[Premium-Rx] Lowe HF-235 ?? and apologies if this is a bit off topic

[GandalfG8 at aol.com]

Hi Hank
 
I've got an HF 235 and personally consider it an OK receiver but nothing  
special.
 
The HF 225 did have a good reputation in its day as an amateur, hobby,  
receiver but these days the AOR 7030 is generally considered to have taken  that 
performance to new heights and would be a better way to go.
Despite any claims made at the time I can't see that the  "commercial" HF 235 
is much more than an HF 225 in a rack mount  cabinet.
 
As far as I can remember it was claimed that the 235 was based on the 225  
but with enhanced front end protection designed to make it "bomb proof" and some 
 other "enhancements"...which I can't remember.
Certainly the circuit boards in mine are marked "HF 225".
 
In 1995 Lowe had the HF 225 listed at 499 GBP, the HF 225 Europa listed at  
699 GBP, and the HF 235 listed at 1,116 GBP.
Synchronous AM detection, RS232 interface, etc, were all extras.
Whatever the differences might have been I can't see anything to justify  
that extra price tag of nearly 700 GBP....
other than it might have seemed a more "appropriate" cost when aiming at  the 
commercial market.
The HF 235 did see commercial use in the UK, I believe as air traffic  
control receivers for one example, so I'm not suggesting it didn't have its  merits 
but do feel that, if it wasn't quite out of its depth, it was probably  
struggling to keep afloat in a commercial environment.
 
None of these Lowe receivers would come into the category we consider here  
to be "premium" and none would even get a sniff at the sort of markets your  
Cubic was aimed at.
 

If you do want to go for one of these Lowe receivers then the HF 225 Europa  
was probably the best version.
It had synchronous detection and keypad controller as standard, better  
specification filters, and improved filter chokes and switching diodes to reduce  
leakage around the filters.
As far as I know the HF235, despite the significant extra cost, is based on  
the basic 225 and not the Europa.
 
I've got a couple of Cubic 3030s and have had a Mackay 3031A in the  past.
I would consider that putting the HF 235 against either of these is a bit  
like starting a Formula One Grand Prix motor race on a pushbike.
Oh OK, probably just a slight exageration but perhaps not too much of  one:-)
 
If you do need to downsize to that extent  I would recommend  consideration 
of the AOR 7030, which has a VERY good reputation, the JRC  NRD535D...although 
obsolete I still think mine is great, the JRC NRD  545...questions have been 
raised about DSP quality, or the Ten-Tex RX350.
Given the choice, and having tried one, I think I'd go for the  Ten-Tec.
There ain't much inside the box but it do seem to work well:-)
 
regards
 
Nigel
G8PZR
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.qth.net/pipermail/premium-rx/attachments/20050306/ada7fa46/attachment.htm