Hello Jerry,

Jerry>>how do I get the PIC into the "communicate with PC" routine?
timewise I can't afford to sit in a SERIN2 loop and wait for a "SYNCH" character
while the MainLoop is supposed to do other tasks.<<

I don't know your full setup, but can you do a "on interupt" when you press the PC keyboard? then you can turn off all interputs, process your PC with your SERIN2, finsh, turn on all interputs (if that is what you are using) and return to your mainLoop.

Dwayne