>>2. Now that's tricky :) The reason is that in great most of '52 derivatives either of timer 1 or 2 must generate baud rate for serial to work...


Or maybe use mode 0 or 2, where the baud rate is fixed to 1/12 (mode 0) or 1/32 or 1/64 (mode2) of the main osc freq? If you were careful to choose the correct main osc, it may help.