Thanks for your input.

I'm struggling a little with the options available to get variable 'contents' to the outside world! Here's my understanding (though could be worng!)...

1. Hardware serial .... the traditional manner (neds a converter such as a MAX232). I'd like to keep it simple & component count low as possible, so I'm not pursuing this route.

2, PICKit2 - Uart tool....this is what I'm using at the moment, but like I say,the high number of interupts is causing havoc with the data I'm seeing onscreen..

Now this is where it gets a little 'grey' for me ....I'm using the command "Debug" to get my variable contents out and onto my PC via the Pickit2 Uart tool... I'm not calling any special .bas files - it just works! Is this using software or hardware?

Now then, I'm just reading on this page...

http://www.electro-tech-online.com/m...t-example.html

where the guy declares in one of his headers...

Device = 18F4550
Clock = 8
Config FOSC = INTOSCIO_EC

// import usart module...
Include "usart.bas"

I'm figuring that going this route might actually use the PIC uart hardware? If so, this sounds ideal....can anyone shed any light here please?