Hi,

about the second part.
are you using a 12 MHz crystal or 11.0592 MHz ?
if you are using 11.0592 MHz use RCAP2L = 0xDC
am not sure how much difference 0.16% dev makes.

about the first part.
Can't you put the micro in receive mode all
the time ? Keep receiving the data always.
Use a serial interrupt. It will keep getting over written in the SBUF. Also keep checking for the key. When both events occur .. then proceed.

-Ashish