[1000mp] MP Display issue

[Garry Shapiro]

I own two original MP's, but am not (yet) an SO2R station, so one 
normally sits in the closet as a spare. A year ago both were used in SS 
as part of the NCCC HMO strategy--a second callsign requires a second 
transmitter.

The more recent unit has been the one on the operating desk. Last week, 
preparing for the Cal QSO Party, I was setting up a new MicroHam MK, 
which derives its DC power from the MP's 13.8V output jack. Alas, this 
jack was dead, the internal fuse blown. I had not used that jack before, 
had not tested it, and have no idea whether the failure occurred on my 
watch or with the prior owner, which of course does not matter.

Happily, I had the original MP and swapped it in. Unhappily, when I 
powered up that MP, 13.8V was present but I found I had three stuck LED 
segments on the Main frequency display. I had never seen that anomaly 
before. The closet that held the radio is interior, dry and always at 
indoor ambient; nontheless,  the failure appears to have occurred during 
storage. This radio has been to Rodrigues and other places and was 
always reliable, except for an oft-discussed front-end relay issue . To 
have it fail while it was sleeping is ironic and disappointing.

The stuck segments make the display confusing, indeed. During the 
contest, I relied upon Writelog's frequency display to keep my sanity.

I need to get this fixed--and I presume display replacement means big 
bucks. Any thoughts re what might have caused this failure? Are there 
any recommendations for last-gasp procedures I might follow before 
sending this radio off to Yaesu or someone else?

Garry, NI6T