Due to the close proximity of the British Virgin Islands, any FM proposal in the United States Virgin Islands (USVI) is reported to the International Telecommunications Union by the FCC to assure coordination with other Caribbean nations, especially the British Virgin Islands (BVI). While the FCC does have some BVI facilities in their legacy CDBS database, the information is not always updated. There are no specific requirements for protecting BVI stations as there are with protecting Canadian and Mexican stations. REC's database tools do not fully list BVI facilities as much of the technical parameter information is unknown. REC uses information from the FCC and from third parties in order to gather the dialscape information in the Virgin Islands.
We have reviewed the 20 channels in the Virgin Islands to determine availability. Due to the USVI's close proximity to Puerto Rico (PR), many opportunities are excluded because of PR facilities. The FCC does permit contour overlap between two stations if the overlap is entirely over water (no islands).
To best avoid issues with the BVI, it's best to propose a facility that does not place a 34 dBu interfering contour over BVI land area.
Here's a look at each of the 20 channels:
|
88.1 (Channel 201) |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
|
88.3 (Channel 202) |
54 dBu interfering contour reaches a portion of St. Thomas. No overlap on St. Croix or St. John. May be unavailable due to Channel 203 at Virgin Gorda. |
|
| 88.5 (Channel 203) Unlikely |
40 dBu contour from PR overlaps portions of St. Thomas and St. Croix. Wikipedia suggests that there may be an 88.5 (ZVGROC-FM), but provides no detailed information. FCC shows a facility entry for Channel 203 in Virgin Gorda, BVI. May also not be available due to Channel 204 at Todman's Peak, BVI. |
|
| 88.7 (Channel 204) Unlikely |
Inside the 60 dBu contour of PR on all of St. Thomas and portions of St. Croix. Commercial IF short-spaced to most of St. Croix including Christiansted but may be available in Frederiksted. May be unavailable due to Channel 203 at Virgin Gorda or Channel 204 showing in the FCC database at Todman's Peak, BVI. |
|
| 88.9 (Channel 205) Unlikely |
Inside the 60 dBu contour of PR on all of St. Thomas and portions of St. Croix. Commercial IF short-spaced to most of St. Croix including Christiansted but may be available in Frederiksted. May not be available due to Channel 204 at Todman's Peak, BVI. |  |
| 89.1 (Channel 206) Possible for St. Croix |
St. Thomas and St. John entirely inside a 54 dBu contour. Most of St. Croix is outside of a contour. |  |
| 89.3 (Channel 207) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 89.5 (Channel 208) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 89.7 (Channel 209) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 89.9 (Channel 210) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 90.1 (Channel 211) Possible for St. John |
Outside contours only on St. John. |  |
| 90.3 (Channel 212) Possible for St. Thomas/St. John |
Outside contours on most of St. Thomas and all of St. John. |  |
| 90.5 (Channel 213) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 90.7 (Channel 214) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. Also first-adjacent to ZJKC in the BVI. | |
| 90.9 (Channel 215) Not available |
Co-channel with ZJKC, Mt. Healthy, BVI. | |
| 91.1 (Channel 216) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. Also first-adjacent to ZJKC in the BVI. | |
| 91.3 (Channel 217) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 91.5 (Channel 218) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. | |
| 91.7 (Channel 219) Not available |
All of St. John and St. Croix are inside contours as well as most of St. Thomas. FCC shows an allotment for the BVI on this channel. Wikipedia suggests ZBEACH-FM. | |
| 91.9 (Channel 220) Not available |
Entire USVI overlapped by contours. |
For assistance for the U.S. Virgin Islands, please contact REC Networks at 202 621-2355.
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