Well don't end it there ...
Alrighty then! Just when I was about to go with plan "B", add a PIC12F683 as a stand alone serial generator.
I just took a look at USART along with Mister E's PIC calculator and found that 7812 baud is configurable. A first glance some time ago gave me the impression that only common baud rates were available. I just recently discovered SEROUT2!
Is the USART hardware like the HPWM that can run continueously in the background?
If so, which commands will disrupt it or vice versa? I ran into some surprises when trying to use the HPWM while using the A/D in a WHILE:WEND. So went with PWM sprinkled through out the program along with a nice filter to hold my Vout.

The RS232 does not have to be interrupt started, just running all the time with the same 8x8 bytes of data. It will be processed and returned without any delay so I will have to act on it immediately.
Do you think this is still possible? Or go with plan "B"?