If you’re getting ready for your next major construction project, two-way radios are essential for helping your team stay organized, connected, and — most importantly — safe. But do you know whether you’ve got the right ones for the job? Here’s why we think RCA offers the best construction radios around.

World-Class Quality

RCA offers jobsite radios with world-class quality when it comes to durability, sound, coverage, and battery life — all factors that your workers depend on when using heavy-duty construction equipment. Plus, all units cost at least 30 percent less than other major competitors.

Durability

RCA’s RDR4200 series has the brand’s most durable models, including the RDR4220, RDR4250, and RDR4280. These are engineered with military-grade industrial chassis that easily earn them an IP67 rating and status as intrinsically safe two-way radios.

What’s IP67?  An ingress protection rating of 67 means that a unit is dust- and waterproof.

What’s intrinsically safe? If a unit is intrinsically safe (IS), that means that the intrinsic parts of the radio — i.e., the electrical circuitry — won’t interact with any flammable materials (like dust, vapors, etc.) that could harm your users.

These radios are also designed to take a beating and continue working like nothing has happened. We’ve seen them dropped from multiple stories several times — even run over by a car — without it affecting their performance.

That said, you probably prefer that your users refrain from dropping or misplacing your handheld radios, which is why we offer a variety of convenient and durable holsters to keep them secure. Plus, you can add cost-effective earpieces and speaker mics to complete the hands-free look.

Sound Quality

If you’ve got jackhammers, dumptrucks, excavators, and other heavy machinery lumbering through your construction area, you’re going to need radios that adapt to high levels of racket. RCA offers X-Sound+ that removes background noise and allows you to send and receive messages with exceptional clarity. 

Those earpieces we mentioned above also go a long way to help your team members communicate while protecting their hearing.

Coverage

If you want to make sure that you’re consistently connected with everyone on your team, you need radios that offer optimal coverage. Thanks to DMRs like the RDR4220 and RDR2500, your workers will have the strongest signals possible when communicating outdoors or through building interiors made of steel and concrete.

Radio Life

Construction workers depend on batteries that will last them 12+ hours on a single charge. RCA units easily surpass that. That goes for the RDR4200s we mentioned above, as well as our bestselling mid-tier RDR2500. The latter of these has been RCA’s most popular handheld two-way radio over the past year due to its balance of quality and cost. The RDR2500 also offers a high-capability battery upgrade, adding 28 percent battery life to its already stellar performance.

Did You Know? 

Nine times out of ten, a “malfunctioning” radio simply needs a battery replacement. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and money by testing a new battery first to see if that solves the problem. When you need new batteries, we have plenty (and they’re even compatible with other brands).

Want to know how to maximize the lifespan of your two-way radio batteries? Click here for our best tips.

Base Stations

If you have team members who work from an office or trailer, they may not need to rely on the same kinds of construction radios that others at your site are using. 

Case in point: RCA’s RDR2750 compact base station. It’s designed for use by anyone who shares the same workspace, and is substantially smaller than traditional base stations. Not only does this make it convenient with any office setup, it’s also able to be mounted to walls, beams, elevators, or trailers — basically anywhere you’ve got an AC power outlet. 

No batteries are required, which saves you from having to charge or replace any. This also means that this base station takes little to no time to set up: just plug it in and it’s ready to use.

In spite of its size, the RD2750 is exceptionally powerful. At five (5) watts, it’ll get you the same coverage as a handheld two-way radio, and comes with the same sound and audio quality as other units we touched on above.

This compact base station also avoids poor radio etiquette common with handheld units — for instance, continuing to use them while they’re still plugged into their charging cups. (Best-case scenario? You actively damage the radio’s battery life and have to replace it sooner. The worst-case scenario is cooking the actual radio.)

Radio Dead Zones and Repeaters

Are you experiencing a drop in radio coverage? Similar to other radio “malfunctions” above, the reason could be your battery. However, if you’re noticing that multiple radios are experiencing the same problem, it could be a result of your construction work. 

It’s important to identify what changes were made to the area where you’re experiencing a dead zone. If new materials that you’ve placed are to blame, you may need to deploy an additional repeater to extend your radio coverage. 

When that happens, we’d recommend RCA’s RDR9000. It provides expanded coverage and increased talk group capacity while supporting DMR, analog, and mixed mode. Similar to the rest of the RCA brand, it’s cost effective and requires minimal setup.

Mobile Radios

Would you prefer installing radios in the vehicles that you use, rather than having your workers carry around handhelds? RCA has a solution for that, too!

Learn why the BRM300D is the mobile radio of choice when it comes to extended coverage, durability, and performance.

Safety Features

Make sure that the construction radios you purchase come with safety alerts that your team can use to respond quickly to any emergency. 

Those can include: Lone Worker, which periodically checks on the safety of your users; a general alert; and, in some models, a feature called Man Down, which detects when users have fallen.

It’s important to note that most of these alerts must be pre-programmed in their models prior to shipping, so make sure to let us know if you need them when you order from us!

Do You Need Construction Radios for Your Next Project?

Let us know which units you need! We’ve got plenty of radios in stock that can ship as soon as the day they’re ordered. Call us at (888) 299-6340 to speak immediately with one of our award-winning customer service representatives.