Workshops/Radios

[Donny Lawson]

My shop is pretty much complete and my cabinets are made. Most of the tools have been put in place. My only problem is my radio. I cannot get any station to hardly pick up at all. I have moved it all over the shop. I figured a wood built shop with a shingle roof would be great for my radio but right now CD's are my only option. The lights plays a part in this problem but it didn't effect anything in my old shop. Would a intenna outside help any? I hate to work without a radio. I need some suggestions on this please.
Donny

[Steven DeMars]

I'm not that big on a radio in the shop, but I have considered it.

One idea I came up with was a nice marine radio with a CD player installed in a cabinet with a 12 volt power supply.

It's water proof it's dust proof . . .

Steve

[Lou Ortiz]

I use the Bose ipod sound dock. I get the music I want without interruption. it isn't sealed or anything, but even in my (up to now) very dusty shop, solid state, so there hasn't been a hitch in five years. I wouldn't recommend a cd player at all as the dust will go to the core of that thing and it will stop working properly. You can also get podcasts for just about anything and everything, including college courses.

[Neil Brooks]

I stuck my iPod into a Ziploc bag. The cords connect to .... the USB port on my shop laptop (a few bucks buys you a GREAT keyboard cover that protects it from the elements), and a pair of powered speakers that came with a PC I bought years ago.

Sounds ... awesome !

[james glenn]

I have the Bosch job site radio and connect my 1st gen ipod to it.
It has a big rubber cover for it and can survive the farm, so it does great in the shop.
800 songs and no commercials.

[Joe Angrisani]

Donny.... I would suggest you try a Terk AM/FM antenna before giving up.

[Donny Lawson]

I first bought the Dewalt job site radio and I thought it would do the job but I could not pick up a single station. I took it back since it didn't preform the way I wanted. I would like a radio so I can add speakers in each corner of the shop for good sound. I'm not one for loud music but I do like my country.,plus I like to keep up with the news. I cannot stand a quiet shop while working so I need to figure out something.

[James White]

I use an FM transmitter. Like this http://cgi.ebay.com/100mW-500mW-adjusted-output-LCD-stereo-FM-transmitter-/160548380496?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item25616ddf50 Connected to my PC in the house. Then in the shop I use a small radio and these. http://www.amazon.com/Peltor-M2RX7A-Alert-Radio-Headset/dp/B0007KQUJS Tuned to the station I am transmitting on.
So now I have the music I like Via WWW.Slacker.com And I can also listen to it out in the yard when I cut the grass or saw wood on my sawmill. The stereo microphones on the head set keeps you alert to danger around you. As an added benefit. You will not miss the UPS driver bringing you stuff from Lee Valley.

James

[David Giles]

My Christmas present was XM radio with Bose speakers for the shop. After listening to a Sony CD player for years, I wasn't sure that I would like it. But the sound is clean and clear, the speakers have a 5yr warranty even in a dusty environment and there is a lot of good music out there that I have never heard. Rush Limbaugh's intro ditty is an actual song, BTW. And I always thought the Grateful Dead played heavy metal rock, but every tenth song is a cowboy song.

[Lee Schierer]

I have a radio in my shop and Ilike playing music on it. I used to listen to a local broadcast station, but all the local stations within reception range have quit playing music I like. My radio has a cassette player and I put in an adapter casette to play my Ipod muisic through. I use the earphone jack on my Ipod and plug in the cassette adapter to it. The music plays through the radio speakers. I have over 12 hours of music I like recorded, I play in shuffle mode so I rarely hear the same song twice in any shop session and best of all I don't have commercials. Since I don't open the cassette deck I haven't had any issues with dust.

[Kent A Bathurst]

PC/laptop. Not much $ gets a "good enough for shop" set of speakers. Roam the world, listening to jillions of radio stations. Then, for work at a specific station - get these below, plus an extra cord [like, when you are facing time with the ROS].

I didn't buy them for the shop - I bought them for my weekly coast-to-coast plane rides in the back-when - pretty much only used them for noise-cancelling features - as in "nap assist". But, they're great in the shop.

http://www.bose.com/assets/images/shop_online/qc3/qc3_si_lg.jpg

[Bob Riefer]

They make signal boosters that you can connect to your radio to pickup signals better. I got mine at Circuit City for less than $25 and hooked it up to my stereo which is kept in a clean room in my barn (our hangout room where no woodworking is allowed). I can play radio, CD's, TV broadcasts, or ipod throughout the entire building.

[Paul McGaha]

I have the Dewalt jobsite radio. It does ok. Cant usually hear it anyway if one of the tools or the air filter is running.

PHM

[Joshua Byrd]

I have central audio in my house and one of the feeds goes to the garage. It's fine for CDs or iPod usage, but when I want to listen to news on the radio it gets problematic. I can't get good reception on the receiver without spending more money (which could be used on TOOLS instead,) not to mention the fact that I can't change the station from the garage, so I toted out an old AM/FM alarm clock one day and started using it. If you have a corded or metal tube antenna, you could always try wrapping aluminum foil or spare extension cords around them to increase the reception. I mounted a length of old bed frame angle iron onto the front of one of my counters (to pound metal against :p) and noticed one day that when I leaned against it and had the radio nearby, I could almost pull in stations from China! Sucks that I couldn't stay in that one spot for the rest of the night. :D

[David G Baker]

In my shop in California I used a TV antenna mounted in the rafters. The antenna mount had a knob that was on the shop ceiling where I could reach it to tune in the radio station I am trying to listen to. With the US going digital TV there should be many TV antennas available at a very cheap price. The antenna works great on FM stations.

[Joe Angrisani]

If you have internet in the shop, I think Kent has the answer. I believe just about every radio station broadcasts on the internet now, without a lick of static.

[John Coloccia]

I use ooTunes on my iPhone, hooked up to speakers. Before that, I had an old laptop and I streamed stations. Laptop died, and now I have ooTunes. :)

[Halgeir Wold]

If yur radio has a connector for an antenna, an outdoor antenna and cable should do the trick. However, most modern portables have no antenna connectors- so possibly that's out. If you have good reception outside your shop, an antenna booster should do the trick - an outdoor antenna and an antenna booster or preamplifier that covers the FM band, and then a cable to an indoor antenna.
Old TV antennnas are not very good, as they are tuned to another frequency band. Make sure all parts are suitable for the FM band.

[russell lusthaus]

In my shop I listen mostly to am talk radio - and both inside and outside my reception is piss poor to none at all. I now use the Terk AM passive radio antennae and get great reception. No batteries or wires. I dont know how it works, but it does. Dont know if they have one for FM. It just sits next to my radio and does its thing. Probably magic is involved.

[Greg Urwiller]

Just got my shop finished so I figured I'd buy a decent "boombox" style radio. Wouldn't hardly pick a thing up! So I've been wondering what I was going to do too. Happened to find an old radio we had down in the basement...an old portable the size of a hardback book. Electric w/batt backup. But, the antenna was broken off. Tried it anyway. Couldn't believe it...works great, picks up about anything. I was surprised that the "modern" electronics don't hold a candle to the old broken one. Go figure. Greg

[Mike Zilis]

I've got a dedicated iPod in my shop. I keep it in a protective case so I can just blow the sawdust off from time to time. I have it connected to an old computer surround sound speaker system. As I don't need surround sound, I just spread the four speakers out around the shop. Works great, and with 120Gb of my own music I'm always happy with what's playing.

I also recently installed a TV in the shop which is how I get news.

[Van Huskey]

Just got my shop finished so I figured I'd buy a decent "boombox" style radio. Wouldn't hardly pick a thing up! So I've been wondering what I was going to do too. Happened to find an old radio we had down in the basement...an old portable the size of a hardback book. Electric w/batt backup. But, the antenna was broken off. Tried it anyway. Couldn't believe it...works great, picks up about anything. I was surprised that the "modern" electronics don't hold a candle to the old broken one. Go figure. Greg

The sensitivity of modern tuners even higher end (read $4,000+) receivers pale in comparison to older even dirt cheap gear. There are but a handful of people that even bother to compare the specs of tuner sections in receivers anymore. Bottom line the money goes elsewhere now. FYI if anyone cares about FM (or AM) in the shop the cheapest way to get excellent radio reception is pick up a 1970's era receiver from Pioneer, Sansui etc, many of them go cheap on eBay hook up a cheap "T" antenna and enjoy.

[Rick Moyer]

Ah, now that sounds like music to my ears. I have a old Yamaha receiver in the basement collecting dust. I haven't moved it to the shop yet because I was waiting to get a better antenna first. Maybe I'll try the Yammy first.

[Van Huskey]

Ah, now that sounds like music to my ears. I have a old Yamaha receiver in the basement collecting dust. I haven't moved it to the shop yet because I was waiting to get a better antenna first. Maybe I'll try the Yammy first.

It may actually have a dipole antenna still attched to it, if not they can be found cheap at Walmart or Radio Shack, worth the shot over a "better" antenna depending on how your reception is in your area.

http://www.amazon.com/Petra-880-1100-Fm-Dipole-Antenna/dp/B000EIOQBM/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1298595970&sr=8-2

That one is actually overpriced but I linked to it to show you want I am talking about.

[Rick Moyer]

I got a dipole at Radio Shack today, moved the old Yamaha to the shop and hooked things up.
:mad: Still no better, maybe even a little worse. I may have to get a better antenna and install it in the attic over the shop, or maybe I'll get a home based hookup for the Sirius/XM that I have in the vehicle, or maybe I'll just listen to CD's, or ...
Really was hoping the dipole would help, but I moved it around and it didn't make much difference.

[Jim Neeley]

I had a friend with the same problem, working in a metal building. What he did was to get an old "car" radio (since it's designed for an external antenna) and run the antenna outside. A used 12V power supply and he was set.

Your mileage may vary...

[Donny Lawson]

I'm going to look around this weekend. I will try radio shack. I do not have the internet access out there. I want to be able to run 4 speakers in there.

[Neil Brooks]

The sensitivity of modern tuners even higher end (read $4,000+) receivers pale in comparison to older even dirt cheap gear. There are but a handful of people that even bother to compare the specs of tuner sections in receivers anymore. Bottom line the money goes elsewhere now. FYI if anyone cares about FM (or AM) in the shop the cheapest way to get excellent radio reception is pick up a 1970's era receiver from Pioneer, Sansui etc, many of them go cheap on eBay hook up a cheap "T" antenna and enjoy.


Couldn't agree more.

Ditto for classic "tuners." You can hook a pair of $20 powered computer speakers up to an old-school tuner, and have the world at your fingertips.

If memory serves, the really boffo thing for a tuner was a PLL circuit -- Phase Locked Loop (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-locked_loop).

[Josh Bowman]

Donnie I too live in the middle of no where and could not get a radio to work. But I noted a car radio did fine. So happened I had a spare I pulled out of a trade in, the problem was a 12 volt power supply that was cheeeeeap. I was at a friends house and saw just what I needed and it would be free. I pulled the power supply out of an old computer, the power supplies are kind of modular and in a metal box with lots of 12 volt pig tails. I just clipped a gator clip pig tail for the antenna and now get all kinds of stations. Cheap and works great. Glad to see you're back in the shop business.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Call me a geek, but i have a radio and a computer w/TV tuner and internet in the shop. I record woodworking and home improvement TV shows and can watch them while I'm tooling around out in the shop. Doing it this way allows me to rewind if what I'm doing needs my full attention. I like the setup i have, keeps it from being too quiet.

[Wayne Hendrix]

I had a friend with the same problem, working in a metal building. What he did was to get an old "car" radio (since it's designed for an external antenna) and run the antenna outside. A used 12V power supply and he was set.

Your mileage may vary...

I have been considering doing the exact same thing.

[Lupe Duncan]

I bought a jobsite radio but had poor reception also. Now I use a smaller Ipod shuffle like this older (http://www.amazon.com/Apple-shuffle-Black-Generation-MODEL/dp/B002M3SOM4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1299106856&sr=8-6) gen. Its small enough to clip on my shirt and with short headphones that came with my cell phone I got no strings hanging.

I would like to get AM but I can down load podcasts of the shows I listen to even Audio books.

[Jim Neeley]

I recently decided to upgrade my old 9.6V Makita power drivers (NiCad, circa 1990) and went with the Bosch 18V Li-Ions and along the way went with Bosch's Power Box 360D for shop sound. http://www.boschtools.com/Products/Tools/Pages/BoschProductDetail.aspx?pid=PB360D

In addition to the "aluminum frame" typical jobsite radio that runs on 120V, it runs on and charges 14.4V & 18V Li-Ion batteries.

When on AC, it gives you 4 GFCI outlets built in, a 12V port and a powered USB port for charging electronics..

In addition to AM/FM and CD, it has a dustproof panel for mounting your IPod, Sirius radio and slots for its built-in MP3 player (SD & USB thumb drive) plus a place to plug in your own.

It comes with a keychain-type remote and supports line in and aux out, so it can link to other stereos, as either the master or the slave. FWIW, AM and FM reception are far superior to the portable radio I had in my garage before.

Yea it's overkill but I "justified" it as a good emergency radio, in case of earthquake. The 4 18V LiIon batteries will power it for a long, long time. :D

[Greg Portland]

You can build your own AM or FM antenna for the price of a 2x4 and some coat hangers. Cut & bend them correctly and you'll get great reception (Google for directions). Connect that to whatever cheap radio that you can find.

[Larry Edgerton]

I use the Bose ipod sound dock. I get the music I want without interruption. it isn't sealed or anything, but even in my (up to now) very dusty shop, solid state, so there hasn't been a hitch in five years. I wouldn't recommend a cd player at all as the dust will go to the core of that thing and it will stop working properly. You can also get podcasts for just about anything and everything, including college courses.

Have had the same cartridge CD system in my shop for 13 years. I do keep it in the bathroom, and I never take the CD's out of the cartridges. If it ever goes bad I will switch to an I Pod sort of arrangement.

My big thing is that I find radio annoying, and have never found a station that does not play music that I do not like. With my arrangement I have cartridges seperated by mood. I may feel like old rock one day and blues the next, so I pop in what I want. My brother uses a computor downloaded service in his shop, but I am too cheap to pay for that, and with over 300 cd's I never really get bored with what I have.

[Roy Turbett]

I got a pair of Peltor headphones like those for Chrismas and love em. I get good FM reception on all the local stations I listen to. I also like the active noise cancelling feature and the ability to adjust the headphones so you can still listen to conversations. Great product.

[glenn bradley]

Livio Radio and Pandora (http://www.livioradio.com/pandora-radio-by-livio/). I plug the headphone output of this into some self-switching amplified PC speakers. Turn the radio on and the speakers/amp comes on. All controls are on the simple remote. The whole rig and has endured the shop environments without issue.

[Bruce Wrenn]

In my shop, I have an OLD eight track player / tuner / amp. Remember them? It is connected to a digital FM / AM tuner. This is connected to an outside antenna. Four speakers located around the shop. The reason for the digital tuner is 8 track would drift after warming up. Lucky for me, I have four stations (AM & FM) in my listening area that play mainly 50's and 60's music. Otherwise, I would get FM transmitter and connect it to output of Dish unit in the house. I can't remember which service they now have, Sirrus, or XM.

[Luc Vincent]

I live in a small rural community and get only religious programs, a small bit of country and the pork belly/Ag reports. I just this last week broke down and took my useless windows mobile phone that has a 16gb memory card on it and loaded it up with about 6gb's of music and setup an old 5.1 Altec-Lansing computer speaker set out in the shop. I've been in absolute heaven ever since!! Even my productivity and concentration has vastly improved in the shop!!

[John Christian]

does it really have a mount for the brain box of an xm ( sirius) radio? I dont see it mentioned on the link