# best worksite radio?



## codaman

Looking for opinions on the best quality work site radio.


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## TxElectrician

The one thats turned off.


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## Tinstaafl

TxElectrician said:


> The one thats turned off.


Nah. It's the one that stays home. :thumbsup:


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## loneframer

The Bosch is a pretty nice Ghetto blaster, couple it with an Ipod and you're funky fresh:thumbsup:


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## HomeSealed

It is not the Dewalt for sound quality...however it is durable and charges batteries so I can't complain too much. If you don't have Dewalt batteries to charge, the Bosch sounds good.


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## strathd

Millwaukee is by far the loudest and best sounding. I tried all three.


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## wolffhomerepair

My vote is for the bosch. It will run 8 hrs or so on the battery.


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## Joasis

strathd said:


> Millwaukee is by far the loudest and best sounding. I tried all three.


But does not charge the batteries. :whistling

The newer Dewalts are ok...I don't have one anymore, because, contrary to popular belief and the cute "cage" surrounding the radio, they will break into small pieces when kicked off of a 20 foot elevation to the ground. :laughing: Several months ago, I warned my guys about the radio when I was placing material on the roof....they didn't listen, and after that day, they had nothing to listen to.


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## WarnerConstInc.

Wow, you guys get grouchy about radio's huh?

I like my Bosch, the reception sucks. I think the Makita's sound really nice.


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## world llc

i'm on my 3rd dewalt over 5 years... dewalt cause it runs off ond charges my battery's.... 3'rd cause they don't put up with abuse for too long before falling completely apart... cord wraps on bottom, handle/bump guard.... my old ones have more screws in them then a piece of sheetrock!!!


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## RenaissanceR

*Dewalt*

[deleted]


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## WisePainter

I would like to get one of the radios from the power tool folk, but I don't do much new construction. Imagine "Highway to Hell" blasting on an interior repaint...

8)


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## strathd

joasis said:


> But does not charge the batteries. :whistling
> 
> The newer Dewalts are ok...I don't have one anymore, because, contrary to popular belief and the cute "cage" surrounding the radio, they will break into small pieces when kicked off of a 20 foot elevation to the ground. :laughing: Several months ago, I warned my guys about the radio when I was placing material on the roof....they didn't listen, and after that day, they had nothing to listen to.


 Why do we need a radio to charge batteries ? Why dont we just use the battery chargers ? I dont get it. Radio for music, chargers for batteries.


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## TimelessQuality

I must be getting old :laughing::laughing: I like AM radio (down low) during the day..news is like a clock, and Rush makes me laugh:thumbsup:.

The dewalt I killed never did get any AM reception (FM sucked too).


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## Jason Whipple

I think clock radios get better reception than most of these jobsite radios.

The Makita radio seems to be the best for reception so far.


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## Joasis

strathd said:


> Why do we need a radio to charge batteries ? Why dont we just use the battery chargers ? I dont get it. Radio for music, chargers for batteries.


Not a big issue to me today, but when you have a roof going down (steel) and cordless drills in high use, battery demand is pretty high. The charger function is handy......that said, the reception on the Milwaukee is better.


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## strathd

joasis said:


> Not a big issue to me today, but when you have a roof going down (steel) and cordless drills in high use, battery demand is pretty high. The charger function is handy......that said, the reception on the Milwaukee is better.


 Yeah that makes sense. Guess I have'nt had the demand for batteries.


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## Joasis

I have a dual port charger....and it replaced one that only works on one side now....have a dozen single chargers that quit over the years....and a few we still use. I tried the 15 minute charger and found it shortened battery life a bunch. And then, in hot weather, or extremely cold weather, you have problems with trying to get a battery to charge....either cooling them down, warming them up, or waiting.....yep...lots of batteries equals lots of chargers, and if you are out in the sun, on a roof, the Dewalt radio at least shaded the battery.....helps keep it from a "hot" condition.


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## Ten Fingers

Best jobsite radio is a beat up $2 garage sale boom box. Mine, actually, I found on the curb on garbage day.


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## OGStilts

I've got the Bosch set up in a high out of the way spot out in my garage so I can listen to the ball games while I'm out there working. It's got the remote that I hang on the wall so I don't need easy access to the radio and I get great AM reception. It sounds great and I never had an issue with it.


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## bross325

hands down milwaukee plays louder and better reception. that is if all u want is a radio


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## Kent Whitten

codaman said:


> Looking for opinions on the best quality work site radio.


Well, I don't like them personally, but before when I did play music loudly on the jobsite, I rattled quite a few neighbors with the KaBoom Box. It'll piss them off in no time.

This is one nice portable radio, I guarantee it. Still have mine out in the shop.


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## Schmidt & Co

Makita here. It's not as large as some of the other radios mentioned. My van gets filled up pretty fast!


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## aggreX

Got the Milwaukee in the shop because it sounds the best and I like that classic Milwaukee red/black design. I use the Makita on the job because its a lot smaller than the others and sounds good too.....just watch out for the wimpy power cord. It would have been nice if they played CDs. Note: any battery charger on the same electrical line tends to affect the radio


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## stacker

im just a poor ole bricklayer.but my men wanted a radio,so i bought them a dewald.takes a little time to warm up in the mornings,and it doesnt charge batteries,but the reception sucks.:whistling


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## woodworkbykirk

hd had the ridgid on for 30% off, i was gonna get one until i picked it up, the thing weighs double what the other brands are and it doesnt charge batterys. has the built in i-pod port which is semi decent

ill prob go for the makita, based on size. it can replace my $10 radio /cd player from the grocery store which is nearly dead


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## galla35

loneframer said:


> The Bosch is a pretty nice Ghetto blaster, couple it with an Ipod and you're funky fresh:thumbsup:



amen


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## jstavene

*Dewalt seems best*

I find I need to go over 120 decibels,, 2 welding machines we team 2 at a time,,and sometimes robots,,2 robot mig welders,,, so,,80 decibels is barely audible,,we wear earplugs and a hood,,when hand welding,,so we play very very loud,,,120 decibels is a start I am looking into 50-70 plus watt portable stereos,,, with the ability to add a ipod or stream radio through a cellphone (we can get our hometown radio stations some of them off the web through our cellphones,,,so its nice to get the weather and such when over 50 miles from home and snowstorms or such,,)

my votes be the dewalt stuff if you need a charger but not quite loud enough for me,,

then a older jvc kaboom,, (the newer one maxes to 45 watt the older was 52 watt) and the older sounded clearer at louder volume,,,

but the kaboom may be the best choice,,,at least for a 1 piece unit,,,
some guys have large wheeled metal tool boxes with a stereo reciever and speakers,, (but this seems very awkward if your mobile)


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## world llc

i'v been using bluetooth stereo headphones for the last few months.

i can stream what ever i want from my droid.... pandora, XM, iheart radio, and if i dont have data i can play mp3's

the battery lasts about 8 hours and has a button to accept calls like a bluetooth headset


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## The Coastal Craftsman

jstavene said:


> I find I need to go over 120 decibels,, 2 welding machines we team 2 at a time,,and sometimes robots,,2 robot mig welders,,, so,,80 decibels is barely audible,,we wear earplugs and a hood,,when hand welding,,so we play very very loud,,,120 decibels is a start I am looking into 50-70 plus watt portable stereos,,, with the ability to add a ipod or stream radio through a cellphone (we can get our hometown radio stations some of them off the web through our cellphones,,,so its nice to get the weather and such when over 50 miles from home and snowstorms or such,,)
> 
> my votes be the dewalt stuff if you need a charger but not quite loud enough for me,,
> 
> then a older jvc kaboom,, (the newer one maxes to 45 watt the older was 52 watt) and the older sounded clearer at louder volume,,,
> 
> but the kaboom may be the best choice,,,at least for a 1 piece unit,,,
> some guys have large wheeled metal tool boxes with a stereo reciever and speakers,, (but this seems very awkward if your mobile)


Would love to see your setup putting out 120db. you do know thats around concert loudness. that requires around 40-100K watts to acheive that loudness. lets put it this way. im currently listening to some dubstep through 7 speakers plus my sub putting out 140W to the fronts and 1000w to the sub at almost flat out heres my DB at a meter.

Here's my fronts









here's my sub


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## txgencon

Kent Whitten said:


> Well, I don't like them personally, but before when I did play music loudly on the jobsite, I rattled quite a few neighbors with the KaBoom Box. It'll piss them off in no time.
> 
> This is one nice portable radio, I guarantee it. Still have mine out in the shop.


I think I have the same model. I really don't use the radio much. I mainly play CD's - Pavarotti, Josh Groban and sound tracks from musicals (Moulin Rouge, Notting Hill, etc.) and keep the volume down to where no one complains.

I have been asked to turn the volume up to drown out my attempts to sing along.


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## tooltimetim1955

I have to go with the thrift store $5 radio because it is going to get busted to smithereens before it gets burned out.


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## skyhook

tooltimetim1955 said:


> I have to go with the thrift store $5 radio because it is going to get busted to smithereens before it gets burned out.


I put a wood box around mine and it survived falling off a roof. (1 story):thumbup:
It's not a radio, it's a audio electrical tester.


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## WarriorWithWood

Another Bosch guy here. I like the fact that I can put a bunch of mp3's on a cheap SD card and play them all day. When I get sick of them I just bring it in and copy some more on it.


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## Kent Whitten

txgencon said:


> I think I have the same model. I really don't use the radio much. I mainly play CD's - Pavarotti, Josh Groban and sound tracks from musicals (Moulin Rouge, Notting Hill, etc.) and keep the volume down to where no one complains.
> 
> I have been asked to turn the volume up to drown out my attempts to sing along.


That is not only the loudest box I had, but the nicest sounding one too. What a beaut of a radio. 

I use the bosch one now. Joe the pro sent me one to ease my suffering from all the issues I had with bosch tools. Nice radio, a little heavy though. Doesn't have a cd, which is no issue any longer.


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## Sir Mixalot

My vote is for the Millwaukee. :thumbsup:
It has the Ipod plug in and sounds great. It doesn't charge batteries.:no: But, it does have a phone charger outlet.:clap:


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## Brutus

Sir Mixalot said:


> My vote is for the Millwaukee. :thumbsup:
> It has the Ipod plug in and sounds great. It doesn't charge batteries.:no: But, it does have a phone charger outlet.:clap:


And a bottle opener! I use the Milwaukee, too. I only got mine, because it was on sale for 40% off, and I already had the drill/driver combo set from them. So in the event of no power at my house, I could set up the radio and at least get some information.

The battery charging thing... doesn't dewalt have a strict patent on that? Maybe I am wrong, but I think that's what I read here.


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## Sir Mixalot

Brutus said:


> And a bottle opener!


Oh yeah, I forgot about that feature. I don't think I've ever used the bottle opener though.:no:


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## Brutus

Sir Mixalot said:


> Oh yeah, I forgot about that feature. I don't think I've ever used the bottle opener though.:no:


Guys that come to the site with glass bottles of coke or sprite or root beer have used it here.


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## Pete'sfeets

I like one with turn knobs for the tuner, if the power goes off you don't have to reprogram it. Mine is  covered in paint so if you lose the station you'll just have to wing it there's no reading it. Ideally this is purchased at the sally ann and when accidentally left behind there's no worries. Nothing too big I need that truck space for paint and equip


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