No beep, no start

[Jon.Hoffman]

97 sportster w/ fussy neutral switch and increasingly finnicky dess. What’s difference between fussy and finnicky? Not sure but in any case, both problems getting worse till today no beep upon installing dess key. It had been dying on the water as if key pulled, now nothing. (There is power to gauges, horn etc.). Must it be the dess post? Or could it be something else? Could I switch out post from 97 xp or 99 gts to test?

Thanks in advance

Dead in water with teenagers arriving soon!