Just saw a brand new R56 from my 3rd floor office. The antenna appeared to have a fatter base, wider whip, and to be taller than the R53. Can anyone confirm this? If there is a change, are the antennae interchangeable?

 

I haven't compared them side-by-side, so I can't say if they're taller. The base on the body is larger, with a rear fin.

But I can confirm the antennae are not interchangeable. I believe it's 6mm thread rather than 5mm. I found a stubby replacement (though I'll probably end up replacing that for aesthetic reasons) from a company that sells them somewhat generically and it came with three screws to use with it to adapt to three different mounts, and the larger one worked just fine.

 

thanks for the update

 

Interesting. Any speculation about why it was changed?