Lowe HF-150

[SCPD]

Good day
Newbie on this site I came across a Lowe HF-150 made in England radio age is 20 years old in a pawn shop. It has the original power pack it is in perfect condition the owner hooked it up to some speaker wire as a make ship antenna and I was picking up AM broadcast stations and amateur radio operator's on the 80 and 20 meter band very clear and crisp. I have done some reading and the comments most lengthy in nature by owners say they are rock solid and not one comment of about a hundred stated they had any problems which required repair service. Anyone on here hear of this radio and have any comments.

Regards
Andy

 

[ka3jjz]

A very famous radio - reportedly owned by comedian David Letterman and former President George HW Bush. I understand former President Reagan had this radio on his bedside table

This is a gem of a radio. A bit prone to overloading issues at times, from what I recall, but otherwise this is a solid radio. Not a whole lot of fancy stuff (ECSS capable, passband, etc.) but a very good little radio.

If you find overloading to be an issue, a passive preselector will tame it. MFJ sells one or two at pretty reasonable prices, and there are plans on the net if you're skilled with building.

Mike

 

[ka3jjz]

Lowe made a matching preamp/preselector for this radio called the PR150, and here's some information on it...

https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/commrxvr/pr150.html

Interestingly, this unit can be used as a passive preselector by turning off the preamp, or using the preamp with preselection (making it active). I suspect this would be difficult to find on the used market, and if you did find it, it would be pretty costly. A better solution might be the two links below - certainly less expensive, for sure...

MFJ Enterprises Inc.

Cross Country Wireless HF Preselector

I know Palstar also makes one, but it's VERY expensive...if anyone knows of any others, please post the URL here...Mike

 

[Boombox]

A classic. I remember the UK DX mags of the 1990's always talked about the Lowe 150, and its successors. Naturally, as they were UK radios. But also -- simply because they were great radios.

If it works, and you can afford it, I would get it.

 

[Scan125]

I've had this radio from new many moons ago. A brilliant and well ahead of it's time HF receiver that was/is well respected for its price, performance, more digital base and of course portability. Many found their way into marine vessels(small and large).

When my Lowe IF-150 serial interface (for PC control) failed I designed and firmware coded and Arduino based more modern USB interface. This is a free project for anyone to build.

See: https://nick-bailey.co.uk/if150/index.html

Also available is my free HF150 Control Program - see: https://nick-bailey.co.uk/hf150/index.html

This program is quite old now but still fully functional and may be of interest.

I also have also collected over the years quite a few technical documents over the years.

Cracking unit. Enjoy it.

In technical and historical terms it is the foundation of the well receiver AOR 7030 receiver.