Icom R2 and r5 questions

[Kaligus]

The whole basis of these questions is "it is there so I must" kind of deal I own the R2 currently and am considering dedicating it to "special service" since I cobbled a discrim-tap 15 minutes after the warranty expired.

I am seriously considering purchasing an R5 as my new "pocket pal" .

Can I hook a long-wire or other home-brew antenna to the R2 (with appropriate adapters etc.) without harming the scanner?

Is the programming cable the same for both R2 and R5 receivers?

I assume that a discrim-tap is about the same on an R5 as the R2 except less space in the radio, can anyone comment further?

 

[Napalm]

Can I hook a long-wire or other home-brew antenna to the R2 (with appropriate adapters etc.) without harming the scanner?
yes
Is the programming cable the same for both R2 and R5 receivers?
yes

Personally if you're used to the R2, the R5 is a bit of a steep learning curve.

 

[key2_altfire]

Can I hook a long-wire or other home-brew antenna to the R2 (with appropriate adapters etc.) without harming the scanner?

Is the programming cable the same for both R2 and R5 receivers?

I've been running an R5 as my travel radio for three years and still love it. It is very, very versatile. You can connect a long wire antenna to the R5 through the headphone jack. There's a quick menu selection in the radio to switch between the SMA connector, internal AM bar antenna or the antenna connected to the headphone jack.

AFAIK the R2 and R5 share the same programming cable. I believe I'm running a CT-29 and it also works on my Yaesu VX-170 AND it also works with a USB adapter.

For programming software I use tk5 (http://parnass.com/tk5/) by Bob Parnass. It's an awesome application, but took me a while to learn.

One thing that sorta bugs me though... the R5 is advertised to receive TV audio, which it does FOR NOW. In February 2009 the FCC is cutting off analog TV broadcast, which will render this function useless. I tried contacting Icom to see if they will have an updated version of this radio that can receive the new digital audio broadcast and nobody there was willing to comment.

 

[Jarhead_22]

I recently picked up an R5 of my own, and have delved back into the mists of the RR.com past for pointers, but I still have some questions. What's the proper board etiquette: should I ask here, or start my own thread? Thanks.