The 746Pro took a major dump (at the worst time)

I was working the Michigan QSO party on Saturday and about 2 hours into it, my radio died. I was about 1 hour and 45 minutes into the contest, working 40 meters with 49 contacts, 31 states, and 6 Michigan counties. I have been having trouble with the rig for about a year now with ALC spiking and power intermittently dropping. I never really though much about it except the fact that maybe there was a slight problem in my antenna system. Apparently, the problem is due to the driver board on the rig getting to hot due to the factory bias being set to high around 1.5 amps. I contacted a few repair techs to see if they knew what the deal was. I don't have the knowledge to work on surface mount technology so I will have to send it out for repair. Sending to Icom s way too pricey and takes way too long. About 4 techs said it was probably the final transistors with would cost anywhere from $250-$400 plus shipping (OUCH!). After hearing nothing but good things about Scott Malcom of MTS, I contacted him with my symptoms. He used to work for Icom for about 10 years and is an authorized Icom repair center. He said that more than likely 4 updates can be done to the radio to fix the problem. Take a look here: http://www.n1eq.com/tech/page_01.html MTS said it would be about 60 bucks estimate plus shipping. I am going to be sending it to him this weekend. Fingers crossed! I will be without an HF/50MHZ rig for a liitle while just when sporadic E season is starting for 6 and 10 meters.