Hi Robert!
Not silly, great idea and no, no big speakers as I also worked with a digital compass and try to stay with only brass for everything including the pressure sensor. Once in a great while aluminum which is difficult to solder! Yes, there is aluminum solder and it takes a lot of heat. Typically I take the aluminum soldering rods and cut them down so they are thinner than what I am trying to solder. While the specs for the TXB0104 states it can handle upto a 70nf (.07mf) load there is some other factor. Another problem was with my code. I had a "gosub" that should have been a "goto" which fixed a lot of issues. I have not tried longer cable lenght(s) again, just working with short lenghts.

What I would really love to know is what code to use and what the code would look like so I can run the PIC at full speed and not delayed using ICD to see the parameters. Maybe assign some pins to feed a MAX232 and use hyperterminal or similar? Second, I know this is probably been asked a million times and is there a simple way to tell at what speed the code is really running?

So many questions, so little time!

Best to all, Ed