Quote Originally Posted by Acetronics View Post
or two series resistors, one to each addressed device ... and grounding ( or VCCing ) the signal ( past the resistor ! ) with another PIC pin , if NO transmission, and use the PIC pin as an input for transmission.

may be too simple ?
I just did a few tests. This idea seems to be working. The signal would not get through the series resistor until i reduced the value to about 200 ohms. That means a 25mA draw whenever the signal is low. I guess that's not too bad.