I don't think one can say that any specific rig is not a contesting radio.
Some are much better than others and for my money the most critical element
is a decent receiver.
In the most recent edition of the National Contesting Journal George K5KG
did an article comparing the IC746PRO vs the IC756PROII. He said that when
it comes to the basic receive and transmit capabilities of the two radios,
they are essentially equal in terms of functionality and performance. I
happen to use one of the original IC746 (not pro) radios for contesting from
home. I'm going to guess that the receiver in the PRO is better than that in
the original 746. The front end of the 746 tends to cave in when operated in
a band full of loud signals, especially on the lower bands. Aside from that
the radio has a lot of features that are very beneficial to me in
contesting.
In my opinion, you're fortunate to be getting into contesting with the very
competitive radio you currently have.
Doug's comment about putting your money in the antennas are right on the
money.
If you review the contest reflector archives, you will see one theme
repeated over and over. That is that a skilled operator at a modest station
will frequently outgun a less skilled operator at a super station. The key
is to get in the contests and develop those skills.
I hope you get as much pleasure out of conesting as I have over the past 40
years.
73 de Larry K7SV
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