[Icom] External Receive Antenna for the IC-746

[Kevin Nathan]

Hello All,

I have an IC-746 which I've owned now for about a year and a half and I
really like the radio.  However, Last summer we moved into an area here in
Western Washington which has proven to be a high noise area for 160 and 80
meters especially.  I really need to somehow equip the 746 with the ability
to use a separate receive antenna such as a shielded loop.

With my previous rig, a Kenwood TS-440S, a friend and I were able to locate
the connection from the TR relay going to the receiver and connect it
through a switch we installed which would switch that lead either to the TR
relay or route it to a separate RCA jack on the back panel which we also
installed for connecting the external receive antenna.

Can some of you who have seen the inside of the 746 tell me if such a
similar modification might be possible?  I am blind so it is hard for me to
judge if the circuitry would allow such a thing or not.  If not, does anyone
know of another way to use an external receive antenna with this radio?

Thank you for your assistance.  73
Kevin, K7RX