Dave, a dipole works best at the freq for which it is cut, and multiples thereof; outside that point, response can drop off (unless you're feeding it with something other than coax). In the hurricane monitoring game, a more broadbanded antenna is called for. There are a few commercial folks on the wiki, plus a couple of homebrew links; while I wouldn't necessarily buy the commercial antennas right off the bat, they should give you something to think about in regards to putting an antenna in the attic.
Insofar as software goes, I would go and join the Icom R75 Yahoo group, and see what others are using. I would bet that RXPlus, tk75 and Ham Radio Deluxe are in that mix, but I know there are others. There's also (from what I hear) a very good PDF file available in that group's files section with all sorts of useful hints and kinks. 73s and good luck with the new toy (I'm envious) Mike
[Edit] I just looked at the brief description of the software offered by Grove - it specifically says 'Win95/98' - which suggests, like some of Icom's other offerings - that's it's a 16 bit application, with only meager support of everything it can do. Yecchhh! :evil:
I'm willing to bet a TS-2000 (a very expensive Kenwood ham transceiver) that either the Cookbook files or someone on the R75 group can tell you how to build a cable. Then start looking at software on the Strong Signals page, along with the ones I already mentioned. I have no doubt anything there will do a MUCH better job of supporting the radio.
