After moving into a house, we decided it was time to get both a little more power and a more permanent installation than had been possible while we lived in an apartment. We thought that the Yaesu FT-897D or the Icom IC-7000 were pretty neat radios for the uses we anticipated, but until we could gather up the funds for one (including everything else we'd need to make it work properly), we thought that a simple 2-meter radio would be a good start. We could later install it as a mobile, or use it at local events without carrying a lot of stuff aroud. With all the Yaesus around the place, another seemed a good possibility. We don't have anything against other manufacturers, but we're familiar with the logic behind Yaesu's workings. We also liked the 200-place memory of the FT-1900R. Many 2-meter radios have only 100, especially if one assigns names to the memory channels. We powered the radio with a Jetstream JTPS14BCM supply. We liked the idea of being able to charge a battery with it; we also like the meter display. The "VOL ADJ" dial clicks into place at 13.8, although we wonder if they could have made it "VOLT" so certain people would not go to that knob to turn the volume down. Our first example of the Jetstream developed a loud whine and quit working after a couple of months. We sent it in and received a new one in two days. It has worked perfectly. The radio, mounted in its bracket, sits on top of a shelf, with the power supply above it. The power supply sits on top of a rack from The Container Store, intended for kitchen cabinets. We plugged in an old Motorola speaker from a retired fire engine. Lots of volume! As with our other radios, we find it useful to keep the instructions nearby. Since it's near the computer, it has been nice that Yaesu makes a PDF of the book available! We have also prepared a single-sheet rundown of frequently used functions. The radio allows a 6-character alphanumeric name for each memory slot. As with the FT-60R, that's enough for the call sign of a repeater or for either the full name or a good abbreviation of many locations. The FT1-1900R seems to be pretty rugged, although it hasn't taken much abuse, except from the occasional curious cat trying to figure out where all those people are hiding while they talk.

Last revised 14 October 2011.