I need to replace my umpteenth secondhand getto blaster, and I thought I’d go with a Bosch or Milwaukee jobsite radio. Any feedback on either, good reception, good sound, etc.? Thanks!
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No recomendations myself, but I'd love to find a radio that can clearly get stations. The small Sony boombox I have is crap - can't get radio stations I can get in the car in the driveway... even when the radio is on the roof with me!
Rebuilding my home in Cypress, CA
Also a CRX fanatic!
I can't add much, but I would lean toward the one that uses a battery that fits your tools. If you have both batteries, I would choose the Milwaukee myself as a radio. The Bosch has a CD and and an outlet strip which would be a plus. Make sure you get a generation 2 bosch with the external FM antenna, I heard the first ones had no reception.
For the money, you can't beat that Milwaukee. I know it doesn't have a ton of features, but the ones it does have work really really well. Clear reception, plenty of volume, great sound, and a reasonable price at around $80.
I agree with the Milwaukee. It has good sound IRockford Fosgate)/ reception / weather resistant speakers and is tough as a brick s**t house. Ive had my Milwaukee on site for maybe 4 years and its still going strong. Try doing that with a regular radio. Has an Aux input where I plug in my ipod too.
I'll get a Bosch some day. Just because.
Yeah, the Milwaukee is pretty much bombproof. I did manage to kill one after about three years though. Left it in the back of the truck during downpours, then the temperature dropped over the weekend and it sat encrusted in ice for a few days. Tough to justify disappointment after that type of treatment. Ran out and bought another one right away.
I've got the Bosch w/ CD player too. To be fair, mine is a first generation model, and I've heard they've improved them significantly since I bought mine. I won't get into it again because bitching about it seems to aggravate the owners who like them, but to say the least I was sorely disappointed. It was a total waste of money for me.
I did find with the Bosch, that I just don't have the time or motivation to play around with CDs at work. Of course we're framers, so it's not like we can find a safe corner in the kitchen to leave the radio and cd's and whatnot either. What I'm getting at is that all I'm really looking for in a good jobsite radio is........ a good jobsite radio. Don't need a cd player, don't need to charge any batteries off it, don't need another spider box, and I don't need to charge my cell phone from it. I just need good sound, good reception, plenty of volume to get over the saws and compressor, and a bombproof package. The Milwaukee fits the bill.... for me anyway.View Image
Same thing happened, one of our guys left his Milwaukee in the back of his truck for a week in the rain. He left it for dead in our shop afterwards. I managed to salvage it. The AM radio and Aux input still work great after a week in the terential rain. Only FM doesnt work. I keep it in my shop for the ipod only. Who the hell listens to AM anyways.
LOL.... actually I listen to AM quite a bit. Sports radio and the news (weather reports) actually. Never really on the jobsite though, mostly in the truck. But I do like to catch the occasional Red Sox day game onsite which is broadcast only on AM too.View Image
I'm always on AM. ESPN radio, or the other local sports talk station. My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
I don't know if their tower has enough power to reach out your way, but Northshore 104.9 out of Beverly has decent reception over most of the North Shore and is clearer than WEEI.Edit: I forgot to mention that they air the Red Sox games.
Edited 2/25/2006 10:11 pm ET by TBone
Didn't know that. I'll have to check it out. Thanks.View Image
Air America!
I listen to AM. Thats where the local sports talk is.
Real men know about sports talk radio.
blue
Is WJR still on the air there?
Yep WJR is still a mainstay in the Metro Detroit area. I used to listen to them in the morning when the sports subjects were boring.
But now, I have Sirius!
blue
We listened to Tigers games in our house when I was a kid. Some guy named Ernie as the announcer?
Harwell. ?Remodeling Contractor just on the other side of the Glass City
Now ya got me mindful of it... Ernie Harwell and Paul Carey.
Retired recently I heard.
I walked right into that.
I only listen if theres a big game on.
I listen to AM. Thats where the local sports talk is.anybody know how to get an am radio to pick up in a metal bldg.. 2+3=7
I think those tin foil hats help a lot.
A loop antenna helps. I have a radio shack one, but they don't sell them anymore. It has a coil and a tuning capacitor that forms a resonant circuit when tuned to the same frequency as the station. Then you just move the antenna and radio for best reception.
I have bought a CCradio from CCrane which works pretty good by itself, but the external antenna still helps. Some places there is no signal to pick up at all. The external antennas can sometimes get rid of noise too. CCrane is a great company to buy from, a little expensive though.
http://www.ccrane.com/antennas/am-antennas/index.aspx
The SOX blow!! Sorry had to do it!
-LMC
Boy, that was witty.View Image
I have the newer Dewalt. It works great. The digital tuning is the cats a$s, and I've never had a problem with stations tuning in.
I have a newer DeWalt that sucks. It has been treated well, but the battery charger has never worked 100% (sometimes you put in a battery and it doesn't charge it, even though it says it did) and now the radio works only sporadically--I literally have to whack it with a chuck on 2x4 to make it come on. Less than one year old.
I don't own any Dewalt batteries to charge. I just use it because my girlfriend won it as a prize in some marathon she ran.
Mine works well, but only a few months old now.
My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard
I have the DW and its been indestructible. Have had it since they came out but I'm sick of adjusting the station dial to get reception and adding wire to the antenna and hanging it all over the place so I scored me "Sirius Radio"! I got me a black boom box offa Ebay for $30 (regularly $100) and once you go black you'll never go back. Fug terrestrial radio from now on. The reception is crystal clear and I now have a choice of 150 stations. The only thing is that you do have to put the connected antenna that on a skinny 20 wire out a window which can be a pain in the azz but far as I'm concerned wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy worth the $13 a month. Its like trying to have TV and no cable.
Satellite RULES!!!!I knew gettin' spaced would pay off one day : )
a...
If Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
I agree Andy, I love my Sirius radio.
My main grief with jobsite radios is that they usually have a very low quality of sound when they are properly tuned into the station. As soon as you start working, they tend to drift off the station and for an hour, you hear nothing but static and nasty, cheap, echoy sound. I wanna drive the Skytrak over it!
I really can't say I've been impressed with any of the dw, or bosch's that I've heard onsite though. They sound tinny to me, but maybe my hearings so shot, I don't hear all the ranges.
blue
blue....and besides that on terrestrial radio...there really aren't enough choices for me. I like those stations to the left of the dial...the stations that use NPR, and there are few. I did subscribe to one here in NY WFUV from Fordham University but even those guys
play "the same" Jack Johnson or Rufus Wainwright or or or songs day in and day out like AM radio was.. till I wanna lock N load and blow my radio up! Sirius is a breath of fresh air.
And far as the work radios...screw that at this point. Use your battery charger and get a radio you like.
My Sirius radio that I scored offa ebay was a refurbished job...I open the box when it came and I thought...oh shid...I've been beat. Looked like a tinny piece a crap. I turn it on and it blew my mind how great the sound was...so...not judging a book by its cover still is the rule of thumb for me. Never ever have to tune it in. If I wanna hear Stones all day I turn to the Stones channel. If I wanna hear those past hits I turn to The Vault which doesn't just play cover tunes like FM does. They actually play stuff from the middle of the album too...and lots of Zappa which you NEVER hear on testicle radio...lol.
NPR? Theres three stations that play it 24/7...well you know.
If Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
Blue,
Try the Milwaukee. That thing sound really good. We wear earplugs and even with the volume up loud enough for us to hear it, it sounds good.
On sites where the neighbors are a ways away, on we love that radio :-)
To the original poster:
My cordless tools are Dewalt, which is why I went with the radio....I've had it since it came out. Reception is decent...but this thing is really rugged.
To andy:
Couldn't stay away from Howard, heh?
I ended up going with XM....absolutely love it!
I've got a portable unit....from home stereo to truck to walkman. I'm rarely without it. The only "boombox" style accessories they make for my unit are pretty delicate looking. I'm thinking of buying a spare "home kit" and building a box to mount it to and provide protection. Maybe a retractable spool for the antenna.
Haven't had any trouble with reception anywhere so long as there's a window nearby.
Never thought I'd even consider paying for radio....now I'm hooked.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements
Ya know what J? I was sorta getting tired of Howard but he did turn me on to Sirius. So I bought mine offa Ebay pretty cheap and not necessarily just for him either. Still listening to Howard every morning now though. Actually I started listening to him about 25 years ago.....geeezzzzzzzz...on WNBC so it was kinda hard to let the guy go. And I'll tell you what...I can see why I was getting tired of him now that he's on Sirius...because as he himself said...they wouldn't let him do what he wanted and it worse getting worse and worse. It was true. He's back to the Howard I always loved. Its a party every morning again...lol. Not just another dumb azz DJ doing shtick...that boy know how to keep it real.
And also...one can't expect him to be right on all the time...I mean 5 hours a day five days a week is a lot of talking and entertaining.Anyway, what I wanted to say was that you should try Ebay...I paid about half of what I would have in the stores. Actually I'll probably buy another boombox for fifty bucks so I don't have to keep moving the one I have. If radio shack gets the ones that were discontinued back as they claim they are I can get a refurbished one for $30!
The antenna thing does seem a bit antiquated especially with high tech satellite. Spose' its only a matter of time till the antennas are gone.I'l bet you anything..."Anyone" that tries satellite for one week will never ever go back to FM again.If Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
Did I hear correctly that Howard is going to be switching to a four day broadcast week? I'd imagine there'll be more than a few folks pizzed about following him to satellite if he pulls that.
I'm with you....figure its only a matter of time before antenna isn't an issue. In the meantime, my unit can store 5 hrs. of programming. I just keep recording new stuff so that I'm never without...signal or not.
I'm also wondering.....being as they're loading satellite radios in new cars.....could a jobsite satellite radio be too far off?
be commercial free baby!
Remodeling Contractor with no ties to the Glass City
He's not "switching". That was "always" the deal from day one. Its his option to do four or five days a week. so far I think he took two Fridays off. Yet he goes on at 6 AM and now usually stays till about 11AM or better. And the cool thing for me is that if I miss something I wanted to hear at 6AM like I missed the interview with Trump where Trump reams Martha Stewart a new one for bad mouthing him about her show that was canceled I can hear the show again later that same day because its timed to replay for the West Coast then.
I love being able to hear them speak like normal human beings. What a relief that is.
What should REALLY pizz off the yentas that have bought XM radio to hear Oprah who they just signed ain't gonna get more than maybe 20 minutes a week of her. When I read that in the paper I thought what a hoax that was....so there...lol. My satellite's better'n your satellite...nah nah...lolIf Blodgett says Tipi Tipi Tipi, it must be so!
If you have Bosch batteries, the 2nd gen works great. The 4 GFI outlets and cell charger port are nice bonuses.
The speakers are clear and don't distort much at high volume. The CD player plays MP3's and there is an input port for satellite radio/jukeboxes. Radio reception here is purely based upon whether there is a mountain between you and the tower so its tough to say if its any good or not.
DCS Inc.
"Whaddya mean I hurt your feelings, I didn't know you had any feelings." Dave Mustaine
I bought my guys the milwaukees and they all love them, and they are jobsite tough.I plug my sirius in and its jazz all day.
I purchased mine at Heavyduty tools, great service, great price, very satisfied. They are running a special now, radio ,dremel kit -$80. My 2cents. greg in cold connecticut
Go with the milwaukie. Good sound , tough as nails, And you can plug in the ipod and listen to " your music". I have 1200 songs on my pod. I can listen and not here the same song in weeks.
Another vote for Milwaukee ............ imho sounds better than the Bosch or DW and tougher than either. Fwiw there's a newer ugraded version of the Milwaukee that will handle the new V-18 and V-28 Li-Ion batteries plus the older 12 to 18v Ni-Cad batteries.
What happened to leaving the truck door open with the radio on?
Thanks everbody, sounds like the Milwaukee for me! It gives me more reason to buy their cordless tools as well, and I do like spending money!
The same thing that happens every time I forget to turn the light off in the trailer, next morning dead battery.
What happened to leaving the truck door open with the radio on
That's my style TTF.
blue
That's just crazy talk. You're going to get Hardie dust or OSB dust blown all over the cab of your recently vacuumed rig?I know what you mean. Sometimes it's just more trouble than it's worth to do anything beyond just swinging the truck door open.
Hey I got the Bosch, about a year old or so. I've seen some adds on new ones have a different /non wire external antenna.
All my cordless is bosch but havn't used the charger at all on the radio. That said I don't like the digital tune- gotta pull the glasses out to read it, and the reception is at best a 6. But I got sirrius and the bosch has a cigarette lighter outlet on it that I can take the truck unit and just plug it into the cig lighter and dial in 88. 1 and that has made it great to be able to get dual use out of one serius radio.
Sound wise I'd give it a 8 or 9 ok8.5 nah maybe a 9. And it's a little big if your moving around alot.
Milwaukee all the way. I've worked around all the others. I'm on my second cord and I have to pound it into the ground every now and then when I get some horrible feedback.
It is the loudest and sturdiest of them all. I'm 6'3" and I have used mine as a little step ladder and chalk line weight.
So it doesn't charge the batteries... Oh well. As for a plug in radio, it's the best to have on a framing job.
I use my Milwaukee with XM and it's great. A little rain won't hurt it either.
I have the old style DW. It couldnt tune a radio station if I was sitting in the stations lot. It is very durable though. One day I got tired of listening to static and in my frustration kicked it as hard as I could.
I was expecting/hoping to see it smash into a million pieces (an excuse to buy a new one), but much to my surprise not a scratch.
Go with the Noradio radio, your guys wont fight over it!!!! I just drop kicked my dewalt off the second floor, it landed on the customers basketball court. The thing still worked but the housing cracked in a few spots and the volume knob fell off. So I would go with the Dewalt. I swear I'm not violent, really I'm not.
-LMC
Milwaukee