[kasperl]

My dad is looking for something to replace the radio he has been using in the shed up until now. He's looking for something that can play CD's, and MP3's, and optionally has build in speakers. Main point is though that it absolutely has to be dust proof. He's been building desks and cupboards in there, so a lot of sawing, drilling and sanding is causing a fine white layer of dust all over the place. I haven't a clue where to start looking, but any ideas are welcome. The optical media thing is quite important, but if impossible to do, not as important as the dustproofness.

Creative solutions involving WLAN are welcome too, but have to be plug and play and very, very easy to maintain.

[Prophet]

You could try asking your nearby home electronics stores etc... Tell your business ito the clerk and if he starts showing something he has on display, then get out . But if he does a bit more research thethen he might actually find something for you. If it is small enought store the owner might get his supplier on the phone and ask him. It's just that if these peole are professional enought, they can find it. In my experience anyway.

You might check some manufacturers online pages, but they usually are a toal mess you cant find any usefull information from.

Thats all the advice I can give...

[StratComm]

MP3-CD players aren't hard to come by these days actually.  Just look for one of those little portable stereos with the mp3 decal, really, unless he's wanting to integrate it with a stereo system in his shop.

[kasperl]

Yeah, I've been looking for one of those integrated mini sets. Problem is the dust, I really think the lense and drive-system would basicly be totally wasted by it. I'll be going yournd shops soon enough, but the issue with that is the total lack of capable retailers here. It's either big, walmart style electronic stores with no usefull warranty, or big, expensive walmart like electronic stores with no usefull waranty.

[StratComm]

I think the key here is that you're either going to have to seal the thing in an airtight box, or deal with it not lasting as long as you would like.  There is virtually no good way of keeping dust out of a CD player if it's being used in a dusty environment.  If the setup is applicable to it, I'd buy a cheap CD or even DVD player (most play mp3 CDs easily, even without a TV), put it in another room, and run speakers from it to the actual shop area.

I don't think a warrenty is going to help you much though as damage from dust is almost certainly outside the scope of "free from defects" clause that most warrenties really rely on.

[kasperl]

I'm halfway considering one of those media reciever things, but I'm not if they've got fans or not.

Running wires would involve either digging them in underneath the terrace, or having it hang between the house and the garage. Neither are really an option for a music player. Wireless stuff might work, depending on range. It's about 4m outside, but offcourse two outside walls as well, and then the sender would be in the kitchen. Sending from the nearest PC would be the other side of the house, so not really easy. Sending from the nearest ethernet port would be about 5m and two outside walls.

[StratComm]

Ah, it's seperate.  My dad's got a shop set up, but he's got it fully stereo-wired and has a small office in it that stays (relatively) dust free where he can keep stereo equipment.  Different situation here, obviously.

Wireless is probably your best option if you're looking for longevity, but it's going to be expensive and probably pretty flaky.  It sounds like you're looking at rigging up quite a system if you're getting your PC involved, but it should be doable.  I just still say you're probably going to do just as well with a $50 CD or DVD player and a set of speakers and just deal with the DVD player only lasting about a year or two.

[Prophet]

Or you could just find an old radio from a scrap yard. Those things work in the bottom of a lake. WE have a old (over 20 years at least) radio sitting in our tool shed. That thing has endured temperatures from -35 to +35 degrees celcius, while being in various states of dampness. Has been showered with oil and god knows what other chemicals. It's been repatedly hit by a barrage of sparks from various metal work. And of course lots and lots of dust of many kinds. But thanks to the powers of the omnipotent ducktape, it still works. Exept that the power cord is also a bit "damaged", so it's a bit scary to plug it in.

So if you want it to last, get the oldest and most simple POS you can find

[Fineus]

If I could make a suggestion? Get a household bin liner... put it over the player. Job done.

You might get slightly muffled sound and you'll have to muck about with taking the player out of the bag if you want to change a track - but what the hell. It's dust proof and you can put whatever you like in there.

Failing that (since he makes desks) he could set about mounting a shelf in the shed with a perspex flap that one lifts up to access the player beneath it. Again... slightly muffled sound and dust proof. A bit more permenant than a dustbin bag though.

[an0n]

Are you people stupid?

Get one of those CD-players that's just a slot that pulls the CD in and mount it to a wall with the slot facing down.

And if you wanna be extra-safe: Tape some pipe cleaners along the edge of the slot so they mop up any stray dust and still let the CD pass through unharmed.

[kasperl]

Hate to say it, an0n's idea has some creativity. Still worried about the dust, I'd favour taping the slot shut in addition to mounting the thing upside down. Still, not the most elegant of solutions, really. And finding a slot load MP3CD player is fun, too.

The radio is already there and working, Prophet. Problem is the lack of choice (opera or business news) due to shoddy reception.

Isn't there some brand making XtreMe SportZ playerz or something, so that people hurling themselves of a mountain can listen to bad rock while nearly drowning? (Caps for irony)

[Prophet]

Isn't there some brand making XtreMe SportZ playerz or something, so that people hurling themselves of a mountain can listen to bad rock while nearly drowning? (Caps for irony)

Well there sure as hell should be! Considering there are electric razors you can use in the shower (the basic idea of it is nuts)...

[StratComm]

I think some of you (particularly an0n) is missing the point.  This isn't for an enviromnent where dust settles on the tops of surfaces, it's one where the dust is suspended in the air and gets, quite literally, everywhere imaginable.  Sealing the thing off is the only reasonable solution; the slot-mount would work in theory except that those nice soft dustguards around the slot would resort to scratching the disk pretty quickly as they get saturated with wood-fiber dust.  Mounting it upside down means dust won't settle on it, but that's not really the problem anyway (if it was, you'd want a drawer-load model and just don't load it when there's lots of dust flying around) as it's the dust still in the air that's going to get in and gum up the optics anyway.

[kasperl]

I know, that's why I was looking for something that is also perhaps waterproof... Don't divers listen to music or something? (If it is truly waterproof, as in 2m in a pool instead of a shower of rain, it ought to be dust proof enough, right?)

[StratComm]

The problem just comes with it being a CD player.  Most stereos don't have fans or even any real cooling issues, so dust doesn't bother them in the slightest.  The problem is the optics and the media of CDs, both of which are very very sinsitive to small particulate coatings (CDs will scratch, lasers will dim) under those conditions.

You can certainly isolate it without resorting to anything nearly as drastic as submerging it in a pool.  As was mentioned previously, building a case for it is a perfectly viable option.  But, as with any method suggested, there is little you can do to prevent it from being at risk when you change the CD, which is really its most vulnerable time.  Which is why I suggested the cheap-as-possible route; use it until it breaks, and don't be suprised when it does.  Much less hastle, much less expensive, and much easier to use.  Or go with something medialess so that you don't have this issue of a CD player at all.

[aldo_14]

buy a dirt cheap one and put it under a cardboard box.

[Deepblue]

I suggest a nice set of wireless headphones hooked to a source inside the house. For example, I have a set hooked to my home theater so I can listen to radio, music from my CD jukebox, or books on tape. It works quite well as long as you remember to keep the thing charged.

[WMCoolmon]

You could always buy a dirt-cheap MP3 CD player, some cheap computer speakers, and put the MP3-CD player in a box with holes cut in it for speaker wires. Some walkman-style MP3 CD players have jacks for a DC adapter, that you can buy at Radioshack.

Another option is to have the media center or whatever completely enclosed, with only an IR receiver outside the enclosure (which should only need wiping off when it gets dusty). I know I've seen IR extenders - those could be used for practically anything that use a remote.

[Backslash]

Lots of good ideas here.

Adding on to Prophet's 'invincible radio' idea... combining it with the wireless idea:  try a radio transmitter.  Something like this, though that one claims a range of 15-20 feet so maybe look for one with longer range, or wire up an uber-antennae    This one is a bit more pricey but claims a range of 40 to 70 feet.

Course, you have the problem of lack of control.  If that's an issue, the IR extender idea is also quite good.  In fact I think I want to try that now 

[achtung]

Well, if your father makes cabinets why can't he make a nice little shelter for the radio?  Just buy one of the systems that have the actual cd drive and such seperated from the speakers.  Build a small box for it with a lid, then leave the speakers out to bare the brunt of the dust.

Really, you wouldn't need to make a shelter out of wood, but it'd look and be neater.