It's a knee-jerk reflex often observed in this forum that, rather than answering your question, folks will tell you what a bad choice you've made, which may or may not be true.

well, in this case, it is clearly stated that nothing has been built. when Joe states "The 16550 ties up a lot of I/OI lines" that is not "tell you what a bad choice you've made" but since Marek states "i am new to all this stuff" making him aware of a thing a novice may not have thought about. Frieder posts "if it fits your budget you could go for", again, is that "tell you what a bad choice you've made" or giving good advice by raising a possibly better solution?. Russell post "Another solution worth considering is to use a bit-bashed (software) uart. No extra hardware needed, just a bit of software and some careful thinking" and DO list the possible traps associted. is that "tell you what a bad choice you've made" or suggesting an alternative? I suggest 2 stop bits, is that "tell you what a bad choice you've made" or suggesting an alternative?

You are a bit too categorical in stating that suggesting an alternative especially when nothing has been built is "tell you what a bad choice you've made", I see no post "you stupid idiot, do this instead" I see posts "you could do this instead, it might be better".

Now you, yourself, raise doubt if the 16550 is the right choice by posting "and that you limit the oscillator to the 805x to a rate that allows it to meet the access-time limitations of the 16550." and you do it without even suggesting an alternative. Did you in that post consider the fact that the Op states "i am new to all this stuff" and thus might not have any idea if the resulting performance reduction woul doom the project and elaborate on that, I do not see any such.

If making suggestions that you do not like is an issue, make a better one, do not just come out and state: "It's a knee-jerk reflex"

When someone states "i am new to all this stuff" it should be natural, even for you, to advise as to the benefits of the proposed, as well as other solutions. I doubt that Marek feel any dumber now having 5 means to approach the problem rather than just one.

Erik