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Pimping Makita Jobsite Radio

basswood | Posted in Tools for Home Building on April 7, 2008 03:20am

One of the best things about a Makita Jobsite Radio is that you can put your MP3 player inside the sealed battery compartment to keep it out of the dust and weather.

However, the MP3 input jack inside the battery compartment is inaccessible if you have a new Lithium battery in the radio (the radio had the design changed to accept the new Li-ion bats, but the dummies did not move the MP3 jack). I found a way around this…I purchased a right angle MP3 adapter at Radio Shack.

Now I can listen to my iPod (cleaverly hidden out of harms way) on my radio with battery power, if I want to.

Edit to add: I did have to shave some plastic off the RA input adapter to get it to slide into place with the battery in the radio.


Edited 4/6/2008 8:21 pm ET by basswood

Reply

Replies

  1. Hooker | Apr 07, 2008 03:23am | #1

    I almost bought that radio a couple months back, but I only have two of the new batteries (my only Maks) and I wasn't impressed with the plug setup.  Are you worried about the wire breaking at the transformer? You must have a few other batteries around, eh?

    Neither cold, nor darkness will deter good people from hastening to the dreadful place to quench the flame.  They do it not for the sake of reward or fame; but they have a reward in themselves, and they love one another.

    -Benjamin Franklin

    1. User avater
      basswood | Apr 07, 2008 03:33am | #2

      It is a good radio...with a few shortcomings to be sure. The cord is lame.I got a short piece of tubing just larger in diameter than the nub where the wire leaves the transformer, slit the tubing lengthwise and slipped it over the cord at the transformer and taped it on with electrical tape. Having to devise such work-arounds means Makita dropped the ball at the design phase.I do have a bunch of Makita 18v Li-ion stuff so I have 4 batteries.

  2. jc21 | Apr 07, 2008 04:51am | #3

    Would XM or Sirius portable radios work plugged into the input jack? Another expense I don't need but Sirius has some great channels .......... bluegrass for one.

    1. User avater
      basswood | Apr 07, 2008 05:09am | #5

      Not sure about plugging Satellite radio in. The Sirius receiver I have transmits to an FM frequency, so no input needed...it just has to be close to the radio.I let my Sirius subscription lapse...so now they have offered me two months free to sign back up.If you sign up, see if you can be referred by a friend...then they might get a month free or something like that.

      1. reinvent | Apr 07, 2008 05:18am | #6

        There are all kinds of deals to be had with sat radiohttp://avic411.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4887

        1. User avater
          JDRHI | Apr 07, 2008 05:39am | #8

          Were I to be considering the jump to sattelite radio right now, I would be holding off to see what comes of the merge.

          Unless you can find a deal that includes a FREE radio.

          As an XM subscriber, I love the service.....but word has it that once the merge takes place, should you want to take advantage of the added stations of the competing service , todays radios will not work. i.e. XM radios won't tune Sirius stations and vice versa.

          You will have to purchase a new unit that receives both, after the merge.

          J. D. Reynolds

          Home Improvements

          Pp, Qq

           

           

           

      2. DougU | Apr 07, 2008 06:51am | #10

        it just has to be close to the radio.

        How close? I have sirrius in my truck and still havnt figured out how to transmit it to my Milwaukee radio.

        Doug 

        1. User avater
          basswood | Apr 07, 2008 07:07am | #11

          I could leave the sat. radio in the van on some jobs and pick up the signal in the house on a radio...I would guess the transmission of the sat. signal is very weak (by order of the FCC) so only good for maybe 50' on average.One advantage of the Bosch radio is that you can use the cig. lighter port to plug a car satellite radio into it.With the other jobsite radios you would need a "home kit" for the sat. radio and set it up inside the house in a south facing window and plug into AC.

  3. User avater
    dieselpig | Apr 07, 2008 04:56am | #4

    So, overall you like this Makita radio?  I never bought one...mainly because of the wall-brick adapter.  But I'm still curious.  Sounds good?  How about when it's all the way up?  (think noisy framing site)

    View Image
    1. User avater
      basswood | Apr 07, 2008 05:25am | #7

      The Makita radio sounds way better than I thought it would...might be between Bosch and Milwaukee for sound quality and volume.Menards put the Makita on clearance and I run Makita cordless tools, so I grabbed it. The cord is the dumbest thing about it.The Milwaukee has to be the best radio, but all my Milwaukee tools are corded and I wanted the radio to work with my cordless tool batteries.Being able to stash the iPod inside the radio is a very nice feature. Set up your tunes for the day and forget about it.BTW I checked and Radio Shack has a transformer cord that works with the Makita radio but the "brick" is about half the size and weight and it has a better connection between the transformer block and the cord...runs about $20 (if the Makita cord wimps out after the warranty is up).

    2. jc21 | Apr 07, 2008 05:45am | #9

      I have the older blue Makita without the input jack. imho it sounds better than my old Milwaukee at lower volumes but I don't think it has the cajones the Milwaukee does when cranked up ............. not an issue for me; I work solo much of the time and inside (trim carp) but I think you'd notice. Only reason I got rid of the Milwaukee was that all my cordless is Makita; it will run almost all day on one NiMH battery. Handy during hardware installs and you're moving unit to unit and outlets are few and far between. Better reception than the DeWalts and Bosch I see onsite- they almost all have some sort of wire twisted around the antenna and it seems as good to me as as the Milwaukee. The Makita seems equally as tough as the Milwaukee- it slipped out of my hands and took the quick way down a flight of stairs; no harm done. If I'd known Makita was coming out with a unit with an input jack I would have waited. When on AC I miss the pass through plug on the Milwaukee; I don't care the wall brick adapter either. I also miss the weather band on the Milwaukee-we're at the upper end of tornado alley.

    3. User avater
      Timuhler | Apr 07, 2008 04:43pm | #12

      Brian,

      Stick with the Milwaukee.  We've had the Makita for about a year now (I was supposed to send it back :-) and if I can find that shipping label I will) and it just isn't loud enough.  With the speakers on the sides facing the side, you never hear the music, and if you turn it toward you, you only get one speaker.

      1. USAnigel | Apr 08, 2008 02:48am | #17

        Put it in a corner to reflect the sound, works for me.

    4. fingers | Apr 07, 2008 06:12pm | #13

      I've got the Milwaukee but got the Makita with a seven piece set of the Mak Li-ion tools. The Mak radio that came with the tools was the blue one without the input jack. I gave it a listen and my impression was that it was too bass heavy and did not have the goods when turned up loud, when compared to the Milwaukee.I gave it to my brother-in-law and he uses it out in the barn. His horses seem to like the Mak just fine.

  4. User avater
    mmoogie | Apr 07, 2008 07:40pm | #14

    But will the charger last more then a week? My Makita LI charger has crapped out on m,e 4 times now in less than a year...

    Steve

    1. User avater
      basswood | Apr 07, 2008 10:25pm | #15

      I've had one of my chargers for about 2 years and the other for about 6 months...no problems with either of them...so far.

      1. Treetalk | Apr 08, 2008 02:40am | #16

        Check and see what frequency your Sirius is set up for.Most r 88.1 when u get them but theres other options if that chanel is occupied by a stronger station.Ive got the cheapest on and I know ive gone more than 50' with it.

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