Holy Mackeral Eric. You're spitting on the screen dude. 1) The line for MAX232 has the Max202 in parentheses all the values in the parentheses apply to the Max202. 2) You are correct that the charge pump cap is a reservoir (I think I called it charge storage). 3) Data sheets offer a place to start and recommended values under the conditions they suggested in the data sheet. Once we move into the real world and hook up to stuff NOT mentioned in the data sheet (which is considerable) we have to be mindful of the results we get. "Never in a million years" is pretty strong language in electronics. As far as the Max232A goes, I have had to move up to a 1uF cap because I noticed that the DC level was only +/-6 to 8V not +/-10V as it should be. Especially during transmission time. The MAX202 was less susceptible to this change because transmission is slower allowing more time to for the charge pump to recover (?). Now maybe my perception of the cause of this phenomenon is in error but my solution got the results I needed. And I've never had a problem with them for the 3.5yrs 24/7 that they've been operating; and they've transmitted farther at times than they were meant to, dependably. Now get your teeth out of my neck please and get back to helping Mr. Dehghani. Sheesh!