted after a year, which was fitted in May 1956. National radio on VHF was to be added by 1957. In 1965 the UHF antenna was added making the total height of the structure . This addition allowed Rowridge to radiate the PAL 625-line transmission that allowed broadcasts in colour and eventually stereo sound, using NICAM. BBC2 was planned to arrive on November 14 1965 on 625 lines, but test transmissions would start on December 18 1965, with full broadcasts from January 16 1966. On the neighbouring ITA mast, the ITA expected colour transmissions by late 1969. On 25 March 2009, Channel 5's analogue signal was turned off from Fawley Power Station. Later on in the day, "existing digital terrestrial TV services 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 (492') mast with one 187m (614') high on 22 May 2009. ==Channels listed by frequency==

Analogue radio Digital radio Analogue television 12 November 1954 – 15 January 1966 15 January 1966 – 13 December 1969 13 December 1969 – 27 December 1969 27 December 1969 – 4 December 1982 4 December 1982 – 3 January 1985 3 January 1985 – 15 November 1998 THE 405 line television system was switched off on that day after 31 years of BBC One Analogue and digital television This was where the Digital TV launched, at first, digital TV was low. 15 November 1998 – 31 October 2002 31 October 2002 – 24 May 2007 On October 31 2002 Solent TV was launched on UHF 54. 24 May 2007 – 25 March 2009 Solent TV ceased on UHF 54 25 March 2009 – 7 March 2012 C5 was switched off from the Fawley Power Station 7 March 2012 – 21 March 2012 BBC2 South was switched off on UHF CHANNEL 24, AND BBC A launched on BBC2'S old channel number. and CHannel 34 were switched off. Digital television 21 March 2012 – 18 April 2012 18 April 2012 – present The commercial multiplexes were situated on their pre-DSO frequencies until 18 April 2012, when they started transmitting at vertical polarisation. ==See also==