By Christos Rigas

(This article first appeared in the October 1993 issue of DX Chicago)

In mid-September, I had the pleasure of vacationing for 7 days along with my fiancé on the beautiful island of Jamaica. The weather was nice and hot (over 90 degrees Fahrenheit daily). I was staying in a hotel/resort about 10 miles away from the city of Montego Bay. I enjoyed my stay there very much, having a chance to learn more about the culture of Jamaica. There is more to Jamaica than reggae music, including places to visit and food. For example you can take a walking tour of the 600-foot long Duns River Falls, visit the 7-mile stretch of beaches at Negril, or just swim and snorkel at many other beaches. You can also sample the fine Jamaican food, including the pumpkin soup, jerk pork and chicken, curry goat, or the many seafood dishes.

The visit to Jamaica gave me a chance to listen to Jamaican radio. I brought with me only my Walkman, so my listening was limited to the AM and FM broadcast bands. I only managed to do limited scans in early mornings, since I used wake up early and had nothing to do before my companion got up. Following this article is a list of all the stations I managed to hear.

As you can see from the list, Cuban stations are all over the AM band. Jamaica’s proximity to Cuba makes this possible. Obviously all the local Jamaican stations were also heard. The only other country heard was USA, thanks to Radio Marti on 1180 kHz, even though it was interfered by a strong Cuban station. Other US stations were heard on 940, 1040 and 1510 kHz. All were from Florida. I was disappointed not hear any stations from other nearby countries, such as Haiti and Dominican Republic. The FM band in Montego Bay provided reception from 12 local radio stations.

Three broadcasting companies dominate the radio scene in Jamaica. The Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation is a government run broadcaster, which runs the JBC Radio 1 network on the AM and FM frequencies. It also runs JBC Radio 2, also called JBC FM. This service is only carried on the FM band. The programming is a mix of news, sports, music and religious services on Sundays. JBC also operates the only Jamaican TV network. This service is not on the air all day, thus making television choices in Jamaica very limited. However driving through Jamaica I noticed a large numbers of satellite dishes, no doubt in order to receive US television. For example our hotel provided along with JBC also ESPN, HBO, ABC (the New York affiliate), CBS (affiliate from North Carolina), NBC and even the Sci-Fi Channel.

The other two broadcasting networks are commercially owned. The bigger of the two is Radio Jamaica LTD, which operates Radio Jamaica (also called RJR) on the AM and FM bands. It also operates FAME FM on FM only. The programming is similar to the JBC’s network and it also includes relay of BBC World Service news. The third network is Island Broadcasting Service from the city of Mandeville, which operates the station KLAS-FM on 89.3 MHz. During my stay I also heard a station calling itself Irie Radio, which played exclusively reggae music all day long, with occasional newscasts on the hour. Of all the Jamaican radio stations this one was my favorite thanks to the music they played. I was not able to find out who runs this station.

Overall I enjoyed my trip very much. I only wish I had more time and a better radio to do more radio monitoring.

LOCATION: Sea Castle Resort, Montego Bay, Jamaica
DATE: September 11 – September 18, 1993
TIME: All times are Jamaican local time.
NOTES: R=Signal Rating (5=local strength, 1=barely audible)
RECEIVER: Aiwa HS-J900 AM/FM/Cassette walkman

FREQ COUNTRY CALLS POWER   STATION NAME, CITY          DATE TIME R

550  CUBA    ----  30     R. REBELDE, Pinar del Rio    9/16 0715 2
550  JAMAICA ----  5      RJR,  Montego Bay            9/12 0605 5
580  JAMAICA ----  10     RJR, Galina                  9/13 0701 3
590  CUBA CMW      150    R. REBELDE, La Julia         9/13 0702 2
600  CUBA CMKV     150    R. REBELDE, Urbano Noris     9/12 0650 3
620  JAMAICA ----  5      JBC,  Mandeville             9/13 0703 2
650  CUBA CMKU     1      R. REBELDE, Santiago         9/12 0656 2
680  CUBA CMJV     10     R. REBELDE, Ciego de Avilla  9/12 0657 2
690  CUBA ----     20     R. PROGRESO, Jovellanos      9/12 0700 3
700  JAMAICA ----  10     JBC, Montego Bay             9/12 0607 5
710  CUBA CMHQ     50     R. REBELDE, Santa Clara      9/12 0659 3
720  JAMAICA ----  10     RJR, Kingston                9/13 0703 4
740  CUBA CMKP     20     R. PROGRESO, Sagna Cetanamo  9/12 0700 3
750  JAMAICA ----  10     JBC, Port Maria              9/12 0608 3
770  JAMAICA ----  5      RJR, Spur Tree               9/14 0747 2
790  CUBA CMAQ     30     R. RELOJ, Pinar del Rio      9/18 0616 2
800  CUBA CMDT     1      R. PROGRESO, Manzanillo      9/13 0705 2
810  CUBA CMDW     10     R. PROGRESO, Guantanamo      9/12 0702 2
820  CUBA CMJT     10     R. PROGRESO, Moron           9/12 0703 3
840  CUBA CMHW     10     DOBLEVE, Santa Clara         9/16 0707 2
850  JAMAICA ----  10     JBC, Savana La Mar           9/12 0704 2
870  CUBA CMHL     10     R. PROGRESO, Sancti Spiritus 9/12 0705 2
890  CUBA ----     --     R. PROGRESO                  9/13 0706 3
900  CUBA CMKP     50     R. PROGRESO, Cocacum         9/12 0706 4
910  CUBA CMFA     10     R. CD. AGRAMONTE, Camaguey   9/14 0745 2
920  CUBA ----     --     R. PROGRESO                  9/12 0707 2
930  CUBA CMJS     10     R. RELOJ, Ciego de Avilla    9/12 0708 2
940  CUBA CMKD     10     R. RELOJ, Holguin            9/12 0709 2
940  USA ----             unidentified                 9/18 0622 2
950  CUBA CMHI     1      R. RELOJ, Sancti Spiritus    9/12 0710 2
960  CUBA CMDJ     10     R. RELOJ, Guantanamo         9/12 0711 2
1000 CUBA CMHB     1      R. MUSICAL, Sancti Spiritus  9/14 0741 2
1040 USA WYFX      10/1   Boynton Beach, Florida       9/18 0627 2
1050 CUBA CMKT     10     R. VICTORIA, Las Tunas       9/12 0711 3
1060 CUBA CMKT     1      R. VICTORIA, Am. Rodrig.     9/12 0712 3
1070 CUBA CMKS     10     CMKS, Guantanamo             9/12 0713 3
1110 CUBA CMKO     10     R. ANGULO, Holguin           9/16 0703 2
1140 CUBA CMKX     1      R. BAYAMO, Media Luna        9/12 0716 2
1150 CUBA CMKX     10     R. BAYAMO, Entronque Buecito 9/12 0717 2
1180 CUBA ----     300    R. TAINO, Villa Maria        9/12 0718 4
1180 USA VOA       50     R. MARTI, Marathon Key, FL   9/14 0700 2
1190 CUBA CMHT     1      R. SANCTI-SPIRITUS, Yaguajay 9/14 0735 2
1200 CUBA CMKC     10     R. REVOLUCION, Palma Soriano 9/13 0738 4
1210 CUBA CMHT     10     R. SANCTI-SPIRITUS, S. Spir. 9/13 0739 3
1270 CUBA CMJG     10     R. RELOJ, Camaguey           9/12 0719 2
1280 CUBA CMKW     1      R. MAMBI, Santiago           9/12 0720 2
1300 CUBA CMDA     1      R. ENCICLOPEDIA, Las Tunas   9/16 0703 2
1360 CUBA CMFA     10     R. CD. AGRAMONTE, R. Ramirez 9/12 0721 3
1400 CUBA CMFA     1      R. CD. AGRAMONTE, Guaimaro   9/18 0737 2
1430 CUBA CMJY     10     R. SURCO, Moron              9/12 0724 2
1440 CUBA CMJP     10     R. SURCO, Ciego de Avila     9/12 0725 2
1450 CUBA CMJF     1      R. MABOA, Am. Rodriguez      9/12 0726 2
1510 USA WWBC      1      Cocoa, Florida               9/18 0743 2
1530 CUBA CMJX     1      R. MORON, Moron              9/18 0738 2
1550 CUBA CMJQ     1      R. Nuevitas, Nuevitas        9/18 0740 2
1590 CUBA CMDF     0.5    R. GRANMA, Manzanillo        9/12 0724 2

89.3  JAMAICA         KLAS, Mandeville           9/12 0608 2
91.5  JAMAICA     5   FAME FM, Oracabessa        9/13 0703 2
92.1  JAMAICA     1   JBC FM, Montego Bay        9/12 0616 5
92.9  JAMAICA     2   RJR FM, Montego Bay        9/12 0617 4
95.7  JAMAICA     0.5 FAME FM, Montego Bay       9/12 0618 5
97.3  JAMAICA     35  JBC RADIO ONE, Flower Hill 9/12 0620 5
101.3 JAMAICA     5   RJR, Oracabessa            9/12 0622 2
102.9 JAMAICA         R. WAVES, Montego Bay      9/12 0625 5
103.9 JAMAICA     35  JBC RADIO ONE, Oracabessa  9/12 0730 2
104.5 JAMAICA     11  RJR, Montego Bay           9/12 0626 5
105.5 JAMAICA         IRIE FM                    9/12 0628 4
107.7 JAMAICA         IRIE FM                    9/12 0629 5

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