...
my $rcount;
{
    local $/ = \1173;
    my $discard = <$inputFH> for 1 .. 7;
    $rcount = 7;  # We've seen and skipped 7 records so far.
    while( <$inputFH> )
    {
        $rcount ++;
        my @fields = unpack q{A34 ... }, $_;
        ...
    }
}
...
# Do something with $rcount here?
...